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Organizations across industries are actively investing in AI to streamline operations, boost productivity, and stay ahead in competitive markets. However, most proceed with caution when rolling out new AI solutions internally as they need to meet standards for AI security, compliance, and responsible use through rigorous testing and assessments.

At the same time, teams may occasionally adopt AI solutions outside formal channels to simplify their workload. Often, these are commercially available tools that haven’t been vetted and approved by IT teams, which raises the issue of shadow AI, Vanta reports.

What is shadow AI?

Shadow AI refers to the use of AI tools and services within an organization outside formalized IT, security, or compliance oversight. It has become a growing trend in recent times due to the increasing accessibility of AI solutions. Options like ChatGPT, Midjourney, Claude, and Julius AI are easily available online and require little to no tech experience. This means that stakeholders may adopt them to support their everyday tasks without notifying management.

Let’s clarify the difference between shadow AI and shadow IT, which are similar concepts. While shadow AI refers to the use of AI tools without approval or oversight, shadow IT is the broader term that encompasses the unauthorized use of all software, hardware, and technology systems in an organization.

Though different in scope, both increase the chances of risk exposure and security breaches. Still, shadow IT is trickier to detect and control because it involves off-the-shelf apps, cloud-based services, and employee-owned devices that are easy to overlook.

According to Vanta’s AI governance survey, although 59% of companies feel confident in their visibility into AI tools, only 36% have or are developing an AI policy—meaning many organizations overestimate their controls and lack the formal structures necessary to manage AI responsibly.

Why should organizations worry about shadow AI?

The primary reason to worry about shadow AI is the low entry barrier for cloud-based AI tools. Most solutions require no additional setup or company credentials, and workers can use them without the guidance of AI teams.

Some of the reasons why stakeholders may resort to shadow AI are:

• Perceived productivity gain: From the layperson’s perspective, these tools surpass human processing limits and seem to deliver fast and easy results across creative use cases with no apparent harm.
• Gaps in internal governance: Many organizations still lack clear, accessible policies on how AI should (or shouldn’t) be used or what risks it poses.
• Slow approval process: Formal evaluations and approval chains are often seen as bottlenecks, so shadow AI emerges as a workaround to avoid slow internal processes.

In some cases, shadow AI doesn’t originate from internal us

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We were all traumatized enough by the Borg in “Star Trek: Next Generation” that the term “AI integration” might come with some baggage. But to humanity’s intense relief, integrating AI into your business doesn’t require assimilation by a terrifying cybernetic collective.

AI integration is about making your workflows work better. It means connecting AI tools—like ChatGPT, Claude, or custom models—to the apps and systems your team already uses, so they can help you automate repetitive tasks, surface better insights, and move faster.

AI orchestration company Zapier digs into what AI integration really means and how real teams are putting it to use, including a step-by-step approach to bringing AI into your workflows.

What is AI integration?

AI integration is the process of embedding artificial intelligence tools into your existing systems and workflows to automate tasks, streamline decision-making, and unlock new capabilities.

Think of it like plugging smart functionality into the tools you already use. Instead of logging in to a separate app to ask ChatGPT a question, for example, you might build a workflow that automatically routes customer support tickets through an AI model to summarize the issue, determine urgency, and assign it to the right team — all before a human ever looks at it.

Or, let’s say you’re managing a content team. With AI integrated into your editorial workflow, you can automatically generate SEO briefs, draft outlines, or repurpose blog posts into LinkedIn updates — all using structured prompts and a few clicks inside the apps your team already uses, like Google Docs or Notion.

It’s the difference between using AI as a novelty and making it part of how your business operates every day.

Why AI integration matters

As more companies adopt AI-powered workflows, the opportunity cost of not integrating AI is only getting higher. Businesses that integrate AI will move faster, operate leaner, and deliver more personalized experiences. If your competitors are automating and you’re not, you’re playing catch-up.

Here’s how AI integration makes an impact:

• Time savings at scale. AI can knock out repetitive tasks in seconds. When you bake those automations into your workflows, you’re multiplying your team’s capacity without adding headcount.
• Faster, smarter decision-making. AI tools can analyze large amounts of data faster than any human, surfacing insights that would otherwise take hours (or get missed altogether). Integrated AI can help your team move from gut decisions to data-backed action.
• Improved consistency and quality. People get tired, distracted, and busy. AI doesn’t. When integrated into your workflows, AI can help maintain consistent tone in co

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Every beautiful garden begins with a humble seed planted in the ground. That’s where the startup world got the term “seed funding”: some of the earliest money a new company receives to grow.

“For startups, seed investing is what is needed for you to see those beautiful tulips one day,” says Michael Duda, cofounder and managing partner of Bullish Inc., a venture capital firm that has invested in companies like Warby Parker, Peloton, Harry’s, Bubble Beauty, and Bandit Running.

“It’s that early money to plant the beginning of something in the ground, and hopefully help it grow and flourish in the future,” Duda tells Shopify.

While seed funding is often associated with venture capital firms, startups can seek capital from a variety of sources, including friends and family, crowdfunding platforms, and grants. Whichever sources you choose, securing funding can be a challenge for a new business. A polished pitch starts with these four things.

You have an MVP

It’s helpful to have at least a basic example of your product or service—even if it’s a minimum viable product (MVP)—to show your potential investors. An MVP is a basic version of a product or service with just enough features for customers to use and interact with, while still feeling complete.

This doesn’t necessarily have to be a full prototype. There are several types of MVPs that don’t require you to build a product, such as a website describing the product and its features, an explainer video, a marketing campaign driving people to sign up for a waitlist, or a single-feature MVP to test one functionality.

When Susie Harrison was building Hearth Display, a digital whiteboard that helps families organize schedules and chores, her MVPs were design concepts she created in Figma and shared with her target audience. “We started by quite literally just showing families the actual product designs of the software features—not even a fully baked hardware prototype, not even a fully baked engineered software experience,” she says.

While Harrison’s MVP was more conceptual, it allowed her to validate the need for her business.

You can demonstrate consumer traction

Besides giving you something tangible to show investors, MVPs also allow you to collect feedback from users and prove consumer interest to investors. Harrison knew this was especially crucial for Hearth Display, which aimed to solve a problem many male investors couldn’t relate to—the mental load of running a home.

“One of the points of pushback that we received from potential investors was around whether or not somebody would actually pay to solve this problem,” Harrison says. “We also had pushback around whether or not the problem was actually real.”

Harrison first created Facebook groups to gather families’ pain points and feedback as she began building the concept of Hearth Display. She then launched a pre-order campaign where customers put down a small (refundable) deposit. Finally, she followed it up with an Indiegogo c

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Traffic, infrastructure, and the safety of roads may be one aspect of owning and driving a car. The other side of metrics includes the cost of ownership, which is primarily the insurance cost, parking fees, repair and maintenance charges, and gas rates. The multiple costs associated with owning a car have been researched and analyzed here by Way.com to list out the five best cities for car owners in 2025 and the most expensive ones.

Do the lower gas prices alone make a city an affordable place to own a car? Not really. For example, the states in the South often experience lower gas prices; however, there is the added burden of sales taxes or documentation fees that might increase the cost of ownership in those places. Therefore, it is an amalgamation of several factors that need to be considered when analyzing the best cities to own a car.

5 Most Expensive and Affordable Cities to Own a Car in the United States

Keeping aside depreciation that is bound to happen and the fuel prices that are dynamic, insurance costs, though a variable expense, form a major cost of owning a car in the United States. Based on Way.com’s data, we analyzed the insurance rates and listed the most affordable and the most expensive cities for full coverage car insurance, along with the gas and parking rates in these cities.

5 Cheapest Cities to Own a Car in the United States

Way.com

Fond Du Lac

Fond Du Lac, Wisconsin, is a budget-friendly location for car ownership. It has the lowest average full coverage insurance rate among the cities at $99.51 per month. The gas price is competitive at $2.87 per gallon.

Johnson City

Johnson City, Tennessee, offers an average full coverage insurance rate of $103.66 per month, and regular gas costs $2.90 per gallon. However, hourly parking may not be very affordable, as the rates can average up to $18.59.

Green Bay

With gas prices at $2.86 per gallon, car ownership is affordable in Green Bay, Wisconsin. This, along with an average full coverage insurance rate of $104 per month, makes it a cheaper city to own a car.

Appleton

The lower gas prices, combined with lower insurance rates, play a crucial role in keeping the ownership costs low in Appleton, Wisconsin.

Kingsport

Kingsport, Tennessee, might seem like an unusual choice for a cheap city. However, lower gas prices, no wheel tax, and an average insurance rate of $107 per month make it less expensive to own a car in Kingsport.

5 Expensive Cities to Own a Car in the United States

Read more

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Inherited assets from your loved one, whether in the form of cash, stocks or real estate, can be subject to inheritance taxes, depending on your relationship and inheritance value. While most states don’t charge such taxes, those that do have their own rules for the rates and exemptions.

Additionally, reducing inheritance taxes is possible, provided the owner of the assets is still alive to make the arrangements. As a taxpayer, you may also take advantage of certain state discounts. In this article, Inheritance Funding discusses when you need to pay inheritance taxes and how you can avoid or reduce them.

What Is the Maximum Amount You Can Inherit Without Paying Taxes?

The maximum tax-free amount you can inherit depends on state rules — there is currently no federal inheritance tax. Spouses, children and other persons considered Class A or Class 1 beneficiaries or heirs are usually exempt from such taxes. Beneficiaries are those named in a person’s will inheriting the assets, while heirs are persons receiving such assets if there is no will.

The more distant your relationship is, the higher your potential tax rates. Inheritance taxes may also apply if the inherited property is located in a state that charges them, even if you or your loved one does not reside in this state.

Estate Taxes vs. Inheritance Taxes

The estate refers to the totality of your loved one’s assets. It can be subject to estate taxes, depending on its total value, where payments will come from the assets within the estate. In contrast, you, as a beneficiary, will pay for the inheritance taxes. These payments are usually managed by an executor of a will — the person responsible for distributing the assets — or a court-appointed personal representative.

The federal estate tax exemption for 2025 is $13.99 million per person. Because this limit is such a huge amount, only a small percentage of estates are often subject to estate taxes. The amount that exceeds the limit can be charged at up to 40%.

Inheritance Funding

Twelve states and the District of Columbia charge estate taxes, while five states impose inheritance taxes. States with estate taxes include:

1. Connecticut
2. Hawai’i
3. Illinois
4. Maine
5. Maryland
6. Massa