Shadow AI Detection: Every Unauthorized AI Tool, Visible
Employees are using AI tools you haven't approved. ShadowLock detects every AI tool running on every managed endpoint, browser-based, desktop, signed-in, anonymous, and shows you exactly what data has been pasted into them.
of organizations suspect employees are using prohibited AI tools, but only a fraction can prove it. (Gartner)
You can't govern what you can't see
Network-layer tools miss anonymous and personal-account AI use, which is most of it. Endpoint agents that watch processes alone miss browser-based ChatGPT. Solving shadow AI requires detection at every layer where it actually happens: the browser, the desktop, and the clipboard.
ShadowLock is the only platform purpose-built for shadow AI detection across all three layers, with a single multi-tenant dashboard for IT teams and MSPs.
Four layers of detection.
One dashboard, one agent, one extension.
Browser-based AI tools
The managed browser extension watches paste flows into ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, Copilot, Perplexity, and the long tail of niche AI tools, including ones your IT team has never heard of.
Desktop AI applications
The Windows agent fingerprints installed and running desktop AI apps via signed binary hashes. NTFS ACL blocking can disable them without uninstalling, so users can't simply reinstall.
Sensitive data on paste
Every paste into an AI tool is classified on-device: PII, source code, credentials, customer records, financial data, PHI. You decide what gets blocked, what gets logged, what passes silently.
One multi-tenant view
A single dashboard rolls up every AI event across every endpoint and every client. Search by user, tool, or data type. Export for compliance reporting.
Shadow AI detection FAQ
What is shadow AI detection?
Shadow AI detection is the practice of identifying unauthorized AI tool usage on company devices, including browser-based tools like ChatGPT and Gemini, desktop AI apps like Claude for Mac, and the sensitive data being submitted to them. Without detection, organizations have no record of what data has left their environment through AI tools.
How does ShadowLock detect AI usage that bypasses corporate SSO?
ShadowLock operates at the endpoint and browser layer, not at the network perimeter. That means it sees AI tool usage regardless of which account is signed in: corporate SSO, a personal Google account, an anonymous session, or no account at all. Network-only tools miss roughly half of shadow AI activity because employees routinely use personal accounts to bypass them.
Does ShadowLock detect AI tools we have not seen before?
Yes. ShadowLock's detection catalogue is updated continuously as new AI tools are released. Customers automatically receive new detection signatures via the agent's auto-update channel. The platform also flags suspicious paste patterns to unknown destinations so emerging tools can be reviewed and classified.
Is shadow AI detection different from DLP?
Traditional DLP was built for file transfers and email. It does not understand clipboard paste flows into web-based AI tools, and it does not know which destinations are AI services. ShadowLock is purpose-built for the AI threat surface: it knows the AI tool catalogue, classifies on paste, and reports in AI-specific terminology your auditors and compliance officers can act on.
How fast can we deploy shadow AI detection?
Most teams have shadow AI detection running across their fleet in under an hour. The Windows agent installs silently via RMM or Group Policy. The browser extension force-installs via Chrome and Edge enterprise policies. From the moment the agent reports in, you see live AI activity in the dashboard.
See every AI tool running in your environment
Free 14-day trial. Detection live within an hour of agent install.