AI in the enterprise: innovating without exposure

OP-ED · 17 FEBRUARY 2026

By Jérôme Beaufils, CEO of SASETY · Lire en français

Rapid adoption, an often underestimated risk

Artificial intelligence has spread through organisations at unprecedented speed. Within a few months, content generation, development assistance and business automation tools have become everyday reflexes. Business units experiment. IT teams try to set a framework. Uses multiply.

This momentum is positive. It creates value and improves productivity. But it also opens up a new cyber exposure surface.

AI is much more than one more application in the information system. It changes the way data flows. Sensitive information is copied into prompts. Internal documents are sent to external services. Intelligent agents access APIs or interact with critical applications. And all this often happens without a formal framework.

The risks then become very real: unintentional leakage of strategic data, hijacking through prompt injection, loss of traceability, a growing amount of “Shadow AI”. AI creates a new security perimeter.

The AI Act: regulation enters AI governance

On top of this cyber dimension comes a structuring regulatory framework. With the gradual entry into application of the AI Act, the European Union clearly regulates the development and use of artificial intelligence systems.

The text is based on a risk-level approach and, for certain uses, imposes strict obligations regarding governance, transparency, human oversight and data control.

For companies, this changes the perspective. Experimenting is no longer enough. They must demonstrate that usage is under control, be able to trace interactions, document choices and provide guarantees regarding data protection.

AI is therefore becoming a topic at the crossroads of cybersecurity, compliance and corporate strategy.

Building AI security into the existing architecture

Faced with these challenges, the temptation could be to add yet another specialised tool. But adding more technical components often creates more complexity than security.

The approach taken by Cato Networks is to build AI security directly into its cloud-native SASE platform. The idea is simple: treat AI usage as one more flow to govern, just like network traffic or SaaS applications.

The integration of technologies from the acquisition of Aim Security at the end of 2025 provides fine-grained visibility over AI usage, identifies unlisted applications and controls interactions with models. Policies are unified. Controls are applied consistently to users, sites and remote access.

AI thus stops being a blind spot. It becomes part of an overall Zero Trust approach, with centralised governance and consolidated traceability.

Making AI security truly operable

Technology is a foundation. But on its own it falls short.

There is always a gap between a platform's capabilities and a company's operational reality. That gap is bridged through method, governance and continuous operations.

This is where SASETY comes in, as an operator of SASE and cybersecurity managed services. Support starts with mapping existing AI usage. It continues with the definition of clear rules, aligned with both security requirements and the European regulatory framework. Controls are deployed gradually, adjusted and monitored.

24/7 monitoring, alert follow-up, policy fine-tuning and indicators for CISOs and compliance departments turn a technical capability into a truly controlled system.

The aim is to make innovation sustainable, rather than to slow it down.

Conclusion: innovation and control must move forward together

Artificial intelligence represents a major opportunity for European companies. But this opportunity comes with a new requirement: consistency and control.

Adopting AI is a strategic decision.

Securing and governing it properly is now the essential condition.