97% of Spanish SMEs have adopted artificial intelligence, according to a report by OpenAI. However, 39% do not have a formal policy regulating its use, which exposes sensitive data.
Artificial intelligence has spread among Spanish SMEs: 97% already use it, according to a report from OpenAI cited by emprendedores.es. Of these, 59% use it regularly and 38% occasionally. Additionally, a third of companies resort to this technology several times a day.
The size of the workforce influences usage: 67% of companies with between 50 and 250 employees use AI regularly, compared to 54% of the smaller ones. Nevertheless, adoption is nearly total across all segments.
The issue is not usage, but lack of control. 39% of organizations do not have a formal policy on AI. The gap is greater in microenterprises: 49% of those with up to 9 employees lack guidelines, compared to 25% of those with 50 to 250 workers.
71% of employees admit to using AI tools on their own, even without company approval, according to the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) in the UK. This is the phenomenon known as Shadow AI.
"The tool that escapes IT control is easy to use, accessible, and also very useful for the worker," says Hervé Lambert, Global Consumer Operation Manager at Panda Security.
The risks are concrete. The AI Security Report by Check Point Software Technologies indicates that 1 in 80 prompts entered into generative AI platforms carries a high risk of leakage, and 7.5% include sensitive information. This can compromise customer data, intellectual property, or strategic information, and open the door to cybercriminals.
SMEs are aware: their main concerns are incorrect responses (32%), data leakage and privacy (29%), and cybersecurity (26%).
The European AI Regulation requires companies using these systems to assess risks and ensure staff training. Establishing usage policies and providing training are the pending steps to avoid incidents.
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