Artificial Intelligence has quickly become part of the modern workplace. What started as a handful of approved tools has evolved into employees using AI assistants for writing, coding, research, analysis, image generation, and countless other tasks. The challenge for IT and security teams is that many of these tools are adopted long before governance policies can catch up.

According to Microsoft’s 2024 Work Trend Index, 75% of knowledge workers already use AI at work, and 78% of AI users bring their own AI tools into the workplace to increase productivity.

The question many organizations should be asking is simple:

Do you actually know how many AI tools are already running across your environment?

The Hidden Growth of AI Applications

In many organizations, AI adoption is happening from the bottom up.

An employee uses an AI chatbot to draft emails and reports. Another relies on AI to help write code or troubleshoot technical issues. Marketing teams experiment with AI-generated content and images, while finance departments explore AI-powered analytics tools.

As AI adoption accelerates, organizations can quickly find themselves using a growing number of AI tools across departments, often without centralized visibility into how they are being accessed, deployed, or managed.

This creates a challenge that resembles the rise of shadow IT. While AI can deliver significant productivity gains, the use of unapproved or unmanaged tools can introduce risks that security teams cannot afford to overlook.

Some of the most common concerns include:

• Sensitive business data being shared with external AI services
• Use of AI tools that have not been approved or assessed by the organization
• Unknown data retention and processing practices
• Limited visibility into which AI tools are being used across the organization
• Compliance and regulatory challenges
• Vulnerabilities in installed AI applications and related software
• An increased attack surface created by third-party tools and services

Without this visibility, risk assessments become guesswork.

Gaining Visibility into Installed AI Applications

While organizations need governance, policies, and user awareness to manage browser-based AI usage, visibility into installed software remains an important part of understanding AI-related risk across the endpoint environment.

SecTeer VulnDetect provides organizations with visibility into installed software across endpoints through its non-intrusive scanning technology and software inventory capabilities. By identifying installed applications and their versions, security teams gain the insight needed to understand what software exists within their environment and whether vulnerabilities are present.

With the appropriate configurable ruleset, VulnDetect can help identify installed AI-related applications across endpoints, enabling organizations to gain greater visibility into AI software usage within their environment.

Once identified, these applications can be reviewed alongside other installed software using VulnDetect’s software inventory, vulnerability detection, CVE visibility, and patch management capabilities. This helps security teams better understand and manage potential risks associated with installed applications.

As AI adoption continues to accelerate, organizations that maintain visibility over their software landscape will be better positioned to balance innovation with security.

Visibility Must Keep Pace with AI Adoption

AI is rapidly becoming part of everyday work, often without organizations fully realizing how many tools are being used across departments and teams.

The challenge is not whether employees should use AI. The challenge is maintaining visibility as AI adoption continues to accelerate. Without a clear understanding of which tools are being used and where they are being introduced, organizations risk creating blind spots that can impact security, compliance, and risk management efforts.

As AI becomes more deeply embedded in business processes, visibility will remain a critical foundation for making informed security decisions. Organizations that understand their software landscape will be better positioned to embrace innovation while maintaining control over their security posture.

Ready to gain better visibility into installed AI applications and other third-party software across your environment?

Talk with one of our specialists to learn how VulnDetect can help you identify software risks, improve visibility, and strengthen endpoint security.