Report by Veeam

EMEA organizations facing a ‘shadow agent' crisis as boardroom anxiety over personal liability grows

21 FINDINGSPublished Sep 9, 2026
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Key Findings

70% of organizations admit that automated AI workflows are interacting with sensitive corporate data without full oversight.

AI GovernanceData SecurityShadow AIEnterpriseEMEA

67% of organizations report that employees are creating autonomous AI workflows that IT cannot fully track.

AI GovernanceIT ManagementShadow AIEnterpriseEMEA

58% of enterprises find themselves under new corporate accountability laws.

Corporate LiabilityRegulationCyber ResilienceEMEAEnterprise

12% of enterprises state that exact individual responsibilities for corporate accountability are shared and unclear.

Corporate LiabilityGovernanceExecutive RiskEMEAEnterprise

40% of executives are concerned about personal liability or consequences related to AI governance and accountability.

Corporate LiabilityExecutive RiskAI GovernanceEMEAEnterprise

39% of organizations report increased board-level scrutiny related to AI governance and accountability.

Corporate GovernanceBoard OversightAI GovernanceEMEAEnterprise

37% of executives say increased corporate accountability has increased personal stress or anxiety.

Executive StressCorporate GovernanceEMEAEnterprise

32% of executives say increased corporate accountability has created tension or conflict with other executives.

Corporate GovernanceEMEAEnterprise

81% of leaders in Germany admit that automated workflows are interacting with sensitive data without oversight.

Data SecurityGermanyAI GovernanceEMEAEnterprise

75% of organisations in the UK say they lack adequate oversight of AI agents interacting with sensitive data.

UKAI GovernanceData SecurityEMEAEnterprise

41% of organizations across EMEA are building their own local or sovereign AI models specifically to combat Shadow AI.

Sovereign AIAI DeploymentShadow AIEMEAEnterprise

49% of organizations across EMEA are adopting a hybrid approach that blends local/sovereign models for sensitive data and global models for general tasks.

AI DeploymentHybrid CloudSovereign AIEMEAEnterprise

83% of leaders feel the EU AI Act will have a positive impact on organizations and the wider landscape.

EU AI ActRegulationPolicy ImpactEMEAEnterprise

63% of leaders fear the EU AI Act may introduce unintended operational or legal risks.

EU AI ActOperational RiskLegal RiskEMEAEnterprise

74.4% of leaders in the UK view ambiguities in the EU AI Act as a compliance risk.

UKEU AI ActCompliance RiskEMEAEnterprise

73.6% of leaders in Germany view ambiguities in the EU AI Act as a compliance risk.

GermanyEU AI ActCompliance RiskEMEAEnterprise

32% of organizations say regulatory pressure is already creating tension or conflict among executives.

Corporate GovernanceExecutive RiskRegulationEMEAEnterprise

41% of EMEA organizations rely entirely on global AI providers for all use cases.

AI ProvidersEMEARegulationEMEAEnterprise

45% of organizations say increased accountability has improved alignment and focus at the leadership level.

Corporate GovernanceAI GovernanceEMEAEnterprise

79% of leaders in Germany report employees creating shadow workflows that IT teams cannot track.

Shadow AIIT ManagementGermanyEMEAEnterprise

62% of leaders feel ambiguities or grey areas in the EU AI Act may create compliance risk.

EU AI ActCompliance RiskRegulationEMEAEnterprise