Shadow AI

Shadow AI is any AI tool an employee uses for work that IT never approved, configured or knows exists. It spreads faster than shadow IT because there's nothing to install, and it's usually the best people working efficiently. Blocking only removes visibility, as employees route around it.

You can't govern AI usage you can't see, and most detection methods each catch a slice: network monitoring sees domains, not employees or data; CASB and SSE platforms see access, not the interaction; endpoint tools miss unmanaged devices. These articles define shadow AI, compare the ways and the tools to detect it, and follow it to its most common consequence: sensitive data reaching LLMs through ordinary work.