Apax’s Journey to AI Adoption Intelligence with Contextual Coaching

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"We needed to understand not just which AI tools were being used, but how they were being used. That's a completely different question—and it's the one that actually matters."

Neil Patel, Global Head of IT, Apax

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The Reality Check

Apax knew they needed to extend their use of AI. Employees wanted access to the latest AI tools and the business recognized the competitive advantage of embracing them. But with that opportunity came familiar concerns: shadow IT, data leakage, and cyber risks that traditional security tools simply couldn't see.

The security team faced a fundamental gap. Their existing tools could tell them that employees were visiting AI websites, but that wasn’t enough to build confidence. Traffic data. URL logs. The digital equivalent of knowing someone walked into a building without knowing what they did inside.

"We needed visibility into which AI tools were being used and the level of risk they posed," explains Neil. "But more than that, we needed to track adoption rates of our approved tools. If we're investing in enterprise licenses, we need to prove that investment is paying off."

The Manual Nightmare

Before Harmonic Security, gathering adoption data was a time-consuming manual exercise. The team would cobble together usage statistics from individual tools. Many newer AI platforms didn't even offer usage reporting.

And even when they could gather the data, it only answered half the question: how many people are using this tool? The more important questions—what are they doing with it? Are they using it safely? Is anyone uploading sensitive data to unapproved platforms?—remained unanswerable.

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KEY DISCOVERY

Harmonic revealed not  just which AI tools were in use, but the granular details that matter: which pricing tiers of approved apps like OpenAI were being used across the organization with detail that goes far beyond what traditional security tools can see.

Beyond Traffic: Understanding Usage

The traditional approach to AI governance treats it like any other web traffic: block the bad stuff, allow the good stuff, and hope for the best. But AI is different. The risk isn't just in which tool someone uses. It's in what they do with it.

For the Apax team, this distinction was transformative. Instead of playing defense by blocking tools and frustrating employees, they could play offense: understanding user needs, identifying use cases, and figuring out why approved tools might be underutilized.

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Turning Security into Education

One Harmonic feature caught Neil by surprise: the in-line education capability. When employees interact with AI tools in ways that might pose risk, Harmonic Security doesn't just log the event. It shows them a contextual message explaining why certain behaviors matter.

This isn't about catching people doing things wrong. It's about helping them do things right.

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A Partner, Not a Vendor

What ultimately set Harmonic Security apart wasn't just the technology. It was also the partnership. Neil had been persistent about wanting adoption statistics. Harmonic listened.

"Harmonic was open to hearing what we needed," Neil says. "They added the features we requested to their roadmap and released them. That responsiveness to customer needs is rare."

The Outcome

Today, the Apax team has centralized visibility across all AI platforms. They can pull adoption data in minutes instead of hours. They're meeting compliance requirements while improving the employee experience. And they're reporting to their AI steering committee with data that tells a complete story: not just what tools are being used, but how they're delivering value.

The question isn't whether your employees are using AI. They are. The question is: do you understand what they're doing with it?

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Ready to move from traffic monitoring to usage intelligence? See what Harmonic Security can show you about your organization's AI usage.