Shadow IT Index: August 2026
A shorter Shadow IT list in August, led by the AI note taker Plaud.ai at 8% adoption.
Updated October 8, 2026 · ChangelogSource: Torii Research, anonymized and aggregated usage data. Published August 1, 2026. Summary figures computed from the 15 apps in this report.
What kinds of apps
Every edition, by theme →Not in this edition, but in July 2026: Ops, HR, and finance (14%), AI content and media (5%), Work suites and collaboration (5%).
Share of the 15 apps in this edition, by theme. Each app has one theme, assigned by Torii Research from what the product does; AI marks the AI themes. Select a theme to filter the list below. How themes work.
Top of the index
Ranked by adoption.
All 15 apps
Productivity
Plaud.ai
Meeting Summaries · Speech to Text · Artificial Intelligence
About Plaud.ai
Transforms conversations into clear summaries, action items, and structured notes across meetings, calls, and in-person discussions for better focus and faster follow-up.
Theme: AI notes and voice · AI-native
Productivity
Timely.com
Software Project Management · Productivity Tools · Agile Project Management
About Timely.com
Automates time tracking with AI to capture work in the background, allocate entries accurately, and complete timesheets for faster approval, better billing and trusted business data.
Theme: Personal productivity · AI-native
Productivity
ThinkFlowGPT
Workflow Automation · Multifactor Authentication (MFA) · Document Workflow Automation
About ThinkFlowGPT
Provides AI chat, code help, workflow automation, and secure dashboards to simplify tasks, improve productivity, and support software development and problem solving.
Theme: AI coding and building · AI-native
Operations
WorkOS
User Onboarding and Engagement · SSO · API Integration
About WorkOS
WorkOS provides APIs to make your app enterprise-ready, with pre-built features and integrations required by IT admins.
Theme: Developer and data tools
Productivity
Send Later
WhatsApp Messaging · Business Automation · Reminders
About Send Later
Schedules WhatsApp messages for follow-ups, reminders, birthdays, and business chats, helping users keep communication timely, organized, and consistent without manual effort.
Theme: Personal productivity
Developer Tools
Devin
DevOps · Code Collaboration · AI Agent
About Devin
Devin is a collaborative AI tool designed to enhance the productivity of engineering teams by efficiently managing large refactoring tasks. It has been successfully implemented at Nubank, leading to significant time and cost savings.
Theme: AI coding and building · AI-native
Analytics & BI
Softonic
Software Discovery · News Publisher · App store data
About Softonic
Discover apps for Mac, Windows, Mac and mobile, tips, tutorials and videos, and much more.
Theme: Personal and consumer apps
IT & Security
RCLONE
Cloud Security · Cloud Infrastructure · Cloud Storage
About RCLONE
Manages files across various cloud storage solutions with versatile command-line functionality that ensures data integrity and seamless integration with multiple providers.
Theme: Security and IT
IT & Security
Dropzone
Cyber Security · Security AI · Threat Detection and Prevention
About Dropzone
Hunts alerts, investigates threats, and responds with AI agents that adapt detection at machine scale while reducing manual SOC workload and improving response speed.
Theme: AI agents · AI-native
IT & Security
NinjaOne
Remote Management · Remote Support · Remote Team Management
About NinjaOne
NinjaOne is a unified IT operations solution that simplifies the way IT teams work. With NinjaOne, MSPs and IT departments can automate, manage, and remediate all their endpoint management tasks within one fast, modern, intuitive platform, improving technician efficiency and user satisfaction.
Theme: Security and IT
IT & Security
Tailscale
Virtual Private Network (VPN) · Data Privacy · Network Security
About Tailscale
Mesh VPN, connecting your computers, databases, and services together securely, without proxies.
Theme: Security and IT
Operations
Walton
Digital Transaction Management · Legal Operation Management · Document Workflow Automation
About Walton
Manages deal execution end to end by turning term sheets into tracked legal workflows with checklists, dependencies, document updates, and a single source of truth for closing.
Theme: AI agents · AI-native
Productivity
Kimi
Artificial Intelligence · Knowledge Management · AI Platform
About Kimi
Delivers intelligent assistance with profound reasoning capabilities, enabling users to engage in extensive reading and internet exploration efficiently.
Theme: AI assistants · AI-native
Design
CapCut
Text to Speech · Collaborative Video Editing · Video Editors
Developer Tools
ollama
Artificial Intelligence · Data Science and Machine Learning · Deep Learning
About ollama
Enables users to execute various large language models such as Llama 3.3 and Mistral locally across different operating systems while facilitating seamless integration and exploration of AI capabilities.
Theme: AI coding and building · AI-native
Source: Torii Research, anonymized and aggregated usage data. Published August 1, 2026. Summary figures computed from the 15 apps in this report.
What the data says
Plaud.ai (8% adoption) ranks first, ahead of the time tracker Timely.com (6% adoption).
Productivity (5) and IT & Security (4) are the largest categories. AI agents show up well beyond developer tools, from Dropzone in security operations to Walton in legal deal management.
The median Shadow IT index is 78, and 2 of the 15 apps score 90 or higher: Timely.com at 96 and Plaud.ai at 94.
This edition covers July 2026 usage data.
The data
Show the full data table (15 rows)
| Rank | App | Category | Theme | AI-native | Adoption (%) | Shadow IT index |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Plaud.ai | Productivity | AI notes and voice | Yes | 8 | 94 |
| 2 | Timely.com | Productivity | Personal productivity | Yes | 6 | 96 |
| 3 | ThinkFlowGPT | Productivity | AI coding and building | Yes | 5 | 88 |
| 4 | WorkOS | Operations | Developer and data tools | No | 5 | 68 |
| 5 | Send Later | Productivity | Personal productivity | No | 5 | 89 |
| 6 | Devin | Developer Tools | AI coding and building | Yes | 4 | 71 |
| 7 | Softonic | Analytics & BI | Personal and consumer apps | No | 4 | 74 |
| 8 | RCLONE | IT & Security | Security and IT | No | 4 | 82 |
| 9 | Dropzone | IT & Security | AI agents | Yes | 4 | 81 |
| 10 | NinjaOne | IT & Security | Security and IT | No | 4 | 46 |
| 11 | Tailscale | IT & Security | Security and IT | No | 4 | 66 |
| 12 | Walton | Operations | AI agents | Yes | 3 | 86 |
| 13 | Kimi | Productivity | AI assistants | Yes | 3 | 78 |
| 14 | CapCut | Design | Design and video | No | 3 | 72 |
| 15 | ollama | Developer Tools | AI coding and building | Yes | 3 | 74 |
Free to quote with attribution to Torii Research and a link to this page. A plain-text version is at shadow-it-index-august-2026.md.
How to read this index
- Adoption
- The percentage of monitored organizations where the app was adopted during that month: a monthly figure, not a running total. The list is ranked on this number where it is available.
- Shadow IT index
- How often the app is left as "discovered" rather than sanctioned through SSO or procurement, normalized to 0 to 100.
- Why it surfaced
- The app's top functional tags. Open an app for its full profile across every edition.
Definitions in the glossary; formulas and limitations on the Methodology page.
Changelog
- UpdateReleased after its edition date.
