---
id: "claim-shadow-ai-preference"
type: "claim"
source_timestamps: ["¶2"]
tags: ["statistics", "shadow-it", "employee-behavior"]
related: ["concept-shadow-ai-solutions", "contrarian-shadow-ai-trust"]
confidence: "high"
testable: true
provenance: "Deloitte TrustID Workforce Index"
sources: ["adoption"]
sourceVaultSlug: "hbr-seg-adoption"
originDay: 9
articleStem: "hbr-edu-40-workers-dont-trust-ai"
sourceUrl: "https://hbr.org/2025/11/workers-dont-trust-ai-heres-how-companies-can-change-that"
sourceTitle: "Workers Don’t Trust AI. Here’s How Companies Can Change That."
---
# Nearly Half of Workers Prefer Shadow AI

**Claim:** Usage of employer-provided AI tools **declined 15% between February and July 2025**, while **nearly half of frontline employees with access to AI** are actively turning to unapproved **"shadow" tools** instead. This demonstrates that the adoption barrier is not the technology itself, but a lack of trust in the *specific implementations mandated by employers* (see [[concept-shadow-ai-solutions]] and [[contrarian-shadow-ai-trust]]).

**Confidence: HIGH.**

**Enrichment validation:** *Supported* by Deloitte's public commentary on the same TrustID dataset (including a Deloitte managing-director LinkedIn recap stating the 15% drop and the "nearly half" figure). **Nuance:** "nearly half" refers to workers **who have AI access** — it should **not** be generalized to *all* workers. Pattern is consistent with long-standing shadow-IT research: employees route around official tools they perceive as slow, restrictive, or unhelpful.