Cross-Company Coordination and Education Critical in Preventing Humans from Deferring to AI Without Proper Checks and Balances

London, UK, Wednesday 30^th July 2025 – UK-based managed service provider Six Degrees has today released the first findings from its new Data and AI Insights for SMEs Report 2025. It reveals one-third of UK SMEs believe the biggest risk when implementing AI is that humans will defer to the technology without proper checks and balances. This outranks the risk of exposing sensitive data (32%) and creating new attack vectors for cybercriminals (29%). According to Six Degrees, addressing all these issues requires a cross-company effort that should include implementing oversight processes, promoting continuous learning, and establishing ethical guidelines.

“Without introducing AI in a deliberate and planned way, you risk assuming your AI systems know everything and work exactly how you want them to,” said Vince DeLuca, CEO of Six Degrees. “You also risk not knowing where the platform is pulling data from, how much sensitive or personal data it has access to, and which data sets need to be restricted to certain employees or removed entirely.”

He continues: “I believe AI is an underpinning fabric that will enhance performance and efficiency and drive innovation and competitive advantage. It’s a platform that can benefit every part of an organisation by making intelligent decisions and also help shed some of the manual processes that weigh us down. But it’s vital that all AI users, regardless of their seniority within the organisation, understand how the technology operates and forms its conclusions, and that they have the confidence to question and challenge AI outputs.”

To mitigate these challenges, SMEs could also adopt an AI risk framework that ensures accountability in AI-driven decisions, particularly in regulated sectors. This might be supported by explainability policies that make AI decisions auditable, alongside a Zero Trust security model to enforce strict access controls for sensitive data. AI systems should also comply with relevant data privacy regulations such as GDPR and HIPAA, using encryption and anonymisation where appropriate. Regular security audits and ongoing AI monitoring can also help to detect vulnerabilities and safeguard reliability over time.

However, the research sounds a note of caution, revealing that only one in five SMEs has taken steps to mitigate the risks posed by unethical AI use. This may indicate a shortage of in-house skills and the lack of a cohesive, centralised AI adoption strategy, both of which are cited as significant barriers to adoption amongst respondents.

“AI has the potential to transform how SMEs operate, but only if it’s implemented with rigour and clear accountability,” said Tony Healy, Chief Information and Technology Officer at Six Degrees. “The right technology partner can fast-track adoption, de-risk the journey, and ensure alignment across the organisation. For SMEs lacking in-depth in-house expertise, engaging a specialist third party enables the creation of a secure and scalable roadmap that meets both business objectives and evolving regulatory expectations. This includes support for ISO 42001 certification and embedding ethical guardrails, transparency, and governance into every stage of AI deployment.”

To download a full copy of the Six Degrees ‘Data and AI Insights for SMEs Report 2025’ whitepaper, click here.