Why AI governance is the next big challenge for IT leaders

AI is delivering enormous productivity gains, but it's also creating a new governance challenge for organisations trying to balance innovation with security.

For Lloyd Thomas, APAC channel and alliance leader at Jamf, the pace of AI adoption has left many IT teams struggling to answer a simple question: What AI tools are actually being used across the business?

"They have no visibility or control of what AI is being used across the business," Thomas said.

Speaking with techpartner.news, Thomas said the issue extends well beyond employees experimenting with AI tools such as ChatGPT. 

Developers are increasingly using AI-powered coding assistants and autonomous agents that connect directly into enterprise environments, making visibility and governance more critical than ever.

While some organisations instinctively respond by blocking AI, Thomas said that approach can backfire.

"Employees are very smart, and they'll find workarounds quite often," he said. "The goal shouldn't be to stop innovation. It should be to govern AI in a way that allows people to use these tools safely."

For Jamf, that means bringing AI governance to the endpoint. Instead of relying solely on network-based security controls, the company advocates an Apple-first, device-level approach that provides organisations with deeper visibility into AI activity, stronger policy enforcement and governance reporting.

Thomas said the opportunity extends beyond customers. As AI governance matures and regulatory expectations continue to evolve, partners have a big opportunity to build new services around governance, compliance and Apple security.

"The market opportunity is significant," he said.

Thomas said the organisations leading the way are no longer treating AI governance as a standalone project, but instead embedding it into the management and security tools they already use. 

Watch the full interview to hear why he believes AI governance is rapidly becoming one of the biggest priorities for organisations embracing AI, and what will separate tomorrow's AI leaders from the rest of the pack.