Reap AI’s ROI Gains and Keep Your Data Private
Generative AI is transforming how work is done, but many organizations may be jeopardizing their data security in their pursuit of productivity gains. In Episode 2 of the Winners Circle webinar series, Mark Richtermeyer, NexusTek’s SVP of AI, provides an expert perspective on how AI-savvy businesses can give employees unlimited access to the transformative potential of leading AI models while maintaining full control of their sensitive data.
From Shadow AI to Secure AI
Employees are experimenting with AI tools, usually without oversight, and driving innovation at a grassroots level, scoring individual efficiency gains and upending the usual top-down tech adoption cycle in the process. But these gains come at a cost: An estimated 25% to 40% of employees’ prompts contain sensitive information, which exposes their organizations to potential data leaks and compliance failures. A lack of observability and industry-specific AI governance frameworks further complicates the security challenges.
The answer isn’t to ban shadow AI. To manage risk without sacrificing innovation—and create competitive advantages in the process—organizations can provide controlled access to top AI models with the right tools and policies.
Bringing Security and Governance Forward
Underscoring the urgency of keeping sensitive information out of models, LLM providers such as OpenAI are required to save all prompts and responses regardless of their data security standards. The rapid proliferation of AI tools exacerbates the gap between innovation and oversight, with data security and governance practices struggling to keep pace with employee adoption.
While the major frameworks—such as NIST, GDPR, HIPAA, and SOX—have instituted AI governance standards, many industry-specific cybersecurity frameworks have yet to do so. This governance lag can force organizations into a reactive position, scrambling to retrofit security controls onto AI tools that are already being embedded in critical business processes.
Building for Sustainable Differentiation
NexusTek works with companies that are already reporting millions of dollars in savings through AI-process optimization with the right guardrails. However, achieving sustainable AI innovation requires much more than the right security controls—technical capabilities alone don’t automatically translate into differentiated value.
Like any software development project, successfully innovating with AI starts with a clear focus on target outcomes, with implementation driven by robust change management practices, focused on executive buy-in, small steps, and quick wins. The most successful AI transformations combine rigorous governance—with a human “in the loop,” keeping an eye on outputs—with strategic clarity and organizational readiness.
When these ingredients—defined outcomes, secure and compliant data handling, and effective change management—are properly combined, companies can harness AI’s transformative potential on a sustainable basis while minimizing risks to data security.
Unlocking Triple-Digit ROI and Competitive Advantage
Richtermeyer has seen companies generate ROIs approaching 600% by focusing on specific use cases for process optimization, such as eliminating waste in manufacturing and pinpointing inefficiencies in supply chains. AI tools can pay for themselves rapidly through time savings alone, and many of the companies NexusTek works with are building competitive advantage by applying AI to detail-oriented knowledge work such as regulatory compliance or program management.
However, these companies aren’t achieving these gains with off-the-shelf AI solutions. The secret to the most successful implementations? Secure access to AI models with high observability that ensures sensitive data is blocked or redacted in prompts and inputs.
The NexusTek Secure AI Platform is built for these specifications, enabling secure access to genAI models on any website, application, or platform, with strict data security and oversight. Employees have unlimited, secure access to the AI models of their choice (or NexusTek-built custom models), with the platform scrubbing prompts of sensitive information and providing complete observability on the back end.
“We can use (the NexusTek Secure AI Platform) to make sure that, however people use AI in the organization, they’re using it securely,” Richtermeyer says.
Interested in exploring what the NexusTek Secure AI Platform can do for your company’s employees and AI initiatives? Contact our team.
