According to a recent survey of IT decision makers (ITDMs), 60 percent of employees are using unapproved AI tools more than they did in 2024, with 93 percent inputting information into these tools without approval. Perhaps even more alarming, the survey from IT management solution provider ManageEngine showed that 91 percent of employees think shadow AI poses no/not much or only some risk, or some risk outweighed by reward. At the same time 63 percent of ITDMs see data leaks or exposure as shadow AI’s primary risk.
A full 85 percent of ITDMs report that employees are adopting AI tools faster than their IT teams can assess them. About a third (32 percent) of employees entered confidential client data into AI tools without confirming company approval, while 37 percent entered private, internal company data. About half of ITDMs say employees’ use of personal devices for work-related AI tasks is creating a blind spot in organizational security posture.
“Shadow AI represents both the greatest governance risk and the biggest strategic opportunity in the enterprise,” said ManageEngine director of AI research, Ramprakash Ramamoorthy. “Organizations that will thrive are those that address the security threats and reframe shadow AI as a strategic indicator of genuine business needs. IT leaders must shift from playing defense to proactively building transparent, collaborative and secure AI ecosystems that employees feel empowered to use.”
Shadow AI’s top perceived useful tasks include summarizing notes or calls (55 percent), brainstorming (55 percent) and analyzing data/reports (47 percent). Generative AI text tools (73 percent), AI writing tools (60 percent) and code assistants (59 percent) are the top AI tools approved by ITDMs for employee use.
