What is shadow AI

Definition

Shadow AI is the use of artificial intelligence tools and services by employees without the knowledge, approval, or governance of IT and security teams. It's the AI-specific manifestation of shadow IT, but with higher stakes because AI tools often process sensitive data, generate outputs used in business decisions, and create compliance obligations.

Scale of the Problem

Research from McKinsey (2024) indicates that 88% of organizations have employees using AI tools without formal approval. Most security teams are aware of 3-5 approved AI tools and blind to the rest.

Discovery Through DNS

Securd discovers shadow AI by monitoring DNS queries, the layer every AI connection must traverse. Within 24 hours of deployment, the dashboard shows every AI service your network resolves: ChatGPT, Claude, Midjourney, Copilot, Perplexity, Gemini, Jasper, Stable Diffusion, Hugging Face, and hundreds more. No CASB, no endpoint agent, no proxy required.