Free checklist
The Shadow AI Checklist
Find the AI your team is already using, before it finds your data.
Shadow AI (employees using AI tools without approval) puts customer, pricing and personnel data in places you don’t control. Most of our audits uncover unapproved tools handling company data on day one. This free checklist shows you where to look.
What the checklist covers
- Which AI tools your team may be using without approval
- What company data those tools can reach: customer, pricing and personnel
- What to fix first, in plain language
Built for owners, presidents and the office, HR and IT leads who get asked about AI first.
Get the free checklist
FAQ
Shadow AI, explained
What is shadow AI?
Shadow AI is employees using AI tools without approval: free chatbots, browser extensions, AI meeting note-takers and AI features switched on inside software you already pay for. It is rarely malicious. Usually people want to work faster and nobody has told them which tools are safe.
Why is shadow AI a risk for a small business?
Anything typed or uploaded into an unapproved AI tool leaves your control. Customer lists, pricing, contracts and personnel records can end up stored or reused by a vendor nobody at your company has reviewed, under terms nobody agreed to.
Should we just ban AI tools?
Bans tend to push AI use out of sight rather than stop it. A better route is a short list of approved tools, clear rules on what data stays out, and training so people know why. That is what an AI acceptable use policy does.
After the checklist
Found something? Get the full picture.
The checklist shows you where to look. The AI Readiness Audit measures it: an anonymous Shadow AI Survey of your whole team, a data and systems inventory, and a 90-day roadmap that puts guardrails first.