Your staff already use AI. Shadow AI is the part you cannot see.
Contracts in a consumer chatbot. An AI sidebar reading your EHR. A note-taker recording client calls. Shadow AI moves regulated data outside your tenant in seconds, with no log and no way back. Estimate your exposure, then see how we shut it down without killing productivity.
- No technical control stops data leaving for a public modelNIST AI RMF GOVERN 1.2 · CIS 3.3
- No sanctioned AI tenant, so staff route around ITNIST AI RMF MAP 3.4 · CIS 2.1
- AI browser extensions read every SaaS session your users openNIST CM-7 · CIS 4.8
Directional estimate · real discovery runs against your tenant
Six ways Shadow AI leaks data before anyone notices
None of these require a malicious insider. Every one of them is a well-meaning employee trying to move faster with a tool nobody told them not to use.
Prompt-history data loss
Contracts, patient notes, CUI, payroll files, and source code pasted into consumer AI accounts. Retention is set by the vendor, not by you, and there is no e-discovery path.
AI browser sidebars
Extensions that read every page a user opens, including your ERP, EHR, and finance systems, and forward that content to a third-party model.
AI meeting note-takers
Bots joining calls with clients and staff, recording and transcribing conversations nobody consented to, and storing them outside your tenant.
Silent SaaS AI features
AI toggles switched on inside apps you already pay for, sending your tenant data to a model provider under a sub-processor you never reviewed.
Unreviewed AI-generated code
Generated snippets with vulnerable dependencies or hallucinated package names pushed into production by developers under deadline.
Orphaned API keys
Personal model API keys embedded in scripts and automations. When the employee leaves, the integration keeps running and nobody owns it.
Discover, contain, allow, govern
Banning AI fails and ignoring it is worse. The programs that hold up under audit give staff one governed path and make every other path technically unavailable.
Discover
Named inventory of every AI tool, extension, OAuth grant, and AI endpoint in use, tied to the users and data categories touching them.
Contain
Block unsanctioned AI clients from executing, allowlist browser extensions, and stop sensitive paste and upload actions into public AI sites.
Allow
Stand up a sanctioned, licensed AI tenant with tenant-bound data, logged prompts, and role-scoped access so the approved path is the easy path.
Govern
AI acceptable-use policy, human-review requirements, vendor and sub-processor review, staff training, and monthly evidence for auditors.
Same prompt. Very different consequences.
The difference between a governed AI request and a shadow one is not the answer the model gives. It is everything that happens to your data around it.
Personal account, personal device, no record
- Data leaves your tenant the moment it is pasted
- Retention and training terms set by the vendor
- No DLP classification, no prompt log, no export
- Access survives offboarding indefinitely
- Unreviewable by an auditor or in litigation
- Output re-enters your business with no provenance
Tenant-bound, logged, and revocable
- Data stays inside your commercial tenant boundary
- No training on your content, contractually confirmed
- Sensitivity labels and DLP applied before submission
- Every prompt and response retained for review
- Access follows identity and dies at offboarding
- Evidence pack ready for HIPAA, CMMC, and SOC 2
From unknown usage to a governed AI program
A repeatable rollout that gets you a named inventory fast, then enforcement, then a program that stays current as new AI features ship every month.
Discover
Identity, endpoint, browser, and egress telemetry combine into a named Shadow AI inventory: which tools, which people, which data.
Triage
Every tool is classified as sanction, replace, or block based on data sensitivity, vendor terms, and the business need behind the usage.
Enforce
Sanctioned AI goes live with guardrails while unsanctioned clients, extensions, and endpoints are blocked at the device, browser, and DNS layers.
Govern
Policy, training, and monthly reporting keep the program current as new models and features appear, with mapped evidence for audits.
Get a named Shadow AI inventory in two weeks
We will show you the exact AI tools in use, who is using them, and what data categories are moving. No agents to buy first, no commitment to a platform before you see the findings.
Goes well with
Shadow AI control works best alongside the browser, endpoint, and identity layers where unsanctioned tools actually land.
AI Governance
Policy, guardrails, and monitoring for approved AI use across your business.
Browser Security
Control extensions, sessions, and web uploads where Shadow AI actually happens.
Shadow IT Prevention
Discover and shut down unsanctioned SaaS, storage, and endpoint software.
Microsoft 365 Copilot
Stand up a sanctioned AI tenant your staff will actually prefer.
Application Allowlisting
Default-deny control so unapproved AI clients never execute.
Zero Trust Approach
Identity-first access so every AI integration is scoped and revocable.
Shadow AI questions we hear a lot
Ready to make IT a strategic advantage?
Get a 30-minute call with our sales or support team. No pitch. Just a real assessment of where your IT and security stand today.