About six of every 10 corporate employees are willing to use shadow AI tools if it helps them meet work deadlines, according to a report from security firm BlackFog.
The report shows that 86% of workers are using AI tools at least once a week to accomplish certain tasks and more than one-third are using free versions of tools approved by their employers.
In addition, seven of every 10 C-level executives are willing to let faster production outweigh the need for increased security, according to the report.
“The consistent story we have heard is that CEO’s have mandated the adoption and use of AI and have allocated a significant amount of funds to do this, and this is taking precedence over the security concerns,” said Darren Williams, founder and CEO of BlackFog. “The efficiency gains are too large to ignore.”
As a result, IT security teams are left playing catchup in an effort to provide the proper amount of controls.
The findings were based on a survey of 2,000 workers at U.K. and U.S. companies, with the numbers evenly split between the two countries. The survey was conducted by Sapio Research on behalf of Black Fog.
The report raises concerns about whether companies are encouraging unsafe use of AI in order to meet productivity goals. Security leaders have cautioned that AI deployment needs to have guardrails and proper governance to make sure companies can protect their critical systems, secure data and make sure they don’t put their own customers at risk of follow-on attacks.
A report released by Netskope earlier this month showed that employees were using AI tools via their own personal accounts, which meant corporate security protocols were not being followed.
Editor’s note: Updates with comment from BlackFog.