August 6, 2026 by Nick Cozzolino
I am having this conversation with customers more often. Someone discovers an AI coding tool, builds a quick script, then a workflow, dashboard, or internal app. Before anyone realizes it, that “quick little AI project” is supporting a real business process.
Amazingly, we live in a time when anyone can develop software. Unfortunately, that also presents a problem when there is no:
But the software works. And that is exactly why it becomes risky.
AI-assisted development is an incredible advancement. It helps organizations move faster, solve problems creatively, and build tools that might have taken months or required outside developers in the past. I am not against it. It is one of the most exciting opportunities businesses have right now.
But vibe coding is one thing. Running business software in a secure, controlled, and supportable manner is something very different.
Shadow IT is not new. Employees have always found ways to solve problems when official systems were too slow, too expensive, or too frustrating. Years ago, that meant an Access database, a complex Excel workbook, or a fancy cloud tool.
Now it can be a custom application built with AI over a weekend. That is a big change.
The barrier to creating software has dropped dramatically. Employees who are not trained developers can now create forms, workflows, dashboards, integrations, automations, and even client-facing experiences that look and feel legitimate.
The issue is not whether the tool works on day one. The issue is whether anyone has thought about what happens on day 100.
What happens when the employee who built it leaves, the AI-generated code has a security flaw, the tool starts storing customer information, or it breaks during month-end reporting?
That is when the fun little side project becomes a business risk.
Software created by AI or humans is not automatically secure, reliable, compliant, or maintainable software. A tool can function perfectly and still have serious issues underneath it.
It may expose sensitive data, store credentials improperly, rely on one person’s account, lack logging, miss backups, connect to systems no one approved, or make decisions that should require human review.
This is why secure software development practices matter. Frameworks like NIST’s Secure Software Development Framework exist to help organizations reduce vulnerabilities and address root causes in how software is built.
That does not mean every internal tool needs a 90-page project plan. It does mean business software needs structure before it becomes operationally important.
AI-generated code can introduce the same software risks faster than ever. It also creates new questions.
Was sensitive company data pasted into the tool? Was customer information used in a prompt? Can the app be manipulated through prompt injection? Does it use an approved model or service? Where is the data going? Who can access the output? Can the output be trusted?
The OWASP Top 10 for Large Language Model Applications highlights risks such as prompt injection and sensitive information disclosure. Those risks become very real when companies start building AI-powered internal tools.
Most organizations are not intentionally ignoring risk. They are moving quickly because AI makes it easy to move quickly. That speed is the opportunity. It is also the problem.
The answer is not to ban employees from building things. That would be a mistake.
Some of the best ideas come from the people closest to the work. They know which processes are painful, where time is wasted, and where a simple automation could save hours every week.
Organizations should want that creativity. The goal is not to stop innovation. The goal is to put guardrails around it so the company can say yes safely.
Good governance should not feel like a locked door. It should feel like a safe road with lane markers. You can still go fast. You have to stop driving through cornfields.
Companies do not need to turn every AI-built tool into a massive enterprise software project. They do need a lightweight process that matches the risk of the tool.
At a minimum, organizations should be able to answer the following questions.
That is not bureaucracy. That is basic operational maturity.
AI-assisted development is not going away. It is too useful, too powerful, and too good at solving real business problems.
Your staff may already be building systems, automating workflows, creating internal applications, and using AI to write code that supports business operations.
The question is not whether this will happen. The question is whether leadership will manage it intentionally or discover it later during an outage, audit, security incident, employee resignation, or customer complaint.
Vibe coding can be a great way to prototype. It should not be your software development life cycle.
The organizations that get this right will not be the ones that ban AI coding. They will be the ones that create a practical way to turn good ideas into safe, supportable, compliant, and valuable business tools.
That is where the real opportunity is.
