As more people turn to AI tools at the workplace, it’s crucial for small business owners to understand how accessing AI could be affecting their company’s cybersecurity. Are you or your employees accidentally sharing sensitive data?

Here’s advice from industry experts on reducing cybersecurity threats when using AI tools at work, including common mistakes that expose your business and data to cyber-criminals.

As Workplace AI Use Grows, So Does the Need for Safeguards

The number of workers using AI assistant tools, such as Microsoft Copilot, Gemini and ChatGPT, to draft emails, summarize documents, brainstorm ideas, etc., is growing, and cybersecurity analysts are cautioning business leaders about the risks that come with increased usage.

A recent Gallup poll points to a steady increase of individual AI use at work over the past year. More than half of U.S. workers (52 percent) told a July survey they use AI in their roles, compared to 40 percent who said they did in the Q2 poll in 2025, according to Gallup.

Further, 30 percent of workers said they use AI a few times a week or more, up from the 19 percent who did so last year, and 15 percent told the survey they use AI daily at work, compared to only 8 percent who reported daily use in the 2025 Q2 poll.

Employees who are using AI at work could be unintentionally exposing personal company and customer information, cautions a blog by BEI, a managed IT service and technology support company in the D.C., area.

“As AI becomes more embedded into daily workflows, organizations face a growing risk of client and customer data exposure, intellectual property leaks, compliance violations, unauthorized data sharing, and loss of visibility into how company information is being used,” adds the BEI post.

One of the key issues, says the National Cybersecurity Alliance (NCA), is that AI adoption at businesses often moves faster than governance. 

The creation of critical cybersecurity practices and safeguards at companies is lagging behind the increased AI use at work, and that’s generating risks, the NCA says in an article on its website.

The group pointed to an NCA survey that showed nearly 88 percent of small business owners reporting AI use, yet 54 percent acknowledged they’re accessing AI tools without any formal guidelines or policies in place at their company.

What Is Shadow AI?

The depicted disconnect between organizational oversight and AI use has become known as Shadow AI.

“This creates a situation where employees have access to increasingly powerful tools without fully understanding their limitations or associated risks,” writes Tim Sandle, editor-at-large for science news, in a story for Digital Journal.

Employee behavior is contributing to the “rapidly growing” shadow AI problem, cautions a report from WatchGuard Technologies, citing its company’s survey that showed 64% of participating employees reported using unauthorized AI tools for work.

"Organizations are investing in security tools, but many still lack visibility into how employees actually work,” says Marc Laliberte, Watchguard’s director of security operations, in a press release last summer about the company’s 2026 Cybersecurity Hygiene Report.

“Everyday behaviors, from AI usage to password practices, create risk that traditional controls aren’t designed to address,” he adds.

How Sensitive Data Can Be Exposed Through AI Tools

One of the most common paths to an AI-related cybersecurity threat occurs when someone enters sensitive information into public AI platforms, explains the NCA.

For example, you or an employee might copy and paste confidential financial information, customer data, internal reports or contract language into a chatbot to summarize a document or improve its wording — that information can potentially be stored or processed by third parties.

“This can pose risks to proprietary business information, customer privacy, and regulatory compliance,” the NCA adds. “Employees may not realize that data entered into an AI tool can leave the organization's direct control.”

Cybersecurity experts emphasize the importance of creating written guidelines around AI use at work, and implement reviews or training to be sure employees understand what information can and cannot be shared with external platforms.

“Every business should establish basic rules for AI usage,” says the National Cybersecurity Alliance in a recent post. “An AI Acceptable Use Policy (AUP) helps employees understand how AI can be used safely and responsibly within the workplace.”

“At a minimum, the policy should clearly identify what types of information should never be entered into public AI tools.”