70% of Enterprise AI is Uncontrolled, Driving Hidden Risk, Cost and Slower ROI

Lenovo research highlights a growing AI execution gap as organizations struggle to control and operate AI across their environments

AI is already being used across your organization, whether it has been formally approved or not. Employees are using AI with or without IT involvement, fueling the rise of ‘shadow AI’ across the enterprise, creating gaps in governance and control.

This is no longer just an IT challenge. For Chief Information Security Officers, this shift is expanding the attack surface across devices, endpoints, and data flows, introducing unmanaged risk and increasing the likelihood of sensitive company data being exposed or accessed without proper controls. What this reveals is a growing AI execution gap: usage is accelerating, but control is not keeping pace.

Based on a survey of 6,000 employees worldwide, Lenovo’s latest Work Reborn Report, Leading Your Workforce to Triumph with AI, finds that more than 70% of employees are using AI weekly, with up to one third operating beyond IT oversight. At the same time, 80% expect to increase their reliance on AI within the next year.

“AI adoption is no longer the challenge. Execution is,” said Rakshit Ghura, Vice President and General Manager, Digital Workplace Solutions, Lenovo. “Usage is growing faster than organizations can control or secure it. Without that control, AI introduces as much risk and cost as it does opportunity.”

Uncontrolled AI is Already Impacting Business Performance

When AI usage scales without visibility or governance, the impact is not theoretical. It is already affecting cost, security posture, and the ability to scale AI across the business.

Organizations are experiencing:

• Delayed ROI, as AI initiatives remain fragmented across teams
• Duplicated spend, with multiple tools solving the same problems in silos
• Increased attack surface, as unsanctioned tools access enterprise data
• Lack of visibility, making it difficult to scale what works

At the same time, AI adoption is uneven across the workforce. While some employees operate within secure, optimized environments, others rely on whatever tools they can access to stay productive. This creates a two speed workforce that slows decision making, duplicates effort, and makes consistent, enterprise wide AI adoption difficult to achieve.

Uncontrolled AI Is Expanding Your Attack Surface Faster Than Security Can Respond

As AI usage accelerates, risk is scaling with it. 61% of IT leaders report a rise in cybersecurity threats linked to AI, yet only 31% feel confident in their ability to manage those risks. Meanwhile, 43% of employees are worried about AI-driven data exposure or attacks.

Without clear governance, AI is quietly expanding the enterprise attack surface, increasing the likelihood of breaches, compliance failures, and operational disruption.

The Problem: AI Is Being Managed in Fragments

Most organizations are trying to manage AI across disconnected layers. Devices are deployed and managed one way. Infrastructure is managed another. Security is often layered on after. That fragmentation is what creates the AI execution gap.

Adding more tools or policies does not solve the problem. It increases complexity, leaves gaps between endpoints and infrastructure, and makes it difficult to enforce consistent control across the environment.

Lenovo’s Approach: Control AI at the Device and Operate Security as a Service

Lenovo takes a fundamentally different approach. Control is established at the point where AI first enters the enterprise: the device.

From there, Lenovo connects device deployment, lifecycle management, infrastructure, and security into a single, governed operating model delivered through TruScale Device as a Service for Security.

This is not just a combination of technology. It is a fully managed service that brings together:

• Enterprise grade devices, secured from day one
• Built in device and firmware protection through Lenovo ThinkShield
• Advanced endpoint security from leading partners
• 24/7 managed security services, including monitoring, detection, and response

Most organizations have to assemble and operate this themselves across multiple vendors. Lenovo delivers it as a single, end to end managed service, reducing complexity and closing gaps across the environment.

Because security is embedded at deployment and actively managed over time, organizations can:

• Reduce risk with proactive, always on threat monitoring and response
• Eliminate gaps between device security and operational security
• Simplify vendor management and lower total cost of ownership
• Free up internal IT and security teams to focus on higher value initiatives

This is what sets Lenovo apart. Instead of managing devices, infrastructure, and security separately, Lenovo applies one continuous control model across the entire environment, something other vendors cannot deliver in a single offering. Delivered through a flexible, as a service model, this approach allows you to align AI investment with actual demand, reducing upfront costs, avoiding duplicated spend, and scaling devices and security services as AI adoption evolves.

Lenovo’s approach to cybersecurity and device protection has also been recognized externally, most recently through the Fortress Cybersecurity Awards.

Close the AI Execution Gap, and Start Realizing ROI Faster

More than 70% of employees already recognize AI's potential to drive gains in productivity, speed, and quality. However realizing that value depends on execution.

Organizations that close the AI execution gap can move from fragmented experimentation to measurable outcomes faster. They reduce wasted spend, limit risk, and create a clear path to scaling AI across the business.

When devices, infrastructure, and services operate under a unified, managed model, AI shifts from an unmanaged liability to a controlled, scalable advantage.

To explore the full findings, download the complete Work Reborn Report: Leading your Workforce to Triumph with AI.

About Lenovo

Lenovo is a US$69 billion revenue global technology powerhouse, ranked #196 in the Fortune Global 500, and serving millions of customers every day in 180 markets. Focused on a bold vision to deliver Smarter Technology for All, Lenovo has built on its success as the world’s largest PC company with a full-stack portfolio of AI-enabled, AI-ready, and AI-optimized devices (PCs, workstations, smartphones, tablets), infrastructure (server, storage, edge, high performance computing and software defined infrastructure), software, solutions, and services. Lenovo’s continued investment in world-changing innovation is building a more equitable, trustworthy, and smarter future for everyone, everywhere. Lenovo is listed on the Hong Kong stock exchange under Lenovo Group Limited (HKSE: 992) (ADR: LNVGY). To find out more visit https://www.lenovo.com, and read about the latest news via our StoryHub.

Notes for editors

Leading your Workforce to Triumph with AI is the fifth report in the Lenovo Work Reborn Research Series. Previous Work Reborn reports examined AI transformation from the IT leader perspective; this report focuses on the employee. Lenovo surveyed 6,000 full-time employees at enterprise organizations (1,000 employees plus), in December 2025 and January 2026. The survey sample included respondents from the US (17%), Canada, UK, France, Germany, India, Japan, Singapore, Brazil, Mexico (8% each), Australia (4%), and New Zealand (4%). Respondents included employees from a range of sectors, a mix of functions and seniority, and with an even spread of ages and genders.

Lenovo is a trademark of Lenovo. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners. ©2026 Lenovo Group Limited. All rights reserved.

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