Secure Business AI vs Public AI Tools: What Every Organisation Needs to Know
Business AI vs Public AI: Key Differences
Public AI
Information entered into public AI tools can be processed or stored outside your organisation's control, and cannot be fully monitored or protected.
Secure Business AI
Data remains within your Microsoft 365 environment, protected by identity, permissions, compliance policies, an d enterprise-grade security controls.
Public AI
No awareness of your documents, emails, calendars, or workflows.
Secure Business AI
Understands your business context, enabling accurate summaries, automated updates, and meaningful insights from existing data.
Public AI
No auditing, no usage controls, no ability to enforce security or compliance rules.
Secure Business AI
Full governance, policy enforcement, audit trails, DLP (data loss prevention), and visibility for IT and leadership.
Public AI
High risk of accidental data leaks, GDPR breaches, and shadow AI usage.
Secure Business AI
Significantly reduced risk through identity-bound access and built-in compliance tooling.
What is Shadow AI?
And Why is it One of the Fastest-Growing Business Risks?
Shadow AI occurs when employees use unapproved tools like ChatGPT, Gemini, or other public AI platforms to speed up their work. This often happens with good intentions, but it creates serious risks: sensitive data can be exposed, compliance violations can go undetected, and leadership loses visibility into how AI is affecting business decisions. Most organisations already have shadow AI - they just haven't discovered it yet.
When to Use Enterprise AI vs Public AI
The safest approach is a hybrid one; empower your teams with secure, governed AI for business-critical tasks, while providing clear guidance on when (and how) public AI tools can be used safely..png?width=24&height=24&name=protection%20(4).png){kind=small}
Example 1 - Drafting Internal Reports or Client Updates
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Example 2 - Creative Brainstorming or Concept Generation
Example 3 - Automating Workflows Across Teams
Apex Helps You Build a Safe and
Effective AI Environment
At Apex, we can support you with:
