Skip to content
ADVERTISEMENT
News

Half of firms fear employees are sharing sensitive company data with AI, research finds

88% of respondents believed employees used AI tools without formal approval or oversight, research from Turbotic found.

2 min read
Share
ai workplace
ADVERTISEMENT

More than half of UK businesses fear employees are entering sensitive company data into unauthorised artificial intelligence (AI) tools, research from Turbotic found.

The survey of senior decision-makers involved in AI projects found 51% were concerned about staff sharing sensitive information.

Nearly nine in 10 (88%) of respondents believed employees used AI tools without formal approval or oversight.

IT departments had the highest reported use of unauthorised AI at 36%, followed by customer service at 30%, marketing at 28% and sales at 27%.

Other concerns included regulatory or compliance breaches, cited by 38%, and employees using AI without management oversight, cited by 36%.

ADVERTISEMENT

More than a third (35%) were worried that inaccurate or unreliable AI-generated information could influence business decisions.

Despite being involved in AI projects and deployment decisions, 27% of respondents had not heard of shadow AI before taking part in the survey.

Nearly two-thirds (64%) said most or all of their organisation’s AI pilot projects had moved into day-to-day operations.

ADVERTISEMENT

Theodore Bergqvist, CEO and co-founder of Turbotic, said: “Our research, as we expected, shows that AI is already being used across UK businesses and more are keen to move on from the pilot stage into full-blown integration. 

“But what did surprise us is that, as adoption is increasing, just how many organisations don’t know which tools their people are using, what data is being put into them, whether AI is influencing a business decision, or even what the term Shadow AI means. 

ADVERTISEMENT

“That’s a huge problem when it comes to properly managing the risks that come with AI use, and encouraging more adoption will only make the problem harder to manage.”

ADVERTISEMENT

Bergqvist added: “If organisations want AI to become part of everyday business, they need to first treat visibility, governance and trust as part of deployment, not something to bolt on afterwards. 

“And this responsibility must sit not with employees, but with leadership, who need to be creating an environment where people know what they can use, what they can’t, and why.”

Related