Shadow AI poses risk in businesses adopting the technology. But sometimes, it cannot be helped especially with the proliferation of tools offering freemium services. So, companies need to track how employees share company files with outside tools and provide ways to use AI within systems they control, according to Synology, a provider of IT solutions for data management and protection.
Synology provides storage, backup, and productivity tools, including applications for email, documents, and spreadsheets. Its AI features help employees search company files, turn recordings into text, and extract text from scanned documents.
“So being AI-ready isn’t just about adopting the new technology. It’s also about maintaining control over where the data resides, who can access it, and how it is protected,” said Claire Huang, country manager of Synology Philippines.
Data sovereignty is knowing where information is stored, deciding who can use it, and keeping it protected. As AI connects with more applications and platforms, businesses need to understand how those connections affect their data.
Huang emphasized that companies should give employees useful AI tools while keeping business information under their control. Synology’s approach is to bring AI capabilities closer to stored company data, reducing the need to upload files elsewhere.
“And this is where we believe AI should come closer to your data, rather than requiring the business data to be uploaded elsewhere,” Huang said.
She noted the tools that allow users to search files using everyday language, turn voice recordings into text, and extract text from scanned documents. These functions help employees find and use information stored in documents, audio files, and PDFs.
Huang also described Synology’s productivity applications for documents, spreadsheets, presentations, and email, with AI assistance for tasks such as writing and translation.
Aside from everyday work, Synology noted that businesses need reliable ways to restore their systems after an attack or outage. Having a backup alone may not be enough if that backup can also be damaged or cannot be restored when needed.
Synology’s ActiveProtect brings backup management for physical servers, virtual machines, employee devices, and cloud services into one platform. Huang said this approach helps IT teams monitor workloads without switching between separate protection tools.
She recommended keeping three copies of data on two types of storage, with one copy stored elsewhere. Businesses should also maintain an offline copy or one that cannot be changed, and test recovery to check for errors.
For Synology, data ownership, controlled AI use, and dependable recovery form the foundation for businesses seeking to use AI while protecting the information behind it.