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  1. Growth Hacking Culture
  2. Shadow AI: How to Use ChatGPT and Agents at Work Without Waiting for IT | Anna Berkman
Shadow AI: How to Use ChatGPT and Agents at Work Without Waiting for IT | Anna Berkman

Shadow AI: How to Use ChatGPT and Agents at Work Without Waiting for IT | Anna Berkman

Growth Hacking Culture · Sep 27, 2026

Leverage Shadow AI. Use agents & workflows to close skill gaps and gain an advantage without waiting for IT. Learn practical, safe strategies.

Use AI as a Personalized Tutor to Close Your Unique "AI Advantage Gap"

Don't wait for company training. Define your 12-month goal and use a chatbot's "interview style prompting" to identify your skill gaps. Then, ask the AI to create a custom curriculum with videos and action items to help you achieve your goal and close your personal advantage gap.

Shadow AI: How to Use ChatGPT and Agents at Work Without Waiting for IT | Anna Berkman thumbnail

Shadow AI: How to Use ChatGPT and Agents at Work Without Waiting for IT | Anna Berkman

Growth Hacking Culture·7 days ago

Train Your AI to Act as a Critic, Not a Sycophant, for Better Output

AI models often provide overly positive reinforcement. To counteract this and improve your work, add a system prompt asking the AI to critique your ideas, challenge your assumptions, and identify potential flaws. This forces deeper thinking and produces more robust outcomes.

Shadow AI: How to Use ChatGPT and Agents at Work Without Waiting for IT | Anna Berkman thumbnail

Shadow AI: How to Use ChatGPT and Agents at Work Without Waiting for IT | Anna Berkman

Growth Hacking Culture·7 days ago

Bypass Cautious IT by Piloting AI on Rented Laptops with Separate Accounts

Instead of waiting for full IT approval, innovative teams can rent inexpensive laptops and set up new email addresses to test AI tools on low-risk use cases. This allows them to measure time savings and calculate ROI, building a strong business case for wider adoption.

Shadow AI: How to Use ChatGPT and Agents at Work Without Waiting for IT | Anna Berkman thumbnail

Shadow AI: How to Use ChatGPT and Agents at Work Without Waiting for IT | Anna Berkman

Growth Hacking Culture·7 days ago

Frame AI as a Capable Intern to Ensure Proper Context and Critical Review

Don't treat AI as an omniscient expert. Instead, view it as an intern: provide clear, detailed instructions, show examples of the desired output, and always review the results critically. You wouldn't let an intern's work go straight to the board, and you shouldn't with AI either.

Shadow AI: How to Use ChatGPT and Agents at Work Without Waiting for IT | Anna Berkman thumbnail

Shadow AI: How to Use ChatGPT and Agents at Work Without Waiting for IT | Anna Berkman

Growth Hacking Culture·7 days ago

AI Agents Offer Autonomous Leverage but Require Rigorous Guardrails

While AI agents are the fastest way to get leverage, they are not plug-and-play. They require careful setup with explicit guardrails (e.g., "never delete anything") to prevent them from taking unintended, and potentially harmful, autonomous actions when connected to your systems.

Shadow AI: How to Use ChatGPT and Agents at Work Without Waiting for IT | Anna Berkman thumbnail

Shadow AI: How to Use ChatGPT and Agents at Work Without Waiting for IT | Anna Berkman

Growth Hacking Culture·7 days ago

Use Gamma to Generate Presentations, Then Add Sensitive Data in PowerPoint

To save hours of formatting time without violating data policies, use an AI tool like Gamma to generate a presentation's outline, design, and imagery. Then, export the file as a PowerPoint and add your private company data within your secure corporate environment.

Shadow AI: How to Use ChatGPT and Agents at Work Without Waiting for IT | Anna Berkman thumbnail

Shadow AI: How to Use ChatGPT and Agents at Work Without Waiting for IT | Anna Berkman

Growth Hacking Culture·7 days ago

Use Google's Gemini Notebooks to Learn 10x Faster by Interacting with Documents

Overcome information overload by using Gemini Notebooks. Upload up to 50 sources (including YouTube video transcripts) for free and ask questions directly to the content. Generate summaries, flashcards, or reports to absorb information in a fraction of the time, tailored to your learning style.

Shadow AI: How to Use ChatGPT and Agents at Work Without Waiting for IT | Anna Berkman thumbnail

Shadow AI: How to Use ChatGPT and Agents at Work Without Waiting for IT | Anna Berkman

Growth Hacking Culture·7 days ago

ChatGPT's Default Setting Trains on Your Data; Disable It in Data Controls

A crucial but often overlooked security step for ChatGPT users is to disable data training. Go to "Settings," then "Data controls," and turn off the "Improve the model for everyone" option. This prevents your private conversations from being used to train OpenAI's models.

Shadow AI: How to Use ChatGPT and Agents at Work Without Waiting for IT | Anna Berkman thumbnail

Shadow AI: How to Use ChatGPT and Agents at Work Without Waiting for IT | Anna Berkman

Growth Hacking Culture·7 days ago