{
  "id": "F-25",
  "url": "https://evy.so/facts/ai-use-against-company-policy/",
  "chapter": "What Teams Trust",
  "question": "How many workers use AI in ways that break company policy?",
  "answer": "About three to four in ten workers have used AI in ways that break company policy: 44 percent of AI-using employees say so themselves, and IT leaders estimate about 30 percent. Missing rules are a big part of it: 56 percent have used AI without knowing whether it was allowed, and only 38 to 44 percent of organizations have a formal AI policy.",
  "range": {
    "low": 30,
    "high": 44,
    "unit": "% of workers who have used AI against company policy",
    "display": "30–44% of workers have used AI against company policy (44% self-reported, about 30% by IT leaders' estimate)"
  },
  "confidence": "medium",
  "confidence_reason": "Two independent creators using different methods land in the same band: employees asked directly, and IT leaders estimating for their staff. Self-reports likely understate rule-breaking, and two of the creators sell products that address it.",
  "last_checked": "2026-10-14",
  "how_to_read": "Two of these count workers: the employee self-report (44%) and the IT-leader estimate (about 30%). The third is a stated intention, not a count of violations. Many breaches come from unclear rules: most outside-tool use happens where no explicit rule exists, and bans tend to push use out of sight, since uploading company data is most common where AI is banned (67%). Chapter 3 covers how many people bring their own AI at all.",
  "sources": [
    {
      "creator": "University of Melbourne and KPMG International",
      "title": "Trust, attitudes and use of artificial intelligence: A global study 2025",
      "year": 2025,
      "sample": "32,352 employed people in 47 countries, November 2024 to January 2025",
      "method": "Anonymous online survey of employees who use AI; self-reported frequency",
      "figure": "44% have used AI in ways that contravene policies or guidelines (31% sometimes or more often); 56% have used AI without knowing whether it was allowed",
      "url": "https://mbs.edu/-/media/PDF/Research/Trust_in_AI_Report.pdf",
      "quote": "almost half admit to using AI in ways that contravene organizational policies"
    },
    {
      "creator": "GoTo with Workplace Intelligence",
      "title": "The Pulse of Work in 2026: Opportunity, Risk, and Responsibility in an AI-Driven Workplace",
      "year": 2026,
      "sample": "1,250 IT decision-makers and 1,250 knowledge workers in 10 countries, November 2025 to January 2026",
      "method": "Online survey; IT leaders estimated the share of workers who violated AI policy. GoTo sells IT software.",
      "figure": "IT leaders estimate around 3 in 10 workers have violated their company's AI policy; 44% say their company has an AI policy",
      "url": "https://edge.sitecorecloud.io/gototechnol00e8-mktglobalxm07e7-mktglobalpr9498-b870/media/goto/pdfs/ebook/ebook_pulse-of-work-2026.pdf",
      "quote": "around 3 out of 10 workers have violated their company’s AI policy"
    },
    {
      "creator": "Software AG, survey by TEAM LEWIS",
      "title": "Half of all employees are Shadow AI users, new study finds",
      "year": 2024,
      "sample": "6,000 knowledge workers in the US, UK and Germany, September 2024",
      "method": "Online panel survey; a hypothetical question",
      "figure": "46% would not give up their personal AI tools even if their organization banned them",
      "url": "https://newscenter.softwareag.com/en/news-stories/press-releases/2024/1022-half-of-all-employees-use-shadow-ai.html",
      "archive_url": "https://web.archive.org/web/20251105024925/https://newscenter.softwareag.com/en/news-stories/press-releases/2024/1022-half-of-all-employees-use-shadow-ai.html",
      "quote": "46% wouldn’t give it up, even if it were banned"
    }
  ],
  "related_findings": [
    {
      "question": "How many organizations see prohibited AI use?",
      "answer": "Most. 69% of organizations suspect or have evidence that employees use prohibited public generative AI (Gartner, 302 security leaders, 2025), and 60% of leaders lack confidence that they could even identify unapproved AI tools in their environment (Cisco, 8,000 leaders, 2025).",
      "sources": [
        {
          "creator": "Gartner",
          "title": "Gartner Identifies Critical GenAI Blind Spots That CIOs Must Urgently Address",
          "year": 2025,
          "sample": "302 cybersecurity leaders, March to May 2025",
          "method": "Survey reported in a press release; counts organizations, not workers. Gartner sells research.",
          "figure": "69% of organizations suspect or have evidence of prohibited public generative AI use",
          "url": "https://www.gartner.com/en/newsroom/press-releases/2025-11-19-gartner-identifies-critical-genai-blind-spots-that-cios-must-urgently-address0",
          "quote": "69% of organizations suspect or have evidence that employees are using prohibited public GenAI"
        },
        {
          "creator": "Cisco",
          "title": "2025 Cisco Cybersecurity Readiness Index",
          "year": 2025,
          "sample": "8,000 business leaders with security responsibilities in 30 markets, early 2025",
          "method": "Double-blind survey. Cisco sells security products.",
          "figure": "60% lack confidence in identifying unapproved AI tools; 22% give employees unrestricted access to public AI tools",
          "url": "https://newsroom.cisco.com/c/dam/r/newsroom/en/us/interactive/cybersecurity-readiness-index/2025/documents/2025_Cisco_Cybersecurity_Readiness_Index.pdf",
          "quote": "lack confidence in their ability to identify the use of unapproved AI tools"
        }
      ]
    },
    {
      "question": "How many organizations have an AI policy?",
      "answer": "Fewer than half. 38% of organizations have a formal, comprehensive AI policy, up from 28% a year earlier, 30% have a limited one and 25% none (ISACA, 2026). In GoTo's survey, 44% of IT leaders said their company has an AI policy.",
      "sources": [
        {
          "creator": "ISACA",
          "title": "2026 AI Pulse Poll",
          "year": 2026,
          "sample": "More than 3,400 digital trust professionals worldwide",
          "method": "Poll of IT audit, governance, security and privacy professionals",
          "figure": "38% have a formal, comprehensive AI policy; 30% limited; 25% none",
          "url": "https://www.isaca.org/about-us/newsroom/press-releases/2026/ai-use-accelerates-while-governance-and-roi-lag-says-new-isaca-research",
          "quote": "only 38 percent of organizations have a formal, comprehensive AI policy"
        }
      ]
    }
  ],
  "numbers_you_may_have_seen": [
    {
      "claim": "44% of workers knowingly break AI rules (KPMG).",
      "what_the_source_says": "The 44% is of employees who use AI, counts anyone who did it even rarely, and does not say knowingly. Sometimes or more often is 31%."
    },
    {
      "claim": "69% of employees use banned AI (Gartner).",
      "what_the_source_says": "It is 69% of organizations whose security leaders suspect or have evidence of any prohibited use."
    },
    {
      "claim": "70% of employees misuse AI at work (GoTo).",
      "what_the_source_says": "GoTo counts using AI for task types it labels sensitive. Only 22% of those employees knew their employer prohibited it."
    },
    {
      "claim": "Over 40% of enterprises will have shadow AI incidents (Gartner).",
      "what_the_source_says": "This is a forecast for 2030."
    }
  ],
  "citation": "EVY (2026). How many workers use AI in ways that break company policy? The AI at Work Fact Book, F-25. https://evy.so/facts/ai-use-against-company-policy/ (last checked October 14, 2026). CC BY 4.0.",
  "license": "CC BY 4.0"
}