How a Fortune 500 Financial Services Firm Got Full Visibility Into AI Spend, Risky Apps, and Sensitive Data Exposure

“We realized AI couldn’t be managed like traditional SaaS. The risks and cost dynamics were different. CloudEagle gave us the control plane we needed to govern AI across spend, access, and data in one place. It also helped us identify high-risk applications and assign risk scores, so we could take action before exposure turned into incidents.”

~ Head of IT Security

30%

Reduction in AI Spend

Increase in AI Usage Visibility

100%

PII Exposure Incidents Blocked

30%

Reduction in AI Spend

3x

Increase in AI Usage Visibility

100%

PII Exposure Incidents Blocked

Challenge

Finance had no visibility into AI spend until invoices arrived, with no way to control costs before they compounded.
Offboarding workflows were not built for AI, leaving former employees with active accounts and API tokens.
Sensitive data, including PII and credentials, was being shared with public AI tools, with nothing in place to catch it.

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Solution

CloudEagle.ai created a centralized AI inventory by combining SSO data, browser extensions, firewall logs, and finance integrations.
Duplicate copilots, orphaned accounts, and underutilized licenses were identified and cleaned up.
Sensitive content being shared with AI tools was monitored and blocked before it became a liability.

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Result

The security team gained a live, auditable view of every AI tool in use and every dollar being spent.
Orphaned AI accounts were eliminated as part of a standardized, automated offboarding process.
Leadership could demonstrate to auditors exactly what data controls were in place and what had been blocked.

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Challenge

"Our AI spend was growing faster than our ability to track it. By the time finance saw the invoices, the damage was already done. Duplicate copilots, unused licenses, and usage-based billing were all compounding quietly in the background.

We also realized our offboarding process had a blind spot. Employees would leave, but their AI tool access often stayed active for weeks. And when we started asking what data our teams were actually sharing with tools like ChatGPT, we had no answer. That was the moment we knew we needed a proper control plane for AI."

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Solution

CloudEagle.ai combined SSO data with browser extensions, firewall logs, and finance integrations to give the security team a centralized, real-time view of every AI application in use across the organization, sanctioned and shadow alike.
It surfaced duplicate copilots, underutilized licenses, orphaned accounts, and renewal exposure.
This gave teams the same discovery and usage control they already had for SaaS, now extended to AI.
CloudEagle.ai monitored what employees were sharing with AI tools and blocked sensitive content, including PII, credentials, and confidential data from reaching vendors like ChatGPT.
A flash page redirected employees away from non-approved AI tools toward company-sanctioned alternatives.
This ensured governance stayed intact without disrupting day-to-day workflows.

Why CloudEagle.ai?

The financial services firm evaluated multiple options but chose CloudEagle.ai because it:

Covered AI discovery, spend management, offboarding, and data protection in one place, giving teams a unified control plane for AI governance.
Automatically discovered all AI tools in use, including shadow AI, by correlating data across IT, HR, finance, and security through 500+ integrations without changing existing workflows.
Enforced AI usage policies in real time using Flash pages, redirecting users from unapproved tools to approved alternatives at the point of access.
Assigned risk scores to every AI application, helping teams identify risky apps and prioritize action based on data exposure and compliance impact.
Provided real-time visibility into what sensitive data was being shared with AI tools, with the ability to take immediate action.
Enabled secure and compliant AI adoption at scale, without introducing new security or compliance gaps.

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Impact

Defensible AI Governance

Clear, auditable view of who is using which AI tools and what controls are in place
Shadow AI surfaced and managed, orphaned accounts eliminated
Leadership can demonstrate exactly how AI risk is being mitigated to auditors and the board

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AI Spend Brought Under Control

Duplicate copilots and redundant licenses were consolidated across departments
Usage-based billing surprises eliminated through proactive spend tracking
AI investments aligned directly with actual business value

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Sensitive Data Exposure Stopped

PII, credentials, and confidential data are blocked before reaching unauthorized AI tools
Browser extensions and firewall logs caught risky activity as it happened
The security team moved from reactive firefighting to proactive oversight

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