Free resource: Shadow AI Risk Checklist — 12 questions every SME leader should ask before next month's board meeting
Book a free Snapshot →When everyday AI use moves faster than your controls.
Staff are already drafting emails, summarising contracts, and analysing financial data in tools you don't see. RSVR helps you find that exposure, set practical controls, and build the safer workflow.
- Customer emails with account details
- Contracts, MSAs, and SOWs
- Pricing, margin, and financial data
- HR letters and grievance notes
- Board reports and strategy roadmaps
- Source code and credentials
The AI you didn't approve, used on data you can't see.
Shadow AI is the everyday use of free, consumer or personal AI tools for work — outside your approved systems, outside your data rules, and outside your visibility. It is already happening in your business.
Unlike traditional shadow IT, shadow AI involves active data transfer — staff are not just using an unapproved tool, they are feeding your most sensitive business information directly into systems you do not control, on terms set by providers you may never have reviewed.
"The question is not whether your staff are using AI. 55–71% already are. The question is whether you know what they are putting into it."
RSVR Tech · WorkLex AI Diagnostic · 2026Shadow AI vs Shadow IT — why AI is different
Data may not leave your environment
Sensitive data actively leaves your environment
Device management can block tool use
Web-based, personal devices, no device-level visibility
What is entering AI tools in your business right now
Customer communications
Complaint threads, account details, pricing proposals, onboarding history
High frequency
Contracts & legal
MSAs, SOWs, NDAs, DPAs, negotiation positions, clause libraries
High sensitivity
Financial & pricing
Margin data, customer revenue, cost structures, forecasts, board packs
High sensitivity
HR & people
Performance letters, disciplinary records, grievance material, salary data
Regulated — GDPR
Board & strategy
Management reports, M&A material, confidential roadmaps, board minutes
Highly confidential
Supplier & commercial
Supplier terms, preferred pricing, rebate structures, partner agreements
Commercially sensitive
Source code & IP
Proprietary code, API keys, system credentials, architecture documents
IP risk
Patient & client records
For healthcare, legal and professional services firms — regulated under GDPR / DPA 2018
Regulated — GDPR
Security & compliance
Risk registers, audit reports, vulnerability notes, penetration test findings
Restricted accessSix reasons consumer AI use creates risk even when staff are careful.
Your staff are not being reckless. They are trying to do their jobs faster. The risk is structural, not behavioural.
Consumer terms of service
Free tools may use prompts for product improvement unless explicitly opted out. Most employees never read the terms.
Personal accounts, invisible to you
Work content in personal AI accounts lives in chat histories no manager can review, audit, or delete — including after the employee leaves.
No audit trail
There is no record of what was entered, generated, sent or kept. You cannot investigate after an incident if you have no logs.
No data classification
Confidential, regulated and customer data is not labelled when it enters an AI prompt. A board strategy document is treated the same as a marketing email draft.
AI output reaches customers without review
AI-drafted replies, proposals or documents go out without a factual check or human checkpoint — at scale, across every function.
No approved alternative
Without a clear approved route, even careful staff fall back on whatever is available. The absence of an approved tool is not a deterrent — it is the problem.
A ban removes visibility. It does not remove use.
A blanket ban pushes usage onto personal devices and personal accounts. Leadership loses the one thing it needs most: a clear view of where AI is actually being used and on what data.
- Staff continue using AI on personal devices — invisible to leadership
- Usage moves to personal accounts — no audit trail, no compliance
- Leadership loses visibility entirely
- Valuable AI productivity gains are lost
- Enforcement overhead with no measurable risk reduction
- Approved-tool list with clear data rules — staff use the safe path
- Manager routine takes four minutes per week — visible, not punitive
- Leadership sees which tools are in use and on what data
- AI productivity retained with risk controlled
- Works alongside Microsoft Copilot and Google Gemini
The five governance gaps RSVR addresses
No visibility
Leadership cannot see which tools are in use, by whom, or on what data type.
No approved list
Staff default to whichever consumer tool is fastest, not what is safe.
No plain-language rules
Employees guess where the boundary is between safe and unsafe data entry.
No output review
AI-generated content reaches customers, boards and regulators without a human checkpoint.
No safe alternative
Without an approved route, even careful staff use what is available and convenient.
Discover → Control → Adopt → Build.
Practical, senior-led shadow AI control for SME teams. Evidence-first at every step, implementable at SME speed and budget.
Discover
Map where AI is in use — by team, workflow, data type. Without surveillance. Without guesswork.
- AI use inventory by department
- Data categories currently exposed
- Shadow AI risk register
- Board-readable exposure summary
Control
Set practical controls that reduce exposure without killing productivity. Sized to your team — not enterprise-grade overhead.
- Approved-tool list with rationale
- Two-line data rule (recitable by every employee)
- Manager output review routine
- Escalation path for edge cases
Adopt
Make the safe route the easy route. Use cases, training and guidance so staff know what to do — not just what's banned.
- Department-specific AI use cases
- Role-based employee guidance
- Manager enablement materials
- Onboarding integration for new joiners
Build
Where the fix needs real engineering — dashboards, automations and AI-assisted workflows that make safe use operationally embedded.
- AI usage dashboard for leadership
- Approved workflow automations
- Integration with Copilot / Gemini
- Ongoing monitoring and review cadence
Safe, practical AI adoption your team will actually use.
WorkLex AI is RSVR's method for making workplace AI governance practical, embedded and self-sustaining at SME scale.
AI Use Cases by Department
Department-specific, low-risk AI uses with clear value propositions and clear data boundaries.
- Finance: automate report narrative, not the data itself
- Legal: summarise public documents, not confidential ones
- Sales: draft follow-up templates, not client-specific proposals
- HR: use AI for job description drafts, not performance notes
Manager Routines
Short, repeatable weekly routines that make AI supervision practical at the line-manager level. Built to take four minutes, not four hours.
- Weekly prompt review — spot-check two outputs per team member
- Monthly tool audit — confirm approved tools still in use
- Escalation path for novel or ambiguous use cases
- Quarterly update cycle as AI tools change
Employee Guidance
Plain-English rules on what may and may not be entered into AI, with specific examples from your business context.
- The two-line data rule — concise enough to recite
- Green / amber / red data classification — one page
- What to do if you're unsure — a named escalation point
- The approved tools list with login instructions
Training & Enablement
Role-specific training that focuses on judgement and practical skill — not just clicking through a compliance module.
- 30-minute role-specific session per team
- Live examples from your business context
- Manager-led reinforcement guide
- New joiner integration built into onboarding from day one
Scoped to your team. No surprises.
RSVR does not publish a fixed price list because every engagement is sized to your actual team, regulatory context, and delivery timeline — not a generic package. What we can tell you upfront:
- The Snapshot is free. 30 minutes with Rajnish directly — no junior handoff.
- The diagnostic is time-boxed and fixed-fee. Typically 2–4 weeks. Board-readable output. No open-ended retainer.
- Build work is scoped before any commitment. You approve scope, timeline, and cost before we begin.
- Structured for SME budgets. Not enterprise pricing. Senior-led delivery without the large-firm overhead.
Start with an AI Data Safety Snapshot.
A focused executive conversation to identify whether your workplace AI exposure justifies a deeper diagnostic. You leave with a practical recommendation — not a sales pitch. If the answer is "not yet", we will say so.
No documents needed · No confidential data before we speak · No vendor pitch
You leave knowing where exposure sits · whether a diagnostic is justified · what the right next step is
Different roles. Same risk surface.
CEO / MD
Protect customer trust, commercial secrets and reputation while enabling AI productivity across the team.
COO
Bring visibility and consistency to how staff use AI across daily workflows — with practical controls, not bans.
General Counsel
Secure contract data, client matter information and HR material from entering unmanaged AI tools.
CFO / Finance Director
Prevent pricing, margin, forecast and customer revenue data from entering AI tools with no audit trail.
Frameworks increasingly expect you to know how AI is being used.
RSVR helps you build the operational practice. Certification and formal compliance sign-off remain with your specialist advisers.
UK ICO Guidance
Expects controllers to understand where AI is processing personal data and to have appropriate data handling rules in place.
EU AI Act
Requires transparency, human oversight and risk management for AI systems — including those used by employees in daily operations.
Australia's OAIC
Privacy Act obligations cover AI use of personal information — including information entered into consumer AI tools by employees.
NIST AI RMF
Organisations should map AI use, identify risks, and establish governance practices — a natural fit for RSVR's Discover → Control methodology.
Note: RSVR is not a law firm and does not provide legal or regulatory advice. We help you build the operational discipline that frameworks increasingly expect. Legal and regulatory sign-off remains with your specialist advisers.
Questions leaders ask before booking.
Where AI Data Safety connects.
Find where AI is already inside your business.
Book a free 30-minute Snapshot. You leave with a practical next-step recommendation — not a sales pitch. If no action is needed yet, we will tell you.
