Bosses blinded by confidence about shadow AI use by workers

Okta's 'AI Agents at Work 2026' survey of 292 executives and 492 knowledge workers across seven countries found 58% of organizations experienced an AI-related security incident or close call in the past year, driven largely by 'shadow AI' — employees using unapproved AI tools, sharing confidential documents, and in some cases providing login credentials; the report notes a large gap between executive confidence in AI visibility and actual employee behavior and recommends discovery, identity-centric controls, secure sandboxes, and pragmatic governance instead of blanket bans.