A Paradigm Shift in AI Adoption
Over the past year, WitnessAI met with more than 200 organizations across various industries. A year ago, many CISOs shared that their businesses approached AI with caution, driven by concerns such as data loss, external model training, and the risk of exposing intellectual property. In some cases, organizations adopted strict “zero-tolerance” policies that completely prohibited the use of AI tools, with potential violations carrying severe consequences—including employee termination.
Just six months later, WitnessAI is seeing a significant shift in business attitudes toward AI, with a sharp increase in demand for adoption. Organizations are moving away from zero-tolerance policies and are now actively exploring how AI can drive efficiency and enhance operations. Many fear falling behind, recognizing that competitors are already leveraging AI to streamline processes and accelerate innovation. This rapid shift has left CISOs under pressure to quickly assess risks, implement appropriate security controls, and develop strategies to enable safe and effective AI adoption across the business.
As more businesses embrace AI, this blog explores the key drivers behind its growing momentum, the security challenges it introduces, and how organizations can empower their security teams to support AI adoption—without compromising sensitive data or eroding trust.
Why Security Can’t Keep Up
Businesses are rapidly adopting AI, often without implementing essential security controls. For instance, a company may deploy an AI-powered chatbot to enhance customer communication and expedite service ticket resolution. While the chatbot improves user experience, it may inadvertently direct customers to a competitor’s website—highlighting the potential risks of insufficient oversight.
A few months ago, we spoke with a security leader who confidently stated that their organization had no plans to adopt AI. During the call, we searched their careers page for terms like “AI” and “Artificial Intelligence”—and found an open position titled Director of Artificial Intelligence. A week later, the security leader followed up, having discovered that the business had already initiated several AI projects without the knowledge or involvement of the CISO. This raised serious concerns about security oversight and regulatory compliance.
In many organizations, the security team lacks the frameworks, visibility, and capabilities needed to support AI adoption safely. As a result, they struggle to keep pace with the business’s push toward innovation—leaving gaps that could expose the organization to risk.
Exploring AI Applications Across Various Business Areas
Let’s take a closer look at how artificial intelligence (AI) is being applied across core business processes based on our conversations with CISOs—and the security risks these applications can introduce.
1. Transforming Customer Service with AI-Powered Chatbots
AI-powered chatbots are revolutionizing customer service by enabling businesses to provide continuous, immediate responses to customer inquiries. These tools enhance their capabilities by accessing complex internal data, resulting in superior customer support. Customer experience increasingly relies on custom chatbots powered by large language models (LLMs) to deliver essential services.
The Security Risk
However, chatbots that retrieve data from internal databases pose significant risks. They may inadvertently expose sensitive customer information or confidential company data. Additionally, these systems are vulnerable to prompt injection attacks, where malicious actors manipulate the chatbot into revealing protected information.
2. AI Work Assistants
Organizations often manage vast amounts of data distributed across multiple platforms. In our conversations with various companies, we’ve seen increasing adoption of tools like Microsoft Copilot and other AI-powered work assistants. By integrating with systems such as OneDrive, Outlook, Dropbox, SharePoint, and Confluence, these tools allow employees to access and interact with large volumes of information using natural language.
The Security Risk
While these tools boost productivity, they also introduce serious security concerns. Employees may inadvertently—or intentionally—access sensitive information, such as M&A activity, architectural documentation, or strategic plans. This raises the risk of internal data leaks, especially if a disgruntled employee queries the system for confidential content. The implications of such exposure can be significant, ranging from reputational damage to regulatory consequences.
3. Product Development & Coding Efficiency
Developers are increasingly using AI tools like GitHub Copilot, Cursor, and Windsurf to accelerate software development and drive innovation. These tools help streamline debugging and troubleshooting, resulting in faster issue resolution and improved customer experiences.
The Security Risk
However, the use of AI in development environments introduces significant security concerns. Developers may inadvertently expose proprietary source code to public models, putting intellectual property at risk. We’ve observed instances where sensitive data—such as API keys, usernames, passwords, IP addresses, and other credentials—has been unintentionally disclosed, creating serious vulnerabilities.
CISOs Must Pivot from Gatekeepers to Enablers
Security teams are under increasing pressure to keep pace with the speed and innovation demands of today’s business environment. Rather than acting as blockers, CISOs must evolve their role—building security frameworks that enable safe and responsible AI adoption. Here’s how they can make that shift:
1. Discover Shadow AI
Organizations must understand how employees are using AI technologies—both through sanctioned tools and unsanctioned, or “Shadow AI,” applications. Shadow AI refers to the use of AI tools that haven’t been officially approved, creating blind spots for security teams. WitnessAI helps organizations address this challenge by identifying AI user activity and analyzing usage patterns, intent, and purpose—enabling greater visibility and control.
2. Create AI Use Policies & Training
Organizations must develop transparent acceptable use policies that clearly define how employees can safely and responsibly use AI tools. In parallel, security teams should provide training and educational resources to help employees understand both the potential benefits and the risks associated with AI technologies.
3. Implement Guardrails & Governance
CISOs must invest in solutions that manage AI usage by setting intent-based guardrails and monitoring interactions to ensure compliance. These controls should align with regulatory requirements—such as PCI DSS—by blocking or anonymizing sensitive data like credit card numbers, magnetic stripe information, and other protected values.
4. Collaborate Early with Business Units
Organizations should embed robust security policies into AI initiatives from the outset. Many are establishing AI Governance Committees to oversee all AI projects across the business—ensuring clear visibility into each initiative’s purpose, associated risks, and potential mitigation strategies.
The Path Forward
AI is no longer a nice-to-have—it’s a strategic imperative for modern businesses. Organizations across industries are leveraging AI to drive growth and efficiency, particularly in customer service and product development. But with this powerful technology comes significant responsibility.
CISOs and their security teams must shift from being gatekeepers to enablers—empowering innovation while ensuring the secure and responsible use of AI. By leveraging a solution like WitnessAI, organizations can align security with business goals through comprehensive capabilities to discover, protect, control, and analyze AI usage.
The organizations that strike the right balance between innovation and security will emerge as leaders in their sectors. Stay ahead of the curve by adopting an AI platform that empowers your business—don’t risk falling behind in the race toward AI-driven transformation.