- Shadow AI is becoming a growing concern for firms everywhere
- Bosses are aware of it, but often powerless to stop
- Risks include security flaws, breaches and even data leaks
Bosses everywhere are starting to despair at employees taking the law into their own hands when it comes to using AI at work, new research has shown.
A report from Dataiku has revealed how senior leaders are increasingly frustrated at the use of “shadow AI” in their organizations as workers look for extra help.
The report found 50% of senior British data leaders believe more than half of their employees are using Gen AI tools for company work without permission, possibly putting systems and data at risk.
Shadow AI risks
The study also found 90% of British data leaders cite data integration challenges or proprietary data access as their top concern when deploying AI (the highest level globally).
A lack of technical understanding at a leadership level was also raised as a particular concern, as over three-quarters (78%) said their C-suite underestimates the time and difficulty required to achieve AI systems which would be reliable enough for production deployment.
This ultimately often led to rushed deployments on fractured infrastructure, creating further obstacles to productivity which AI should in fact be solving.
Dataiku polled over 800 respondents across the world for its survey, including gathering “confessions” from attendees in an “AI Confessions Booth” during its Dataiku Summit: London event in September 2025.
Among the stories told by respondents was one senior executive who admitted, “I know almost all of my employees are using shadow AI — and most of them copy and paste sensitive data into ChatGPT every week.”
Another respondent, a senior sales director, noted, “we are currently building AI randomly, with no regard to the data foundations…people have invested huge amounts in AI, but the data foundations are so shaky the return on investment won’t be there.”
However despite these challenges, nearly all (96%) of respondents said AI systems could elevate and enhance expert knowledge rather than replacing it, with employees using AI to support tasks such as SQL and programming.
“These confessions are a reminder that AI in the enterprise isn’t failing because it’s too powerful, but because it’s too unmanaged. Behind closed doors, British data leaders are admitting to cutting corners, improvising architectures, and hoping no one notices. That should shake every executive awake,” says Florian Douetteau, CEO and co-founder of Dataiku.
“The winners won’t be the ones deploying the fastest, but the ones building AI on foundations that are governed, explainable, and accountable.”
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