Veeam shadow agent crisis puts AI governance under pressure

AI adoption across EMEA enterprises is creating a new control problem. Veeam research points to a growing Veeam shadow agent crisis, where autonomous AI workflows are accessing sensitive data and being created outside IT’s full view.

The numbers highlight the gap. 70% of organisations report that automated AI workflows interact with sensitive corporate data without full oversight, while 67% say employees are creating autonomous workflows that IT cannot fully track. For enterprises trying to scale AI, the challenge is no longer just what agents can do, but whether organisations can see and govern what they are doing.

AI governance is becoming a boardroom issue

The pressure is moving beyond IT. Nearly one-third of organisations, or 32%, report tension or conflict among executives linked to regulatory and corporate accountability pressures.

That concern is reinforced by new corporate accountability laws. 58% of surveyed enterprises are now operating under such laws, while 12% say individual responsibilities remain unclear. Personal liability concerns affect 40% of leaders, while 39% report greater board scrutiny and 37% report higher personal stress or anxiety.

Yet the shift is not entirely negative. 45% believe increased accountability has improved leadership alignment and focus.

EMEA organisations struggle to keep pace

The problem varies across the region. Germany records particularly high levels of unmanaged AI activity, with 81% reporting automated workflows interacting with sensitive data without oversight and 79% reporting untracked employee-created workflows. In the UK, 75% report inadequate oversight of AI agents handling sensitive data.

Some organisations are responding by changing where and how AI runs. 41% are building local or sovereign AI models to address Shadow AI, while 49% are taking a hybrid approach, combining local or sovereign models for sensitive data with global models for general tasks.

The EU AI Act is also creating a confidence gap. While 83% expect a positive impact, 62% believe ambiguities could create compliance risk, and 63% fear unintended operational or legal risks.

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