But organizations warned of privacy risk - nearly 31% of apps declare they train on customer data and less than 1% have a trust center

Harmonic Security has published an unprecedented study on the use of Generative AI (GenAI) in the workplace. Based on a random sample of 1,000 enterprise employees who used at least one GenAI app in the past month, the study titled "GenAI Unleashed" provides valuable insights into current usage patterns and potential security concerns.

Key Findings on GenAI Usage

• Average App Usage: On average, GenAI users upload data to 8.25 apps each month.
  • Power Users: 18.9% of users engage with more than 12 apps.
  • Minimal Users: 10% of users engage with only one app.
• Usage Trends: The number of apps being used is down 11% from June, suggesting employees are refining their use cases and focusing on the most useful apps.

Popular Use Cases

• Content Creation and Editing: 47% of prompts are related to content creation, summarizing, or editing.
• Software Engineering: Accounts for 15% of prompts.
• Data Analysis: 12% of prompts focus on data interpretation, processing, and analysis.
• Business and Finance: Represents 7% of prompts.
• Problem Solving: 6% of prompts deal with troubleshooting.

GenAI Tools in Use

• Total Tools: 5,020 GenAI or GenAI-enabled tools identified.
• Most Popular Tools:
  • ChatGPT: Used by 84% of users, making it 6x more popular than Google Gemini (14%).
  • Other Popular Tools: Include Microsoft Copilot, Perplexity, and Claude.
• Business Case Distribution:
  • Content-Related Apps: 25% help with editing, creation, summarization, and translation.
  • Business Tools: 18% are tools like Slack, Notion, and Grammarly.
  • Customer Service: 13% help streamline customer support.

Privacy and Security Risks

• Data Training: 30.8% of the studied applications train on customer data, posing privacy risks.
• Transparency: Less than 1% of apps have a 'Trust Center' for easy access to crucial security and privacy settings.

Expert Insights

• Alastair Paterson, Co-founder and CEO of Harmonic Security:
  • Employee Engagement: Employees tend to use a high number of GenAI apps monthly, a trend that might decrease as the market matures.
  • IT Department Challenges: The vast number of GenAI apps complicates tracking and managing usage with existing tools.
  • Data Privacy: Organizations must be vigilant about apps training on customer data.

Harmonic Security's "GenAI Unleashed" study provides crucial insights into the extensive use of GenAI apps in the workplace and the associated privacy and security risks. As the market evolves, it is imperative for organizations to monitor and manage the use of these applications to safeguard sensitive data effectively.