Study Reveals Widespread Use of Unregulated AI in Workplaces

WHO:

VentureBeat - Sam Evans, CISO of Clearwater Analytics

VentureBeat - Bill Robbins, CEO of Menlo Security

VentureBeat - Itamar Golan, CEO of Prompt Security

VentureBeat - Elia Zaitsev, CTO of CrowdStrike

VentureBeat - Kayne McGladrey, IEEE senior member

VentureBeat - George Kurtz, CEO of CrowdStrike

VentureBeat - Mike Riemer, Field CISO at Ivanti

VentureBeat - Assaf Keren, CSO of Qualtrics

VentureBeat - Jeetu Patel, President of Cisco

VentureBeat - Etay Maor, VP of Threat Intelligence at Cato Networks

WHAT:

VentureBeat - 85% of IT professionals claim every AI agent has a named owner, but only 42% say ownership is clear.

VentureBeat - 52% of organizational leaders conceal their AI usage for a "secret advantage."

VentureBeat - 68% of IT professionals have witnessed AI generate hallucinations with potential operational impact.

VentureBeat - 49% of advanced users fully trust AI-generated outputs that influence IT decisions.

VentureBeat - IT organizations expect AI to automate 46% of their operations within 18 months.

VentureBeat - 54% of IT professionals at scaled organizations say AI makes their work faster and better, compared to 24% at early experimentation organizations.

WHERE:

VentureBeat - The research surveyed employees across six countries.

WHEN:

VentureBeat - The Ivanti survey was administered in February–March 2026.

WHY:

VentureBeat - 42% of leaders hide AI usage due to a desire for a "secret advantage."

VentureBeat - Governance gaps persist because cybersecurity risks are often misclassified, leading to inadequate attention and budgeting.

HOW:

VentureBeat - The Ivanti survey was conducted independently by Ravn Research and MSI Advanced Customer Insights across 1,500 IT professionals.

VentureBeat - Organizations are building shadow AI applications in Google Colab and storing them in S3 buckets to expedite financial analysis.

VentureBeat - CrowdStrike detected 1,800 AI applications operating across 160 million endpoint instances.

(UPDATED June 15, 2026 18:34 UTC)

A recent survey conducted by Ravn Research and MSI Advanced Customer Insights reveals that 85% of IT professionals believe every AI agent has a named owner, yet only 42% feel that ownership is clearly defined. The survey, which included responses from 1,500 IT professionals across six countries, found that 52% of organizational leaders conceal their AI usage for a perceived "secret advantage," while 68% have seen AI generate hallucinations that could impact operations. Additionally, CrowdStrike reported detecting 1,800 AI applications across 160 million endpoint instances, highlighting the growing integration of AI within IT environments.