Your company already has an AI programme. It's called shadow AI.
Your staff started using AI before the company did, on private accounts nobody sees. A short deck on what that costs, and how those people become your first AI champions.
English edition. Enter your first name, company email and phone number to access the slides.
Your company already has an AI programme. It's called shadow AI.
A short deck on staff who use AI on private accounts before their company rolls it out: what that costs in lost prompts, scattered work and company data, and how those people become a company's first AI champions. Built from our sales calls and workshops.
Specialty Tokens, Invalid Date
- Page: https://specialtytokens.com/shadow-ai
- Slides: https://specialtytokens.com/slides/s/shadow-ai?p=1 (13 slides)
The written edition
Staff start using AI before their company does. They pay for it themselves, on private accounts nobody else sees. This deck uses the words of people we met in sales calls and workshops; we give the industry and size, never names.
Two seats, 65 people
An industrial supplier with 65 office and sales staff pays for two ChatGPT seats. The other 63 use AI on private accounts, or not at all, and nobody in the company knows which.
"We have two plans, but the people started using shadow AI… they just put it into their private ChatGPT."
"They will have their private ChatGPT subscription and just upload stuff in there and go by it."
The pattern is common. In Microsoft and LinkedIn's 2024 Work Trend Index (31,000 people in 31 countries), 78% of people who use AI at work bring their own tools; at small and mid-sized companies, 80%.
Why nobody fixes it
"We never took it over because it's also cheaper for us if they just use their private subscriptions."
Private accounts cost the company nothing, so the topic never reaches a budget meeting. The cost shows up elsewhere:
- Good prompts sit in private accounts and leave when the person leaves.
- Nobody learns from anybody: five people solve one task five ways.
- Company data goes where IT can't see it: customer names, prices, contracts.
- Leadership can't count any of it: no hours saved appear on any report.
"The employee is going outside of company systems, utilizing something else and leaking information. It's hard to fight that."
The people on private ChatGPT are your first AI champions
They have already found the use cases. They need a shared place to put their work and rules that IT has signed.
| Today | With champions |
|---|---|
| Private accounts nobody sees | One approved tool the company pays for |
| Prompts on personal laptops | Shared skills the whole team can use |
| "Never type customer names" | A one-page data rule IT signed |
| One enthusiast, on their own time | A champion in each team, with time blocked |
| Nobody knows what works | A demo day where leadership sees results |
Three questions to ask this week
- Who uses AI for work, on any account?
- Which tasks do they use it for?
- Who would you trust to teach the others?
Ask openly and without blame. The answers to question 3 are your shortlist of champions.
The AI Champions programme
The programme takes five to six weeks. Before it starts, we meet the champions, map their tasks and agree the data rules with IT. In a two-day intensive, the champions build their first tools on one shared, approved stack. Four weeks of weekly check-ins follow, until the tools run in daily work. On the last day, the champions show leadership what runs and the hours it saves.
Want to know where AI already runs in your company? Talk to us.
The slides
Slide 1: Your company already has an AI programme. It's called shadow AI.
SPECIALTY TOKENS Your company already has an AI programme. It's called shadow AI. Your staff started using AI before the company did. They can be your first AI champions.
Slide 2: 2 company ChatGPT seats. 65 office and sales staff.
INDUSTRIAL SUPPLIER 2 company ChatGPT seats. 65 office and sales staff. The other 63 use AI on private accounts, or not at all. Nobody knows which. SHADOW AI
Slide 3: We have two plans, but the people started using shadow AI… they just put it into their…
“ We have two plans, but the people started using shadow AI… they just put it into their private ChatGPT. INDUSTRIAL SUPPLIER, 65 OFFICE AND SALES STAFF SHADOW AI
Slide 4: They will have their private ChatGPT subscription and just upload stuff in there and go…
“ They will have their private ChatGPT subscription and just upload stuff in there and go by it. WORKSHOP PARTICIPANT, MID-SIZED COMPANY SHADOW AI
Slide 5: of people who use AI at work bring their own tools. At small and mid-sized companies, 80%.
78% of people who use AI at work bring their own tools. At small and mid-sized companies, 80%. MICROSOFT AND LINKEDIN, 2024 WORK TREND INDEX · 31,000 PEOPLE IN 31 COUNTRIES SHADOW AI
Slide 6: We never took it over because it's also cheaper for us if they just use their private…
“ We never took it over because it's also cheaper for us if they just use their private subscriptions. THE SAME INDUSTRIAL SUPPLIER SHADOW AI
Slide 7: What the cheap option costs
What the cheap option costs 01 Good prompts sit in private accounts and leave when the person leaves 02 Nobody learns from anybody five people solve one task five ways 03 Company data goes where IT can't see customer names, prices, contracts 04 Leadership can't count any of it no hours saved on any report SHADOW AI
Slide 8: The employee is going outside of company systems, utilizing something else and leaking…
“ The employee is going outside of company systems, utilizing something else and leaking information. It's hard to fight that. WORKSHOP PARTICIPANT, MID-SIZED COMPANY SHADOW AI
Slide 9: The people on private ChatGPT are your first AI champions.
The people on private ChatGPT are your first AI champions. They have already found the use cases. Give them a place to share them, and rules IT has signed. SHADOW AI
Slide 10: From shadow AI to shared AI
From shadow AI to shared AI TODAY WITH CHAMPIONS Private accounts nobody sees One approved tool the company pays for Prompts on personal laptops Shared skills the whole team can use “Never type customer names” A one-page data rule IT signed One enthusiast, on their own time A champion in each team, with time blocked Nobody knows what works A demo day where leadership sees results SHADOW AI
Slide 11: Ask three questions this week
BEFORE YOUR NEXT TEAM MEETING Ask three questions this week 1 Who uses AI for work, on any account? 2 Which tasks do they use it for? 3 Who would you trust to teach the others? ASK OPENLY AND WITHOUT BLAME. THE ANSWERS TO QUESTION 3 ARE YOUR SHORTLIST. SHADOW AI
Slide 12: The AI Champions programme, in five to six weeks
The AI Champions programme, in five to six weeks BEFORE Pre-assessment We meet the champions, map their tasks and agree the data rules with IT 2 DAYS Intensive Champions build their first tools on one shared, approved stack 4 WEEKS Aftercare Weekly check-ins until the tools run in daily work LAST DAY Demo day Champions show leadership what runs and the hours it saves You bring the names from question 3. We bring the stack, the data rule and the weekly check-ins. SHADOW AI
Slide 13: Find the people already using AI, and build with them.
Find the people already using AI, and build with them. Want to know where AI already runs in your company? Talk to us at specialtytokens.com/contact NIK REDL · THOMAS SCHLOSSMACHER SPECIALTY TOKENS
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