2025 State of Shadow AI Report

The Shadow AI Era Is Here

Shadow AI isn’t coming; it’s already inside your enterprise. These tools are running unsanctioned for 400+ days on average, embedding themselves into workflows, and quietly compounding your security debt.

Our research shows:

• Smaller organizations face the highest risk — 27% of employees rely on unsanctioned AI tools.
• Critical apps lack basic controls like MFA, RBAC, and audit logging, yet process corporate data daily.
• Mass adoption ≠ enterprise readiness — the most popular AI apps are also some of the riskiest.
• 53% of all Shadow AI flows through OpenAI, creating a single point of failure for thousands of enterprises.

Traditional security can’t see this. But your board, regulators, and attackers will.