You Blocked ChatGPT. Do You Actually Know Where Your Team Is Using AI?

Blocking ChatGPT might feel like taking control of AI in your workplace. But if employees are looking for help getting work done, a blanket ban can push usage out of sight.

And with AI becoming part of the applications your team already uses, the picture is bigger than one website.

For business leaders, the real question is: Do you know how your employees are using AI and what information they are sharing with it?

The Work Still Needs to Get Done

Employees have practical reasons to want AI.

They may need help starting an email, summarizing a long document, researching a topic, organizing ideas, or speeding up repetitive work. These are everyday tasks, and the appeal is straightforward: spend less time getting through them.

A restriction does not remove that need.

As TruAdvantage Co-Founder and CEO Kayvan Yazdi explains:

“If the organization's only answer is ‘No,’ there's a good chance some people will find their own tools.”

That is how shadow AI can grow: employees use unapproved AI tools without the organization’s knowledge or oversight.

Leadership may not know which platforms are involved, what employees are doing with them, or whether sensitive company and client information is being entered.

A blanket ban can leave all three questions unanswered.

AI Is Becoming a Feature Inside Everyday Work

When people think about AI in the workplace, they often picture someone opening ChatGPT in a browser.

But AI is becoming embedded in email, documents, meeting platforms, CRM systems, customer service tools, and analytics applications. The webinar points to Microsoft 365 and Google Workspace as part of this broader shift.

That changes what leaders need to understand.

An employee may be using AI through an application they already rely on, rather than visiting a separate chatbot website. A conversation focused only on ChatGPT can miss those other uses.

Your approach to workplace AI needs to account for the tools, features, and workflows your team is actually using.

Give Employees a “Safe Yes”

If employees see value in AI, they need a clear, supported way to use it.

Kayvan describes this as giving people a “safe yes.”

That means answering four practical questions:

• Which tools are approved?
• What may employees use them for?
• What information should they avoid entering?
• Who should they ask when they are unsure?

These answers make the boundaries easier to follow.

An employee who wants help drafting an email should know which tool to use. Someone considering uploading confidential client information should understand that the data changes the risk—and know where to get guidance.

The aim is to make useful AI adoption more visible and manageable.

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Treat information handling and review as requirements. A large potential time saving does not compensate for an unresolved data risk or a result nobody can validate.

An Approved Tool Is Only Part of the Answer

Choosing an approved platform is a useful step. It does not complete AI governance.

Employees still need data rules, appropriate access, training, and clear expectations. Someone also needs responsibility for overseeing how AI is used.

The webinar identifies six guardrails that work together:

1. Approved tools.
2. Clear data rules.
3. Appropriate access.
4. An AI policy.
5. Employee training.
6. Ongoing oversight.

Each supports the others. A policy is more useful when employees understand it. Training is more actionable when approved tools and data boundaries are clear. Oversight gives the organization a way to keep reviewing its approach.

This is how businesses can support productivity while paying attention to the information they need to protect.

Start With Three Questions This Week

You do not need to begin with a large AI initiative.

Start by asking employees and department leaders:

Which AI tools or features are you using?

Include AI capabilities inside existing applications, as well as standalone tools.

What are you using them for?

Find out which tasks employees are trying to improve. The answers may reveal practical opportunities in writing, research, summarizing, analysis, or repetitive work.

What information are you sharing?

This is where the conversation becomes especially important. Public information, internal company information, and confidential or regulated data require different consideration.

Once you understand what is happening, define approved tools and data rules. Then assign responsibility for moving the conversation forward.

Blocking a website is a specific action. Understanding workplace AI requires a broader view.

Before deciding your organization has AI under control, see whether you can confidently answer those three questions. If you cannot, that is the place to start.

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Kayvan Yazdi
CEO, Co-Founder

Kayvan Yazdi, Co-founder and CEO of TruAdvantage, has over 25 years of experience in IT and Cybersecurity. With an MBA in Technology Management from Santa Clara University, he helps California and Bay Area's SMBs and nonprofits build secure, compliant, and scalable IT strategies. A speaker, author, and contributor, Kayvan writes for publications such as Modern Biz IT and the Cybersecurity Bulletin and has been featured on multiple podcasts and webinars. He also serves as a Channel Focus Panel Member and National Tech Day representative for the Bay Area. What he loves most about TruAdvantage is its fun, humble culture, a team that’s always learning, and making clients truly happy.

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Categories: Blog