- 75% of UK business travelers would use, or have used, unapproved AI tools
- Many are not happy with the tools they are given, some do not even receive any.
- Workers don’t want to use other tools, they just want AI to be integrated
New data from SAP Concur has reportedly confirmed that employees continue to ignore company policies, with three in four UK business travelers using (or would use) unapproved AI tools.
Data from the company’s Global Business Travel Survey shows that while organizations are investing heavily in AI, they are not giving workers access to the right tools.
As a result, employees opt to use more suitable alternatives and often prefer publicly available chatbots such as ChatGPT and Gemini.
Shadow AI is an even bigger problem among mobile workers
Two in five (43%) said they use unapproved tools because they prefer different options to those offered to them, but a third (32%) say their organization doesn’t even offer AI tools to help plan or book trips, forcing them to look elsewhere.
Data shows that remote workers (81%) are more likely to use shadow AI than office workers (71%), as are younger workers such as Generation Z (79%) and Millennials (76%) compared to Generation X (62%) and Boomers (49%).
When it comes to what employees are looking for when it comes to AI supporting their travel needs, the biggest use case is itinerary planning (37%). Tracking expenses (30%), assessing travel risks (26%), making changes to your trip (24%), and completing expense reports (21%) are also common use cases for this productivity-boosting technology.
But business leaders already know the magnitude of the problem: 100% of CFOs are concerned about hidden AI in business travel, according to the report.
“Leaders must educate workers about the risks and provide travel and transportation tools that provide the desired level of AI support,” said Concur Travel EMEA Vice President Paul Dear.
Looking ahead, the solution must come from organizations: workers are clearly not very interested in having to navigate to third-party tools and do so out of necessity. More than a third actually want their AI tools to be integrated into their productivity software (38%), communications platforms (36%) and CRM systems (32%).
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