ChatGPT, Grammarly, Gemini, Copilot — free and paid AI tools get adopted from the bottom up, tool by tool, often with company data pasted straight in. That’s shadow AI: the single biggest AI blind spot for most organizations. GOVERNBOX.ai helps you find it, account for it, and bring it under management — without pretending you can ban it.
Why shadow AI is dangerous
The problem isn’t that staff use AI — it’s that no one can see it, no one owns it, and no one set the rules. That’s how a helpful shortcut becomes a data breach, a compliance finding, or a headline.
A staffer pastes a client contract, patient note, or donor list into a free AI tool to 'summarize it.' You have no record it ever happened.
Tools adopted bottom-up have nobody accountable for how they're used, what they're trained on, or when they go wrong.
Individual AI subscriptions get expensed one at a time across teams — duplicated, unmanaged, and invisible to whoever owns the budget.
The first question in any AI review is 'name every AI tool you use.' Shadow AI is exactly the answer most organizations can't give.
A practical path
You don’t need a security team or a monitoring appliance. You need visibility, clear rules, and a record — all of which GOVERNBOX.ai gives you out of the box.
Build an honest inventory of every AI tool actually in use — the approved ones and the shadow ones — each with a named owner and the data it touches.
Publish a plain-language acceptable-use standard: which tools are okay, and exactly what data may and may not be pasted into them. Staff stop guessing.
Roll out short training and collect an attestation from each employee — so 'I didn't know the rule' stops being an excuse, and you have proof they acknowledged it.
Give staff a clear way to report an AI mistake or a data slip, and keep an incident log so a one-off scare becomes a tracked, closed-out event.
The payoff
Protect client and company data, stop paying for redundant tools, and be ready to answer a customer security questionnaire about your AI use — without a scramble.
Safeguard donor and constituent information, preserve public trust, and show your board you know exactly how staff use AI — stewardship you can evidence.
Banning AI just drives it further underground. Give staff approved tools and clear rules, and you get the productivity without the blind spots.
Transparent pricing
Start with the free Scorecard, then take the 15-day free trial — no credit card, nothing to cancel. On day 15 your workspace stays exactly as you left it until you pick a plan.
Prices below are for the AI Governance module — the first of four GOVERNBOX modules. See modular pricing →
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✓ Instant access · 15 days free · Zero credit card required
✓ Instant access · 15 days free · Zero credit card required
Agency / Enterprise includes one advisory session with the founder. Working sessions, half-day module training and a guided program launch can also be bought on their own, on any plan — see GOVERNBOX.ai Advisory Services →
✓ Instant access · 15 days free · Zero credit card required
| Feature | Starter | Pro Most Popular | Agency / Enterprise |
|---|---|---|---|
| Core Platform | |||
| AI Readiness Scorecard | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| AI Use Case Log (inventory + named owner per system) | Unlimited | Unlimited | Unlimited |
| EU AI Act risk tier classification + Art. 5 prohibited-use screen | — | — | ✓ |
| Dashboard — My Workspace | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Notifications center (review countdowns, alerts) | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Append-only audit log | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Multi-tenant security + row-level isolation | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Document Generation | |||
| AI Use Policy | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| AI Acceptable Use Standard | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| AI Incident Response Plan | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Vendor AI Risk Assessment | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| AI Strategic Plan (wizard) | — | ✓ | ✓ |
| CAIO Position Statement (wizard) | — | ✓ | ✓ |
| AI Committee Charter (wizard) | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Privacy Policy (consumer / data-subject rights) | — | CCPA-grounded | GDPR + CCPA-grounded |
| OMB AI Compliance Plan (M-25-21 / M-25-22) | — | — | ✓ |
| Compliance Crosswalk export — five shelves: Frameworks / United States / European Union & Europe / Canada / Global | NIST + ISO 42001 + U.S. States + U.S. National | + ISO 42005 + CCPA + Canada + AI Standards | + EU AI Act + GDPR + Europe + Global |
| Word (.docx) export | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| PDF export | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Organization logo on document exports | — | ✓ | ✓ |
| Compliance Frameworks | |||
| NIST AI RMF | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| ISO/IEC 42001 | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| U.S. State AI Laws — all states, added as they pass | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| · Colorado ADMT Act (SB 26-189) — eff. January 1, 2027 | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| · Colorado Chatbot Safety (HB 26-1263) — eff. January 1, 2027 | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| · Connecticut SB 5 (PA 26-15) | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| · Texas TRAIGA — eff. January 1, 2026 | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| · California ADMT Regulations — eff. January 1, 2027 | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| · Hawaii AI Acts (247 / 248) | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| · U.S. state law landscape — specific statutes from 27 states | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| EU AI Act | — | — | ✓ |
| ISO/IEC 42005 (AI impact assessment) | — | ✓ | ✓ |
| NIST SP 800-53 Rev. 5 / CSF 2.0 | — | ✓ | ✓ |
| CCPA / CPRA privacy statute (California) | — | ✓ | ✓ |
| GDPR (EU data protection) | — | — | ✓ |
| HIPAA Security & Privacy Rules | — | — | ✓ |
| OMB M-25-21 / M-25-22 (Federal AI) | — | — | ✓ |
| Regulatory Jurisdictions — enabled as one unit on the Organization Profile | |||
| United States — federal law & state landscape — 2 frameworks, enabled as one unit | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Canada — 1 framework, enabled as one unit | — | ✓ | ✓ |
| AI frameworks, standards & healthcare guidelines — 2 frameworks, enabled as one unit | — | ✓ | ✓ |
| Europe — EU regulation, UK, Switzerland, Norway — 4 frameworks, enabled as one unit | — | — | ✓ |
| Global — Americas, Middle East, Asia-Pacific & international — 17 frameworks, enabled as one unit | — | — | ✓ |
| Risk & Impact | |||
| Risk Register (CRUD + likelihood × impact scoring) | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Risk heat map visualization | — | ✓ | ✓ |
| AI Impact Assessment (7-section questionnaire) | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Auto-create risk entries from assessments | — | ✓ | ✓ |
| AI Project Management Module | |||
| AI project list & per-project board | Up to 2 | Up to 5 | Unlimited |
| 7-phase AI development lifecycle checklist | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| 45-item NIST/ISO/EU grounded task checklist | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Kanban board (drag-drop, task detail, Edit mode) | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Cross-links: Use Cases / Projects / Risk Register | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Agentic AI Governance Module | |||
| AI Agents inventory — basic registration (identity, ownership, data access) | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| 12-item zero-trust controls checklist (NIST SP 800-207) | — | — | ✓ |
| Zero-trust score + low-score alerts | — | — | ✓ |
| Agent registration wizard (3-step) | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Agent metrics in Board Report governance block | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Cross-links: Agents / Use Cases / Risk Register | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Training, Incidents & Operations | |||
| Training plan + completion tracking | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Acceptable-use acknowledgment sign-off | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Incident log + severity codes | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| EU AI Act Art. 73 serious-incident flag | — | — | ✓ |
| Reporting & Governance | |||
| Quarterly Board Report (full — maturity score + quarterly history) | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| AI Cost Tracking & Roll-Up (per use case + program office, 60-day renewal alerts, Board Report totals) | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Board Report — AI Agents governance section | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Governance maturity score + stars (dashboard/badge) | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Shareable governance badge | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ White-labeled |
| Live public Trust Page + embeddable live badge | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ White-labeled |
| Employee Attestation Portal (unlimited signers) | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Regulatory horizon feed ("What's Changing") | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Gap report with advisory CTAs | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Administration | |||
| Admin Console (full data inventory & controls) | Owner + Admin | Owner + Admin | Owner + Admin |
| User roles (Owner / Admin / Editor / Viewer) | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| User invite & role management | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Enterprise SSO (SAML / OIDC) | — | — | ✓ |
| Data export (full org snapshot) | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Retention policy + danger zone (Owner only) | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Admin seats included (people who log in) | 10 | 15 | 20 |
| Staff participants — report AI tools, sign policies, complete training (no seat needed) | Unlimited | Unlimited | Unlimited |
| Staff AI-tool reporting portal (anonymous shadow-AI intake) | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Support & Advisory | |||
| Email support | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Onboarding walkthrough | — | ✓ | ✓ |
| Priority support | — | — | ✓ |
| Advisory session (1:1 with the founder) | — | — | ✓ Included |
Agency / Enterprise includes one advisory session. Working sessions, half-day module training and a guided program launch are also available on their own, at published fees — see GOVERNBOX.ai Advisory Services →
Common questions
Start free with the Readiness Scorecard, then build your AI inventory and set staff rules in minutes — no credit card required.