Enterprise employees are increasingly building their own AI tools, sparking a surge in shadow AI that raises security concerns.

Netskope reports a 50% rise in generative AI platform use, with over half of current adoption estimated to be unsanctioned by IT.

Platforms like Azure OpenAI, Amazon Bedrock, and Vertex AI lead this trend, allowing users to connect enterprise data to custom AI agents.

The growth of shadow AI has prompted calls for better oversight, real-time user training, and updated data loss prevention strategies.

On-premises deployment is also increasing, with 34% of firms using local LLM interfaces like Ollama and LM Studio. Security risks grow as AI agents retrieve data using API calls beyond browsers, particularly from OpenAI and Anthropic endpoints.