I have noticed a pattern in security team meetings over the last year. The conversation about artificial intelligence almost always starts with the same question. How do we stop our employees from using AI. It is the wrong question to ask. It comes from a place of fear and control, not understanding and strategy. The right question is much simpler. How do we help our people use AI safely.
The distinction is not just semantic. It is fundamental to building a resilient security posture in an AI driven world. Banning technology that provides clear productivity benefits does not work. It never has. People will find a way to use tools that help them do their jobs better. Your choice is not whether AI gets used within your organization. Your choice is whether it gets used with your guidance and security controls, or without them.
Consider a real scenario I have observed. A marketing team needs to analyze a large set of customer feedback. Manually reviewing thousands of survey responses would take weeks. Using a consumer focused AI chatbot takes minutes. An employee, trying to meet a deadline, copies and pastes sensitive customer data into a public AI tool. The company now has a data leak. This was not malicious. It was a well intentioned employee using the best tool available to them to solve a business problem. The security team failed them by not providing a safe, approved alternative.
This is where conventional wisdom fails us. The standard approach is to create a policy that says Do Not Use AI and hope for compliance. This is a strategy for failure. It ignores human nature and the immense pressure employees are under to be more efficient. A contrarian but more effective approach is to assume AI usage is happening and focus on making it secure.
This is not just a theoretical problem. A recent study by Gartner predicted that by 2026, 80% of enterprises will have used generative AI APIs or models. The genie is out of the bottle. Security leadership must pivot from prevention to enablement.
This shift in thinking is even more critical when you look outside of North America and Europe. In emerging markets across Asia and Africa, the adoption of mobile first, AI powered tools is happening at an incredible pace. Businesses in these regions are often leapfrogging traditional IT infrastructure altogether. They are building their operations around cloud native and AI driven services from day one. For these organizations, security is not about locking down legacy systems. It is about building trust and safety into the very fabric of their digital first operations. Western companies can learn from this agile, integrated approach.
The key insight for security teams is this. Your role is evolving from being the department of no to becoming the enabler of safe yes. This requires a different set of skills and tools.
You can start making this shift today. Do not wait for a perfect strategy. Begin with these immediate, actionable steps.
First, identify and pilot a secure, enterprise grade AI tool. Options like Microsoft Copilot for Enterprise or Google Duet AI are built with business security and data governance in mind. Run a controlled pilot with a willing team. Let them use it for real work. Your goal is to learn what use cases are most valuable and what guardrails are needed.
Second, create clear and simple guidelines for AI use. This is not a 50 page policy. It is a one page document that answers common employee questions. What data can I put into an AI tool. What tools are approved for use. Who can I ask if I am unsure. Make this guidance easy to find and understand.
Third, train your people. Most data leaks happen because of confusion, not malice. Host a 30 minute lunch and learn session. Show employees the difference between a consumer AI chatbot and an enterprise solution. Explain why data privacy matters. Give them the knowledge they need to make smart choices.
Finally, talk to your colleagues in other departments. Ask the marketing team what they are trying to accomplish. Ask the software developers what would make them more productive. You cannot build a safe environment if you do not understand the work people are doing.
You will know you are on the right track when you see a change in the conversations you are having. Instead of employees hiding their AI use, they will start asking you for advice. You will receive emails asking Is it okay if I use this tool for this project. This is a sign of growing trust and partnership.
This is not about abandoning security principles. It is about applying them to a new reality. The greatest risk is not the technology itself. It is falling behind because we were too afraid to embrace it wisely. Build a culture of secure enablement, and you will build a stronger organization.
