--- title: Senior executives are killing your shadow AI strategy description: Nearly two-thirds of senior decision-makers admit to using unauthorized AI tools, compared to just 31% of lower-level employees, according to a TrustedTech... canonical: https://daily.dev/posts/senior-executives-are-killing-your-shadow-ai-strategy-mhly9aoxw twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:site: @dailydotdev og:type: website og:site_name: daily.dev og:title: Senior executives are killing your shadow AI strategy | daily.dev og:description: Nearly two-thirds of senior decision-makers admit to using unauthorized AI tools, compared to just 31% of lower-level employees, according to a TrustedTech... og:url: https://daily.dev/posts/senior-executives-are-killing-your-shadow-ai-strategy-mhly9aoxw og:image: https://api.daily.dev/og/posts/mhly9aOXW.png og:image:alt: Senior executives are killing your shadow AI strategy og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 630 og:locale: en --- > ## Documentation Index > Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://daily.dev/llms.txt > Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further. # Senior executives are killing your shadow AI strategy **[CSO Online](https://daily.dev/sources/csoonline)** · 6 min read · 2 upvotes · 0 comments ## Summary Nearly two-thirds of senior decision-makers admit to using unauthorized AI tools, compared to just 31% of lower-level employees, according to a TrustedTech survey. Executives prioritize speed over security, creating a governance crisis for CISOs and CIOs who are held accountable for risks they can't see or control. Experts argue the root cause isn't ignorance of risk but friction in approved tooling — when sanctioned AI tools are slower or less capable than consumer alternatives, employees at every level find workarounds. The solution proposed is not more policy enforcement but making the secure path the easiest path by providing genuinely useful, low-friction approved tools backed by executive buy-in. ## Full article daily.dev links to this article rather than hosting it. Read it at the original source: ## Questions this post answers ### Why do senior executives use unapproved AI tools more than regular employees? Nearly two-thirds of senior decision-makers admit to using unapproved AI tools, compared to just 31% of lower-level employees, according to a survey by Microsoft solutions partner TrustedTech. Most are aware of the security and privacy risks but choose to use these tools anyway because approved alternatives are slower, harder to access, or worse than mainstream AI products. _Security leaders navigating shadow AI risk can follow governance debates like this one on daily.dev._ ### How does executive shadow AI use create risk for CISOs and CIOs? When senior leaders use ungoverned AI tools for business decisions involving financial commitments, contract reviews, or data sharing, there is no audit trail, permissions model, or way to reconstruct what happened. CISOs and CIOs are held accountable for this risk exposure despite having no visibility into how executives are actually using these tools, according to Ivalua CISO Amit Maloo. _IT leaders weighing AI governance tradeoffs can track this reporting on daily.dev._ ### What did the Teramind shadow AI report find about how executives use AI tools versus approved versions? A Teramind report found more than two-thirds of C-level executives prioritize speed over security when using AI tools, and two-thirds of enterprise AI activity runs through personal accounts on platforms for which the company already owns licenses. Employees end up paying for the governed version while using the ungoverned one because the approved path is slower and buried in procurement. _Anyone building an AI adoption policy can follow findings like this on daily.dev._ ## Similar posts on daily.dev - [Execs make AI rules and break them with shadow IT](https://daily.dev/posts/execs-make-ai-rules-and-break-them-with-shadow-it-hrspr5sru) · The Register · 0 upvotes · 0 comments - [Shadow AI Explained: Why Employees Are Using AI Behind Your Back](https://daily.dev/posts/shadow-ai-explained-why-employees-are-using-ai-behind-your-back-1ongax30v) · freeCodeCamp · 2 upvotes · 0 comments - [Bosses blinded by confidence about shadow AI use by workers](https://daily.dev/posts/bosses-blinded-by-confidence-about-shadow-ai-use-by-workers-r738evpyt) · The Register · 0 upvotes · 0 comments - [5 Steps to Managing Shadow AI Tools Without Slowing Down Employees](https://daily.dev/posts/5-steps-to-managing-shadow-ai-tools-without-slowing-down-employees-c9ltntepl) · BleepingComputer · 0 upvotes · 0 comments - [Follow the AI Footpaths](https://daily.dev/posts/follow-the-ai-footpaths-mix8dls4r) · Towards Data Science · 0 upvotes · 0 comments --- Tags: [#ai](https://daily.dev/tags/ai), [#security](https://daily.dev/tags/security), [#ai-governance](https://daily.dev/tags/ai-governance) [View this post on daily.dev](https://daily.dev/posts/senior-executives-are-killing-your-shadow-ai-strategy-mhly9aoxw) ```json {"@context":"https://schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https://daily.dev/#organization","name":"daily.dev","url":"https://daily.dev","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://daily.dev/apple-touch-icon.png","width":180,"height":180},"sameAs":["https://twitter.com/dailydotdev","https://github.com/dailydotdev","https://www.linkedin.com/company/daily-dev-ltd"]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https://daily.dev/#website","url":"https://daily.dev","name":"daily.dev","publisher":{"@id":"https://daily.dev/#organization"},"potentialAction":{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https://daily.dev/search?q={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}}]} {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"TechArticle","headline":"Senior executives are killing your shadow AI strategy","url":"https://daily.dev/posts/senior-executives-are-killing-your-shadow-ai-strategy-mhly9aoxw","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://daily.dev/posts/senior-executives-are-killing-your-shadow-ai-strategy-mhly9aoxw"},"datePublished":"2026-07-17T07:04:50.185Z","dateModified":"2026-09-14T07:38:14.408Z","description":"Nearly two-thirds of senior decision-makers admit to using unauthorized AI tools, compared to just 31% of lower-level employees, according to a TrustedTech...","image":"https://media.daily.dev/image/upload/f_auto,q_auto/v1/posts/892e4f9dba85e18af97928541fad2dc9?_a=AQAEuop","thumbnailUrl":"https://media.daily.dev/image/upload/f_auto,q_auto/v1/posts/892e4f9dba85e18af97928541fad2dc9?_a=AQAEuop","isAccessibleForFree":true,"articleSection":"CSO Online","inLanguage":"en","publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"daily.dev","url":"https://daily.dev","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://daily.dev/apple-touch-icon.png","width":180,"height":180}},"author":{"@type":"Organization","name":"CSO Online","logo":"https://media.daily.dev/image/upload/t_logo,f_auto/v1/logos/98667e4b5cac46cf9c470819c6cf71cd","url":"https://daily.dev/sources/csoonline"},"commentCount":0,"discussionUrl":"https://daily.dev/posts/senior-executives-are-killing-your-shadow-ai-strategy-mhly9aoxw","interactionStatistic":[{"@type":"InteractionCounter","interactionType":{"@type":"LikeAction"},"userInteractionCount":2},{"@type":"InteractionCounter","interactionType":{"@type":"CommentAction"},"userInteractionCount":0}],"keywords":"ai,security,ai-governance","timeRequired":"PT6M"} {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https://daily.dev"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"CSO Online","item":"https://daily.dev/sources/csoonline"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"Senior executives are killing your shadow AI strategy"}]} {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"FAQPage","@id":"https://daily.dev/posts/senior-executives-are-killing-your-shadow-ai-strategy-mhly9aoxw#faq","mainEntity":[{"@type":"Question","name":"Why do senior executives use unapproved AI tools more than regular employees?","acceptedAnswer":{"@type":"Answer","text":"Nearly two-thirds of senior decision-makers admit to using unapproved AI tools, compared to just 31% of lower-level employees, according to a survey by Microsoft solutions partner TrustedTech. 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