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Lansweeper: Stop Shadow AI Before It Stops You: A Practical AI Governance Playbook for Leaders

 

 

 

January 9, 2026 - Lansweeper: AI is spreading across your business faster than your policies. Teams are experimenting new tools, extensions, and features that quietly embed AI, often without IT’s or security’s awareness. That curiosity fuels innovation, but it also creates a visibility gap that can expose data, disrupt operations, and challenge compliance.

Most organizations today don’t lack guardrails. They lack insight. If you want to govern AI use, you have to know where AI capability exists and where AI software is already in play. From laptops with dedicated neural processors to installed tools like Microsoft Copilot or the ChatGPT desktop app, the first step is to uncover what’s already there.

This is where Lansweeper helps. By mapping every asset’s hardware and software, Lansweeper gives you a single, trustworthy view of which devices can support AI and which already host AI‑enabled applications. That visibility transforms “shadow AI” from an unknown risk into a manageable dimension of your cybersecurity and compliance strategy.

The Current AI Reality Is Local, Invisible and Unmanaged

AI use no longer lives only in managed cloud services. Anyone can now download local AI‑enabled apps or use embedded capabilities in everyday software with zero oversight. It is convenient, but it can lead to sensitive data being compromised. Not all external models or services respect your privacy or compliance policies. A single uncontrolled AI implementation can expose data outside of your governance perimeter.

At the same time, regulators are raising the bar. The EU AI Act and other frameworks require organizations to know what AI they use, document it, and control it. You do not to be an expert in every clause, but you do need a reliable inventory that demonstrates your AI footprint is identified, measured, and governed.

Why Are IT Leaders Losing Visibility?

Most companies have shadow AI. Teams adopt browser-based tools and install local apps or test models on spare servers. They rarely pass through the appropriate procurement channels or the CMDB. As a result, AI tools go unreported, undiscovered, and thus unmanaged.

Devices that can run AI, because of their CPU, GPU and memory, are especially important to identify. That is why step one is a unified view of your technology estate. Without a unified asset view, you will miss where AI is running, what data it can touch, and who is accountable.

You cannot govern what you cannot see. Start with an asset map that shows:

• AI-capable devices across endpoints and servers

• Installed local AI tools and artefacts

• Browser-based AI usage and extensions

Regain Visibility to Reclaim Control

This is where Lansweeper helps. Lansweeper aggregates and normalizes hardware and software data across your environment so you can act on a single, accurate foundation for AI governance. Two new Lansweeper reports make “shadow AI” visible in minutes:

• The AI-Capable Assets Report identifies assets with hardware components (CPUs, GPUs, NPUs) that can support running AI models locally. Examples include devices powered by Snapdragon, Apple Neural Engine, or Intel NPU‑equipped chips.

• The AI-Active Assets Report lists assets with installed applications known to use AI functionality, such as Microsoft Copilot, the ChatGPT desktop app, and other AI‑enabled productivity tools.

Use the first report to understand where AI capability exists in your environment—your potential exposure. Use the second report to see where AI software is already present—your active footprint. Together, they deliver the visibility foundation you need to set controls, inform policy, and manage AI risk.

Extending Visibility into the Browser

Many AI risks now originate in the browser. Employees install extensions or use web apps that move sensitive text and files through external services. To address this, we are integrating new capabilities into Lansweeper following the acquisition of Redjack.

Over the next few months, our team will reshape RedJack capabilities into new Lansweeper functionality that will give executives and security teams clearer views of browser-based AI application use. The goal is to surface which users, devices, and business units are interacting with AI tools in the browser. Based on that data you can coordinate or instigate informed policies to allow, guide or (where necessary) restrict usage.

Agentic Browsers: A Next-Wave Risk

Lately, a new category of AI-powered browser tools, so-called agentic browsers, are emerging. These have the capability to not just summarize or assist, but to act autonomously on behalf of the user (e.g., navigate sites, fill forms, access connected services). Examples include Comet from Perplexity AI.

Recent security research shows that, unfortunately, these tools introduce novel attack surfaces:

• The browser may treat web content and user instructions without distinction, allowing attackers to embed hidden commands inside page content. Brave+2The AI Ledger+2

• In the so-called “CometJacking” attack, a single crafted URL can trigger the browser to access user memory or connected services (e.g., email, calendar), encode data (e.g., base64) and exfiltrate it, all without traditional phishing. LayerX+2Tech Wire+2

• Traditional web-security guards like same-origin policy and CORS become ineffective when the AI browser is executing commands across domains under the user’s logged-in context. The Register+1

What Does This Mean for Your Team

Any AI-browser tool capable of autonomous actions must be treated like a privileged application.

• You need visibility. Gather information on which devices are running such browsers, whether they are connected to corporate accounts, what privileges they hold, and what governance/training controls exist.

• Explicitly address agentic browsers in your AI policy: require registration, vetting, usage logs, limit automatic actions to human-approved mode, restrict connections to sensitive data or services unless fully audited.

• Thoroughly assess new AI-browser tools. Verify how they separate user intent from web content, how they handle connected services, how they log actions, and how they support enterprise control or blocking of risky features.

A Practical Operating Model for Better AI Governance

Policies are a great basis for AI governance, but your team needs to day-to-day concrete actions to properly implement them. Translate frameworks into an operating model your teams can run:

• Govern: Name an executive owner. Define decision rights, and minimum controls for data security, procurement, and risk.

• Map: Catalog each AI system’s purpose, data flows, and stakeholders. Link these systems to the assets they run on and the business processes they support.

• Measure: Track reliability, security posture, and data exposure metrics. Use a standardized checklist for approving or onboarding new AI use cases.

• Manage: Prioritize risks, fix issues, test changes and document outcomes. Start with assistive AI that aids human decision‑making, then expand autonomy as you gather evidence of accuracy and safety.

Quick Wins Executives Can Sponsor

Defining your policies and setting up your framework and processes can take some time. AI is already here. Here’s what you can do to take back control today:

• Shadow AI amnesty. Invite teams to register AI tools or experiments in exchange for guidance and support. Use these submissions to seed your AI inventory.

• Block and bless. Approve a small, trusted set of AI‑enabled tools for productivity and experimentation, and block or review unknown options to reduce unmanageable risk.

• Critical asset controls. Using Lansweeper’s AI‑Capable Assets and AI Software Inventory reports, enforce patching, endpoint protection, and segmentation for devices that can run or already host AI‑enabled tools. These should be your top priorities for monitoring and secure configuration.

• Plan for browser visibility. Browser‑based AI usage introduces new blind spots. While deeper browser insight is in development through Lansweeper’s planned Redjack integration, start by capturing known browser extensions and educating users about responsible use of web‑based AI tools.

Where to Start this Quarter

You don’t need a 50‑page policy to start managing AI responsibly. You need a clear view of your environment, practical controls, and a rhythm for continuous review. Turn AI governance from an abstract ambition into concrete steps

• Inventory. Run Lansweeper’s AI‑Capable Assets and AI Software Inventory reports to identify which devices can support AI and which already host AI‑driven software. Share insights with asset owners and security teams.

• Policy. Publish a short, clear AI use policy and registration form. Make registration mandatory for any tool or project handling customer, employee, or financial data.

• Controls. Apply standard security baselines — patching, MFA, logging, and EDR — to AI‑capable and AI‑enabled assets. Implement allow‑lists for validated AI software.

• Operate. Form a cross‑functional AI review loop based on the Govern–Map–Measure–Manage model. Evaluate new AI uses for risk and value before they scale.

Start with visibility, convert it into control, and grow from there. Lansweeper’s asset intelligence gives you the visibility to move quickly and confidently, while planned Redjack integration aims to extend that visibility into browser‑based AI usage.

 

Lansweeper solutions are available in Romania through Simple IT, Lansweeper Partner in Romania.

 

 

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January 2026

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