Shadow AI

Generative-AI tools employees use for work without IT or security approval — often pasting sensitive data into the prompt.

Also known as: unsanctioned AI, rogue AI tools

Shadow AI is shadow IT's faster, riskier cousin. The barrier to entry is a Google login and a free tier, and the data exposure can happen in a single prompt — pasted source code, customer records, contracts, financials.

Most companies have dozens to hundreds of AI tools in use that IT can't name. Each one is a separate data-processing relationship with terms nobody reviewed, and each one keeps the data it was trained on.

Inventorying shadow AI starts with the corporate identity provider. Every AI signup that uses a company email leaves a fingerprint — SeatMap finds them in under 2 seconds.

Examples

An engineer pastes proprietary code into ChatGPT to debug it.
A recruiter uploads candidate CVs to an AI screening tool.
A PM drafts a customer email in an AI writing tool that retains the message.

Related terms

Shadow IT

Any software, SaaS account, or cloud service an employee uses for work without IT approval or visibility.

SaaS sprawl

The uncontrolled growth of SaaS apps inside a company — the gap between the tools IT knows about and the tools employees actually use.

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