Your Data. Your AI. Or Someone Else’s?

Why companies are losing control of their IP without realising it 

It sounds dramatic. But it’s already happening. 

In the rush to “experiment” with AI, many businesses are feeding their most valuable asset - their data - into systems they don’t fully understand, can’t fully control, and don’t legally own. 

And they’re doing it in the name of speed, curiosity, or pressure from the board. 

It’s time to recognise that your data isn’t just an input. It’s IP 

It’s patterns, pricing, product strategy. It’s how you win. 

And when you push that data through someone else’s AI model without clear governance? 

You might be handing it away. 

The Great Data Drift 

We’ve spoken to companies using free or “freemium” GenAI tools to experiment with: 

• Bid responses 
• Pricing strategies 
• Operational playbooks 
• Customer insight analysis 
• Internal comms and knowledge assets 

In many cases, that’s just the beginning. 

Some teams are building automations that feed live business data into these models to produce: 

• Meeting summaries and sales emails 
• Contract templates and client comms 
• Roadmap decisions or feature prioritisation 
• Chatbot replies trained on internal documents 
• Even competitive analysis using blended internal and external inputs 

What they often don’t realise is this: 

Unless you’ve locked it down, that data can end up being stored, reused, or even used to train the model further - benefiting others, including your competitors. 

That’s not just a data leak. That’s an IP erosion strategy. You’re teaching the AI to compete with you. 

It Gets Worse with Scale 

Now layer in: 

• Shadow AI usage from well-meaning teams 
• External consultants bringing in unvetted tools 
• A patchwork of data lakes, exports, and shared folders 
• No clear policy or audit trail 

You don’t just have a governance gap - you’ve got a visibility problem. And the bigger your ambition, the bigger the risk. 

AI Governance = Control 

This isn’t about banning AI or blocking innovation. It’s about keeping your AI yours - built on your terms, with your data, delivering your value. 

Governance gives you that control. 

Done right, it helps you: 

• Define where and how your data is used 
• Decide which models can access what - and under what conditions 
• Track, log, and audit usage 
• Set rules for external partners, vendors, and tools 
• Build AI on your IP, not someone else’s 

Don’t Give It Away Before You’ve Even Started 

This is your moment to build a competitive advantage with AI. But it only works if you protect what makes you competitive in the first place. 

Governance doesn’t slow you down. 

It keeps you from giving away the one thing that actually sets you apart. 

Your Data. Your AI. Your Rules. 

Want To Protect Your IP While Moving Fast With AI? 

 Book a free 2-hour AI Readiness Workshop or a 45-minute Fundamentals session. 

We’ll help you spot the gaps, secure your data, and start building AI that works for you - not everyone else. 

Book here.