Worker-Led AI Isn't Shadow IT. It's Shadow Strategy
Citrix, Tuesday, September 2nd, 2025
Last week, I wrote about the challenges enterprises have when implementing AI like traditional IT projects, including their frequent struggle to show value, tendency to go over budget, and failure to achieve true workflow transformation.
I argued that instead of IT-led AI projects, the real action is happening with worker-led AI use on the edge, where individual workers are using LLM-based platforms like ChatGPT.
People reacted to what I wrote by saying, 'Ah, so the enterprise AI issue is really about BYO' or 'shadow AI.' On the surface, yes, today's worker-led AI has many similarities with the consumerization of IT we've been talking about for decades. But reducing worker-led AI to a 'just a BYO problem' is the wrong way to think about it and creates blind spots that will hold companies back.