Shadow AI: definition and how to manage itWhen everyone uses their own AI on their own, the company builds nothing lasting

Shadow AI: definition and examplesWhat shadow AI looks like

It does not show up on dashboards. It looks like this:

• a sales assistant who summarises her meeting notes with a personal ChatGPT account;
• a management controller who had an AI write a macro to reprocess his exports;
• a technician who pastes extracts of customer documentation into a chatbot to save time;
• a purchasing manager who has crafted a highly effective prompt for comparing offers, and is the only one using it.

Each of these uses creates value. None of them is visible, shared or controlled.

Why shadow AI is spreadingWhy it is spreading

Because the tools are accessible, effective and free or nearly free for individual use. Because business pain points are real and the IT department cannot deal with them all. And because, often, the company has not yet offered anything equivalent. The workaround is the easiest path, so that is the one employees take.

The risks of shadow AIThe real risks

Data

Personal data, customer information, contractual documents: once sent to an uncontrolled service, the company no longer knows where or how they are processed.

Costs

Individual subscriptions reimbursed through expense claims, API keys with no cap: the spending exists, but nobody sees the full picture.

Loss of know-how

The most underestimated risk. The best optimisations remain individual. They are not documented, shared or maintained, and they disappear at the first change of role.

Banning ChatGPT is not enoughWhy banning is not enough

Blocking public tools reduces a visible risk, but not the need. Usage moves to personal phones, and the company loses what little visibility it had. The lasting answer is to offer a framework that makes governed use simpler than covert use.

From shadow AI to governed applicationsTurning shadow AI into assets

1. Identify the uses
2. Identify key users
3. Govern models and data
4. Industrialise useful tools
5. Share in a portal

The people who developed covert uses are often your best key users. They know the pain points and have already prototyped a solution. What they lack is a framework so that their tool becomes the team’s tool.

Managing shadow AI with an AI platformWhat Collapps brings

With Hi-perf Collapps, individual use becomes a company application:

• The key user builds their tool, assisted by AI, within a framework defined with the IT department.
• The code is versioned in Git: it belongs to the company.
• The application goes through a test environment and approval before production.
• It only calls approved models, on the company’s AI accounts.
• Its usage is measured and capped.
• It is published in the internal portal, available to the colleagues who need it.

Turning individual optimisations into company assets: that is the goal. See how it works in detail.

Shadow AIFrequently asked questions