New survey data shows C-suite leaders are nearly twice as likely as frontline staff to favour speed over AI security controls
Nearly seven in 10 C-suite executives prioritise speed over security when using AI tools, according to new research.
Teramind’s Shadow AI Behavior Report, released in June 2026, found frontline employees take a more cautious approach. Just 37 per cent of staff said the same, against 69 per cent of senior leaders.
The report defines shadow AI as employee use of AI tools without employer approval or oversight. Teramind frames this as a shadow AI governance gap, not simply a rogue-tool problem.
The company surveyed 300 enterprise security leaders for the study. It found 67 per cent of enterprise AI activity runs through personal accounts on company-licensed platforms.
Gal Perl, chief product officer at Teramind, said the imbalance points to a visibility failure. ‘You can’t govern what you can’t see,’ he said.
What the shadow AI governance report found
Teramind’s analysis identified a wide gap between stated policy and daily practice.
Source: Teramind Shadow AI Behavior Report, 2026
Comparing AI risk-taking by seniority
Teramind’s data shows leaders who set AI policy were also the most likely to bypass it. The company said this points to inconsistent enforcement of AI governance, particularly among leaders setting the policies.
A separate BlackFog survey reported a similar pattern. It found 69 per cent of presidents and C-suite members were comfortable with unsanctioned AI use among staff. The same BlackFog survey found 58 per cent of employees using unapproved AI tools rely on free versions. Free tools typically use ingested data to train their own models, raising separate data-handling concerns.
A survey of more than 600 senior HR professionals found a related split. Sixty-eight per cent of organisations have formal AI policies, but almost a quarter do not. The same survey found 93 per cent of employers now use AI in some form. Three-quarters said employees are being trained on its use.
Pricing the shadow AI governance gap
According to IBM’s 2025 Cost of a Data Breach Report, unmonitored AI use is linked to higher breach costs. The report found that high levels of shadow AI added an average of $670,000 to breach costs. It also said that 63 per cent of breached organisations had no AI governance policy in place.
Employment lawyers have warned that AI governance is struggling to keep pace with workplace adoption.
HR policy and the shadow AI governance gap
HR functions typically write and enforce AI use policy, often alongside IT departments. The survey data show leadership as the group most likely to bypass it.
CIPD guidance on shaping a workplace AI use policy states that policies require visible leadership buy-in to be applied consistently. Separate commentary has linked effective AI adoption to executive sponsorship rather than policy alone.
Teramind’s report said greater visibility, rather than stricter rules, characterised governance at the organisations it identified as more mature. The report linked mature governance to several shared traits, including stronger accountability measures, clearer internal policies and consistent enforcement across all levels of the organisation.
