Business & Technology
UK senior leaders more likely to use Shadow AI tools
JOSEPH GABRIEL LAGONSIN
News Editor
TrustedTech has published research suggesting that UK senior leaders are more likely than junior staff to use unapproved artificial intelligence tools at work. The findings are based on a survey of 2,000 employees in the UK and US.
The study found that 62% of UK senior leaders use so-called Shadow AI tools, compared with 31% of employees below decision-maker level. It also found that 51% of senior leaders are concerned about employees using such tools, despite their own reported behaviour.
Shadow AI refers to unapproved artificial intelligence tools that may process or store company data outside authorised systems. The report says the issue is especially sensitive at senior level because leaders often have broader access to internal systems, customer information and administrative controls.
The research suggests use of unapproved tools is often deliberate rather than accidental. Across UK employees, 22% said they would continue using AI tools even if their organisation banned them and disciplinary action was possible, rising to 28% among senior decision-makers.
The findings point to a gap between formal rules and day-to-day practice as employers try to set limits on generative AI tools. They also suggest some executives see enough benefit in these services to accept the risk of breaching internal policy.
Why staff use them
Among employees who use unapproved AI tools, 24% said limited access to employer-approved products was a factor. Another 21% said unapproved tools were more efficient, while 21% said they did not want their data stored or accessed by their employer.
The survey also points to unease over how AI use is viewed at work. Some 20% of respondents said AI usage could harm career progression, and 19% worried it could raise doubts about their performance or capability.
That concern appears to feed a broader culture of concealment. Some 23% of UK employees said they reduce their own use of AI because they worry about how colleagues or management may perceive them, while 21% said they judge colleagues negatively if they rely heavily on AI to support their workload.
Monitoring is another factor shaping behaviour. The research found that 28% of employees are concerned their employer monitors AI tool usage, adding to distrust around approved systems and potentially pushing staff towards services outside company oversight.
Governance problem
The findings come as businesses try to balance productivity gains from AI tools with concerns over data leakage, compliance and control. Many organisations are introducing approved internal systems alongside policies restricting the use of public tools, but the survey suggests those rules are not being followed consistently.
TrustedTech found that 76% of UK employees acknowledge that using unapproved AI tools poses security or data privacy risks, yet 47% still use them at work. That combination of awareness and continued use suggests risk alone is not enough to change behaviour.
The report also raises questions about leadership example. If senior figures are among the heaviest users of unauthorised tools, companies may find it harder to persuade other employees to follow formal rules or use approved alternatives.
A key finding is the contrast between leaders’ concerns about Shadow AI and their own reported use of it.
“Businesses often assume Shadow AI is a bottom-up problem, but our research shows it is being driven from the top down. Senior leaders are not only the biggest users of unapproved AI tools, they are also knowingly bypassing safeguards because the perceived benefits outweigh the risks. When that behaviour is modelled at the top of an organisation, it becomes significantly harder to enforce governance elsewhere in the business. The findings highlight an urgent need for organisations to rethink how they approach AI governance, with a focus on leadership accountability, clearer usage policies, and improved education around secure and responsible AI adoption,” said Julian Hamood, founder and chief visionary officer at TrustedTech.
The figures add to a wider debate over whether company AI policies are keeping pace with employee behaviour. While many employers have focused on the possibility of junior staff experimenting with public chatbots and text-generation tools, the survey suggests the challenge may be more entrenched among the people responsible for setting policy.
They also indicate that access remains a practical issue. Where approved tools are limited, slow to roll out or seen as less useful, staff may seek alternatives regardless of policy. For companies, that creates a dual challenge: stopping unauthorised use while making approved options practical enough for daily work.
Overall, the research portrays workplace AI use as shaped by pressure, convenience and mistrust as much as by policy. Nearly half of UK employees surveyed said they still use unapproved AI tools at work.
Ten Seconds Yunnan Rice Noodle in New Inn Hall Street was inspected by Oxford City Council on May 26.
Inspectors subsequently handed the Chinese restaurant a rating of two out of five, meaning “improvement necessary”.
According to the report, received by the Oxford Mail after a Freedom of Information request submission, officers identified a series of concerns, including evidence of mouse activity.
The report states that mouse droppings were found throughout the business in two food storage rooms and the bar area.
In one of the storage areas, mouse activity was present where noodles were kept in plastic carrier bags and potatoes and onion were left in the open.
Inspectors said pest-proofing measures were “not great” and identified a hole beneath a sink in the bar area which could potentially allow pests to enter the premises.
In the report, the inspector said: “At the time of the inspection, I observed a number of historic mouse dropping in both the food storage areas.
“The most recent pest control report mentions no mouse activity in any of the food storage areas.
“All areas where food is prepared and stored must be kept clean and capable of being kept clean. This is so that pests are not attracted into your premises and the risk of food being contaminated by dirt is minimised.”
They advised the owner to remove all historic mouse droppings within the food business and continue to identify any issues of pest proofing within a month.
The business was instructed to remove the droppings and improve pest-proofing measures where previous temporary work had failed.
Food storage issues were also highlighted during the inspection.
In an “overfilled” fridge, officers found raw chicken stored above ready-to-eat foods, including uncovered beans and spring onions, which could cause cross-contamination leading to food poisoning.
That same fridge, which stored items such as cooked rice, chicken ballotine and prawns, was above the required eight degrees, raising concern about food poisoning.
A large number of food containers were also unlabelled, despite the food looking fresh.
The officer insisted a “robust system for ensuring adequate stock rotation” was implemented and recommended all food be kept in sealed, pest-proof containers.
No food-safe sanitiser or disinfectant were available on site, only a kitchen cleaner which they said did not provide adequate disinfection.
Despite the concerns, the report noted there had been a “huge improvement” in cleaning standards since the restaurant’s previous inspection.
The business also had a food safety management system in place and a pest control contract with Pure Pest Solutions.
The council has required a range of improvements, with compliance timescales ranging from one week to one month with a revisit inspection planned.
Oxford-based Peripear has secured an Innovate UK Women in Innovation Award and a £74,974 grant for its development of a wearable device designed to prevent perineal trauma during labour.
The funding will support continued product development ahead of the company’s planned first-in-human study.
Nina van Schaick, co-founder and COO of Peripear as well as a midwife who trained at Oxford Brookes, said: “I’m sure I wasn’t the only one to see this gap.
“I was incredibly lucky to meet my co-founder, Eviatar Natan, right as my frustration about the lack of translation of evidence into practice had peaked.
“There was a proven mechanism that could reduce injuries occurring in up to 90 per cent of vaginal births, and it was being left out of clinical pathways simply because no standardised tool existed to deliver it.”
Peripear is developing what it describes as the world’s first automated perineal thermotherapy wearable, designed to prevent perineal trauma during childbirth.
A perineal thermotherapy wearable is an emerging medical device.
It is a hands‑free warm compress device used on the perineum during the second stage of labour to reduce severe tearing and episiotomies while improving maternal comfort.
Ms van Schaick added: “I’m a farmer’s granddaughter, and when I started practising over 14 years ago, I asked: where is the tool I need to implement this evidence? I looked around and realised we were still asking clinicians to improvise.
“Peripear is what happens when the person who has lived the problem, both personally and professionally, meets the person who can help her build the solution.”
The company behind bikemaker Raleigh, which was founded 139 years ago and has supplied bikes to the UK’s cycling city of Oxford over the years, has filed to appoint administrators.
Accell UK and Ireland, part of Netherlands-based Accell Group, filed a notice of intention to appoint administrators as the wider group kickstarted insolvency proceedings.
This follows a difficult spell for Nottinghamshire-based Raleigh, which confirmed job cuts in 2024 before reporting a £30m loss in financial accounts published the following year.
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The boss of Accell said it was a “deeply sad and frustrating situation” and that it had “tirelessly explored” every option for the future of the cycling business.
The company bought Raleigh in 2012 for around 100 million US dollars (£74 million), adding to its roster of bike brands throughout Europe including Haibike, Winora and Ghost.
Raleigh was founded in Nottingham in 1887 and was well-known for its Chopper model, which featured extended handlebars and is now part of its “retro” range.
It no longer manufactures bikes from Nottingham, and its head office has moved to Eastwood, Nottinghamshire, while the company has shifted to selling electric bikes under Accell’s ownership.
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Accell went through a restructuring in February, securing additional funding from shareholders and lenders and reducing debts.
The group said it had since “explored every possible avenue” for its future, including discussions with potential buyers, but that it had not been possible to find a solution which means the business can continue operating.
It has therefore initiated insolvency proceedings in the Netherlands.
Accell’s chief executive Jonas Nilsson said: “This is a deeply sad and frustrating situation given all the hard work and everything we have achieved, with the support of shareholders and lenders, to restructure Accell’s operations and finances.
“It is an especially difficult moment for our employees, creditors, customers, suppliers, and partners.
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“Every realistic option for the future of the business has been tirelessly explored, and none have resulted in a solution to continue the Group in its current form.
“Our immediate focus is to support an orderly process, provide clarity wherever possible, and work with the relevant court-appointed administrators to preserve viable activities and employment where circumstances allow.”
At its 1970s height, Raleigh employed more than 13,000 people across the UK, with around 8,000 working at its various Triumph Road sites in Nottingham.
The former factory land later became the University of Nottingham’s Jubilee Campus.
Raleigh subsequently moved its headquarters to Church Street in Eastwood, before leaving that site and relocating to Durban House in 2024.
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