90% of Employees Use AI With or Without Permission

AI is a tool, not a magic wand. That was the message I repeated to the audience for the PraxIQ Ethics in AI panel.

The questions the audience asked during the discussion made it clear that people want more from AI. Since 95% of companies1 haven’t seen ROI from AI pilots or projects, it’s obvious there’s a gap from using AI to actual outcomes with metrics. To fill that gap, participants were asking if they needed an AI policy, framework, or training. The answer is yes to all three.

Yet, businesses and organizations are overwhelmed by the need to simply stay in business. If your organization doesn’t have the time to develop one of those three programs, then what can you do to use AI today? A quick and simple win is to host a 30-minute workshop where employees and leaders openly discuss how they use AI in their work. This is the perfect starting point for opening the discussion on AI at work. It’s astounding to realize that 90% of workers use AI tools on their personal accounts. This is known as “Shadow AI”1 and is a detriment to businesses since it increases the risk for confidential client or employee data leakage.

Hosting A Successful AI Workshop

This week’s brief describes how to approach hosting an AI workshop if your company or business hasn’t hosted one before.

As you saw in the video, hosting a successful AI workshop comes from having one specific outcome for the workshop. By hosting an AI workshop, your company or organization shines a light on “Shadow AI” use. This brings it out in the open, allowing for clear and honest discussions about AI use. As I’ve learned hosting workshops, these discussions are the building blocks for the AI policy, framework, and training your company must have moving forward.

References

1. The GenAI Divide
MIT Nanda. State of AI in Business 2025. 2025.
https://mlq.ai/media/quarterly_decks/v0.1_State_of_AI_in_Business_2025_Report.pdf