The adaptation of solutions based on artificial intelligence in companies is increasing, but businesses need to pay more attention to its usage in a conscious and safe way. – A common phenomenon in corporations nowadays is so-called ‘Shadow AI’, which is the use of artificial intelligence solutions and tools from external suppliers to assist work. However, this often happens without the knowledge and awareness of the IT department – says Przemysław Biel from Synology Poland. This results in employees often unknowingly sending private company data to an external entity.
– Artificial intelligence is increasingly used in companies in a wide range of areas, including content and image creation, translations, video analytics, data analysis, teamwork assistance, monitoring and object analysis, such as facial recognition. All these aspects significantly affect companies’ performance, improving work that is largely repetitive and can be automated – says Przemysław Biel from the Newseria Biznes agency.
The percentage of Polish firms leveraging AI is growing steadily. In a June study by the Polish Economic Institute, 6.6% of the 500 surveyed companies declared the use of artificial intelligence tools – such as chatbots, content and image generators, object or person recognition technologies or machine learning. This is 3.7% more than in the previous year’s results presented by Eurostat. According to PIE, large Polish firms make the most use of artificial intelligence solutions – 11%. That’s twice as often as for small firms and 4.4 percentage points more than medium-sized businesses. By sector, service companies make the most use of AI – one in five companies in this industry declares this, whereas in construction, only 0.06% does so.
Yet, a broader adoption of AI in Polish enterprises is signalled by a January report from EY, which indicates that 20% of local firms have implemented AI-based tools and nearly half are in the process of doing so. Most use external suppliers and consultants for this – only a quarter of companies have conducted such an implementation purely with internal resources.
What prompts Polish companies to implement AI tools is mainly the desire to streamline internal processes and attract new customers – companies hope primarily for improved customer service and sales optimisation, and are also somewhat concerned about competition and a decreasing availability of skilled workers.
– In the future, we will definitely see artificial intelligence being used on a wider scale. It can replace certain professions, partially assist the work of others, and can also be a very useful tool if used in a conscious and safe manner – the Synology Poland expert emphasises.
In studies, most enterprises agree that the use of AI tools brings them substantial benefits. In the June PIE study, most of them primarily pointed to an increase in employee productivity (although the AI implementation was associated with the need for their training). The EY report shows that four out of five companies (the biggest share in the service industry), which have implemented AI-based solutions, achieved the intended benefits from this – especially in the areas of compliance, marketing and sales.
– AI is a very useful tool with a broad application range. Companies use it to generate content, analyse data or support teamwork. Unfortunately, this often happens in a way that IT departments are completely unaware of. The use of external tools from different suppliers is also common, and companies are not always aware that their employees are using them – Przemysław Biel comments.
The EY survey, conducted in mid-last year among 500 entities, shows that interest in AI is very high: only 1 in 10 companies declares no interest and does not plan on undertaking any activities in this regard within the next two years. Among the organisations that are already implementing such projects, over half have assigned them a high or very high priority.
The biggest barrier to implementing AI-based solutions continues to be high costs. Companies are also afraid of technological difficulties and loss of security. Despite this – as evidenced by the EY report – only just over half of companies implementing such tools analyse cyber security aspects during this process. An increasingly common issue is employees using popular, publicly available AI tools without the knowledge of the company and its IT department, which can lead to threats related to, for instance, the security of company data.
– The so-called ‘shadow AI’, which involves the use of artificial intelligence solutions and tools from external suppliers, is fairly commonplace in corporations nowadays. However, it often happens without the knowledge and awareness of the IT department of the company. This results in users, often unknowingly, sending private company data to an external entity. To avoid threats, it’s best to integrate AI solutions into your tools and use them consciously and safely – says Przemysław Biel. – In the case of Synology, AI tools are integrated very securely and include office solutions that allow you to generate and edit documents or generate spreadsheets, for example. AI can also be used to analyse mails so that they can be searched more easily, because artificial intelligence generates summaries for us in email threads. Basically, all tasks that require repetition or automation can be supported by AI.
This was among the topics that could be discussed with specialists during the recent Synology Experience Day – an event aimed at all business customers, Synology partners and interested individuals who want to broaden their knowledge of data safety and security, as well as trends and latest solutions in the IT industry. During this year’s Synology Experience Day, which took place on October 15 in Warsaw, participants were also awaiting interactive presentations, lectures, opportunities to network in the IT community, exchange ideas and discuss with a wide range of experts, as well as live testing of hardware and software.
