OptyStack Blog
Insights, tips, and strategies for optimizing your SaaS stack and maximizing your software investments.
ServiceNow AI Control Tower Alternative: How to Find Shadow AI Today
ServiceNow is expanding its AI governance platform with shadow AI detection and AI Cost Management. Learn how to compare its announced capabilities with SaaS management alternatives for application discovery, spend visibility and license optimization.
Aryan Malik
Shadow AI Discovery Beyond the Identity Provider: What Your SSO Can’t See
Nearly half of enterprise AI conversations run through personal accounts, according to Akamai’s 2026 telemetry. Here’s why SSO logs miss them and how to find shadow AI through spend, browser and OAuth signals.
Aryan Malik
Browser Extensions: The Overlooked Security Risk
A poisoned VS Code extension compromised a GitHub employee device in 2026, with GitHub saying an attacker's claim of roughly 3,800 exfiltrated internal repositories was directionally consistent with its investigation. Here's why extension security deserves more attention.
Aryan Malik
How to Find Out Which AI Tools Employees Use
A 2025 global study found that 57% of employees hide their AI use or present AI-generated work as their own. Here's how to get more honest answers and combine employee surveys with independent usage data.
Aryan Malik
Shadow IT vs Shadow AI: What's Changed
Cisco found a decade ago that enterprises ran 15 to 22 times more cloud apps than IT knew about. Shadow AI is a faster-moving version of the same problem. Here's what's actually different about shadow AI, what hasn't changed, and a side-by-side comparison of both.
Aryan Malik
Detecting Shadow AI Tools in Your Organization
New generative AI applications are being released faster than any single detection method can track. Here's how to combine identity logs, OAuth records, expense reviews, and other data sources into a working shadow AI detection process.
Aryan Malik
Shadow AI Risks: Data Leakage, Compliance and Cost
Shadow AI creates risks that extend beyond cybersecurity. Unapproved AI tools can expose sensitive data, complicate compliance, increase SaaS costs, and create access gaps. Learn how companies can identify these risks and build a practical approach to managing Shadow AI.
Aryan Malik
What Is Shadow AI? A Complete Guide
Shadow AI is workplace AI use that falls outside an organization's approved visibility or governance. Learn why it is growing, the risks it creates, how to detect it, and how companies can manage it without blocking legitimate AI use.
Aryan Malik
Browser Discovery vs SSO Discovery: Which Is Better?
SSO discovery and browser-based discovery each catch a different slice of your SaaS stack. Here's how the two methods compare, where each wins, and why relying on one alone leaves gaps.
Aryan Malik