Originally published on June 26, 2026 on IT Brew by Brianna Monsanto
When you know better, you do better…or do you? For some employees, that’s not the case when it comes to using AI responsibly in the workplace.
According to a June report by AI-native browser security platform Neon Cyber, almost half (48.3%) of US knowledge employees admit to knowingly breaching an AI policy within their company. The findings are based on a May survey of 227 US knowledge workers who use AI at work.
Employees also admitted to circumventing AI policies to use tools of their choice without restraint. About half (49.3%) said they would use a tool even if it wasn’t approved yet. Another 41.9% said they would copy work data into a personal, unapproved tool “just this once.”
Policy is no longer the problem. In its report, Neon Cyber said “policy clarity” is no longer the obstacle facing companies. More than six in ten (63%) employees said their company had a clear AI policy that they understand.
Instead, companies are now grappling with an enforcement gap, which, according to Neon Cyber co-founder and COO Mark St. John, exists because of the extreme pace at which new AI tools appear: “It is a Whac-A-Mole situation for IT teams and security teams…because they have users adopting technology so fast.”
“We’re very much in a ‘asking for forgiveness instead of permission’ mode right now with end users, and we have to adjust to that a little bit,” St. John added.
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How to properly enforce. In order to enforce AI policies, it is important to have visibility into the browser surface where tools are being used, said Neon Cyber co-founder and CEO Cody Pierce.
“You can’t secure what you can’t see,” Pierce said. “And I think with AI, that is absolutely going to be number one that people need to work on.”
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What not to do. St. John told IT Brew that many companies are approaching enforcement by blocking AI tools from being used—and that’s not the best strategy, he said.
Read the full story on IT Brew.