Employees are experimenting with AI at record speeds. They draft emails, analyze data, and transform workplaces. The problem is not the pace of AI adoption, but the lack of control and protection measures.
For CISOs and security leaders like you, the challenges are clear. We don’t want to slow down AI adoption, but we need to make it safe. Company-wide policies do not reduce that. What is needed is practical principles and technical capabilities to create an innovative environment without an open door for violations.
Here are five rules you can’t afford to ignore.
Rule #1: AI Visibility and Discovery
The oldest security truth still applies. You cannot protect what you cannot see. Shadow, although it was a headache in itself, Shadow AI is even more slippery. It’s not just ChatGpt, it’s also an embedded AI feature that exists in many SAAS apps and new AI agents created by employees.
Golden Rules: Turn on the lights.
Both Stand-Alone and built-in require real-time visualization of AI usage. AI discovery is continuous and not a one-off event.
Rule #2: Context Risk Assessment
Not all AI use involves the same level of risk. AI grammar checkers used within text editors do not take the same risk as AI tools that connect directly to CRM. Wing enriches each discovery in a meaningful context, allowing for contextual awareness that includes:
If the data is used for AI training, and whether the app or vendor has a violation or security publication history, who the vendor is and market reputation is when app compliance compliance (such as SOC 2, GDPR, ISO) connects to other systems in the environment (such as SOC 2, GDPR, ISO, etc.).
Golden Rules: Context matters.
Prevents attackers from leaving a gap large enough to exploit. AI security platforms need to provide contextual awareness to make the right decisions about which tools are being used and whether they are safe.
Rule #3: Data Protection
AI thrives on data, making it both powerful and dangerous. If employees use AI to provide application sensitive information without control, they risk exposure, non-compliance and catastrophic consequences if a violation occurs. The question is not whether your data ends in AI, but how to ensure that it is protected along the way.
Golden Rules: Seat belts are required for data.
Place boundaries on how data can be shared with AI tools and how it will be handled by leveraging policy and security technologies to provide full visibility. Data protection is the backbone of secure AI adoption. Enabling clear boundaries prevents potential losses later.
Rule #4: Access Control and Guardrails
Having employees use AI without control is like giving a teenager the car keys and yelling, “Drive Safe!” Without driving lessons.
We need technology to allow access control to be determined under which tools are being used and under what conditions. This is new to everyone, and your organization relies on you to make rules.
Golden Rules: Zero Trust. still!
Use security tools to enable you to define clear, customizable policies for AI use, such as:
Trigger workflows that validate the need for new AI tools by blocking AI vendors that do not meet security standards that restrict connections to certain types of AI apps
Rule #5: Continuous monitoring
Securing AI is not a “set it and forget it” project. Applications evolve, permissions change, and employees find new ways to use the tools. Without continuous monitoring, what was safe yesterday could be a quiet risk today.
Golden Rules: Keep watching.
Continuous monitoring means:
Audit AI Outputs new permissions, data flows, or behavioral monitoring Check vendor updates to ensure that you can see vendor updates that can change how AI features are ready in the event of AI breach
This is not about micromanagement innovation. As AI evolves, it is about ensuring that AI continues to provide services safely and securely.
Harness AI wisely
The AI is here, it’s convenient and doesn’t go anywhere. Smart play for CISOS and security leaders is about intentional adopting AI. These five golden rules provide a blueprint for balancing innovation and protection. They won’t stop your employees from experimenting, but they will stop the experiment from turning it into your next security heading.
Adopting safe AI doesn’t mean “no.” “Yes, but it’s here.”
Do you want to see what really hides in your stack? The wings cover you.
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