The Shadow IT Problem Michigan Businesses Can’t Ignore

Your best employees are creating your biggest blind spots.
And AI just made it worse.

“I just texted them the file. It was faster.”

That sentence gets said in Michigan firms every single day. And nobody thinks twice about it.

Your best employees aren’t trying to create risk. They’re trying to get work done. But their shortcuts are quietly building a compliance and security nightmare you can’t see.

This is Shadow IT. And it’s everywhere.

What Shadow IT Actually Looks Like in Michigan Firms

Here’s what we see every week when auditing Michigan businesses:

• Personal email for client files
  “The attachment was too big for Outlook.”

• Texting sensitive information
  “They needed the account number right away.”

• Screenshots of confidential data
  “I just needed to remember it for later.”

• Personal Dropbox or Google Drive for work files
  “OneDrive was being slow.”

Each one makes sense in the moment.
Each one creates a trail you can’t track, can’t secure, and can’t explain to an auditor.

That’s Shadow IT.

Why Your Best People Create the Most Shadow IT

Shadow IT isn’t caused by careless employees. It’s created by capable ones.

They’re problem-solvers.

When the CRM is clunky, they find a better one.
When file sharing is slow, they use their own cloud.
When reporting takes forever, they build their own dashboards.

Smart employees + outdated systems = a Shadow IT explosion.

In most Michigan firms we audit, we find 10–20 unauthorized applications touching company data.
Personal cloud storage. Free project tools. Random browser extensions.

All invisible to IT.

Your team isn’t breaking rules to be difficult. They’re showing you where your official systems fall short.

Then AI Entered the Picture

Shadow IT was already a problem.
AI made it ten times worse.

Someone on your team used AI before 10 a.m. today.
You just don’t know which tool, what they pasted into it, or where that data went.

AI isn’t one tool you approve or block anymore. It’s embedded everywhere:

• Browsers

• Email plugins

• Note-taking apps

• Free websites anyone can access in seconds

Right now, someone in your organization might be:

• Pasting client names into a chatbot

• Uploading a proposal for feedback

• Dropping financial data into a summarizer

Not because they’re careless.
Because it works. And nobody told them not to.

Nearly half of office workers admit to using AI tools at work without telling anyone. Some are trying to save time. Some don’t want to admit they need help. Most were never shown the right tools or the safe way to use them.

This “Shadow AI” trend creates real gaps in trust, data security, and compliance. And you won’t discover those gaps until an auditor, insurer, or client asks the wrong question.

You Don’t Have a People Problem

You Have a Visibility Problem

Here’s the uncomfortable truth.

Your official process is too slow. Too clunky. Too many steps.

So people find workarounds. Not because they don’t care about security. Because they care about getting the job done.

That’s not a character flaw.
That’s a systems problem.

What Actually Works (And What Doesn’t)

Banning everything doesn’t work. It just drives Shadow IT underground.

What does work:

1. Start With One Honest Conversation

Pick your most productive team member and ask:
“What tools are you using to get work done faster?”

No judgment. Just curiosity.

2. Run an “App Amnesty Day”

No consequences. No finger-pointing.
Let your team tell you what they’re actually using.

3. Ask Why

If someone uses personal Dropbox because OneDrive is slow, fix OneDrive.
If they text files because email limits get in the way, fix file sharing.

4. Make the Secure Option the Easy Option

The goal isn’t to catch people.
It’s to remove the reasons they need workarounds in the first place.

One Simple Question to Ask This Week

Walk around your office and ask:

“What’s the fastest way you share files with clients?”

If the answer isn’t your approved system, you just found your next security project.

We Bring Visibility

At Big Water Technologies, we help Michigan businesses see what’s hiding in their systems before someone else finds it.

• Shadow IT audits

• AI policy development

• Security assessments that expose gaps early

Your best employees will always find smarter ways to work.
We help them do it safely, intentionally, and without slowing them down.

Keep IT Simple. Keep IT Visible.

Ready to see what’s hiding in your systems?

Contact us for a Shadow IT assessment.

#BigWaterTech #KeepITSimple #SmarterBusiness