7 Best Shadow IT Tools for 2025: Tried and Tested

Shadow IT, the use of unapproved technology by employees, persists because official processes are often slow, approved tools may lack necessary features, and tight budgets push departments to find alternatives. While not typically malicious, shadow IT creates unmonitored and insecure tech stacks, posing risks to data security and compliance. Shadow AI, a subset of shadow IT, involves the unauthorized use of AI tools, presenting unique risks like data leakage and erroneous AI outputs influencing business decisions. A unified governance strategy is essential to manage these challenges by providing visibility, enforcing policies, and offering secure alternatives for tool development. Various shadow IT detection tools like Superblocks, Zluri, and Netskope offer diverse solutions, from SaaS discovery to AI governance, aiming to balance employee autonomy with organizational control. To eliminate shadow IT, organizations should adopt a governance framework that includes app discovery, risk assessment, automation of approvals, and continuous monitoring, alongside educating employees on data handling risks. As AI features become integrated into approved tools, the focus is shifting towards creating secure environments for experimentation within regulatory boundaries.