The people most likely to be using unapproved AI tools at work are also the ones responsible for enforcing the rules against them. New research finds that 62 per cent of UK senior leaders use shadow AI — twice the rate of junior employees — with many willing to face disciplinary action rather than stop.
A survey of 2,000 employees across the UK and US by TrustedTech has found that AI governance risk in enterprise sits primarily at the top of organisations, not the bottom. Senior leaders in the UK are using unapproved AI tools at more than double the rate of their junior colleagues: 62 per cent versus 31 per cent.
More striking is the intent. Twenty-eight per cent of senior decision-makers say they would continue using shadow AI even if their organisation banned it and disciplinary action was possible. At the same time, 51 per cent of those same leaders say they are concerned about employees using shadow AI — a gap between stated governance values and actual behaviour that runs directly through the boardroom.
Businesses often assume Shadow AI is a bottom-up problem, but our research shows it is being driven from the top down.
Senior leaders are not only the biggest users of unapproved AI tools, they are also knowingly bypassing safeguards because the perceived benefits outweigh the risks. When that behaviour is modelled at the top of an organisation, it becomes significantly harder to enforce governance elsewhere in the business.
The reasons employees give for turning to unapproved tools are practical: 24 per cent cite limited access to employer-approved AI, 21 per cent say unapproved tools are more efficient, and a further 21 per cent say they don't want their data stored or accessed by their employer. Leadership's elevated access to sensitive systems and administrative privileges means the exposure from poor AI hygiene at the top is disproportionately higher than equivalent behaviour lower in an organisation.
The research also points to a wider cultural problem around AI use at work. Twenty-one per cent of UK employees say they judge colleagues negatively for heavy AI use, while 23 per cent reduce their own AI use to manage perceptions. Twenty-eight per cent believe their employer monitors AI tool usage. Despite all of this, 76 per cent of UK employees acknowledge the security and privacy risks of unapproved AI tools, and nearly half continue to use them anyway.
Julian Hamood, Founder and Chief Visionary Officer of TrustedTech, said: "Businesses often assume Shadow AI is a bottom-up problem, but our research shows it is being driven from the top down. Senior leaders are not only the biggest users of unapproved AI tools, they are also knowingly bypassing safeguards because the perceived benefits outweigh the risks. When that behaviour is modelled at the top of an organisation, it becomes significantly harder to enforce governance elsewhere in the business."
The full whitepaper, Shadow AI in the Workplace, is available on the TrustedTech website.
