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GOVERN Docs

Shadow AI Detection

Shadow AI refers to AI tools, models, and API connections that employees use without formal approval or registration. Shadow AI is one of the highest-risk governance gaps because it represents AI activity entirely outside your governance program.

How shadow AI detection works

GOVERN monitoring agents scan three signal types:

  1. Network traffic — outbound connections to known AI API endpoints (OpenAI, Anthropic, Cohere, etc.)
  2. Software inventory — AI SDK packages installed on endpoints or in containers
  3. Browser activity — connections to AI web applications (configured agents only, requires endpoint management)

When an agent detects AI activity that does not correspond to a registered system, it raises a shadow AI discovery event.

Responding to shadow AI discoveries

Shadow AI discoveries appear in Inventory → Pending Discovery with a risk level based on the type of AI activity detected.

For each discovery, you can:

  • Register — add it as an approved system in the inventory
  • Reject — mark it as prohibited and trigger an alert to the relevant team
  • Investigate — defer the decision while you gather more information

False positive management

If a discovery is from a known, approved tool that your monitoring agent is not yet aware of (e.g., a new SaaS tool not yet in GOVERN’s detection database), you can add it to your organization’s approved list. Future detections of the same endpoint will not raise shadow AI alerts.