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The explosive growth of SaaS, the surge in Shadow IT, and the rapid adoption of AI have created a tsunami of risks that many organizations are unprepared to handle. Businesses are now heavily reliant on SaaS, and as these apps become more accessible, employees are increasingly bypassing IT departments, resulting in a flood of unmonitored and unsecured software.
This report takes a comprehensive look at how shadow SaaS and shadow AI are reshaping the security landscape. Using anonymized data from the SaaS Security Control Plane (SSCP) deployments, Grip analyzed over 29 million SaaS user accounts, 1.7 million identities, and 23,987 distinct SaaS applications to understand the scale and nature of these risks. The findings highlight a growing challenge: traditional security measures are no longer enough to protect organizations from "SaaS risk creep," the slow but steady accumulation of vulnerabilities that arise from unmanaged apps and the user accounts tied to them.
As organizations increasingly manage more SaaS apps and user accounts than ever before, a new strategic approach is essential. Gartner projects that by 2027, 75% of employees will use technology outside of IT's purview. This shift demands more than just monitoring—it requires a complete rethinking of SaaS security to address the nuances of shadow SaaS and shadow AI. Without adapting to these changes, enterprises face an expanding gap between perceived security and the reality of unmonitored risk. A flexible, identity-centric approach that empowers employees while controlling risk is the only way forward in this evolving landscape.
Shadow SaaS and shadow AI are grossly underestimated and pose more significant risks than most organizations realize. As the number of unsanctioned apps and AI grows, so does the organization's exposure to potential security breaches.
Without proper governance, AI apps create blind spots in identity security, leaving potential entry points for cyberattacks. Balancing the benefits of AI with the risks it poses is critical, as unmanaged adoption can leave businesses vulnerable to significant security threats.
While tech consolidation has been a popular strategy, employee behavior tells a different story. As employees independently adopt new SaaS tools, many of the SaaS licenses provisioned for them go unused. This creates a dual problem of risk exposure and financial waste, underscoring the need to optimize tech usage rather than just reduce tools.
To continue reading, download your copy of the 2025 SaaS Security Risks Report, chock full of never-before-released insights impacting your SaaS security!
