Brokers’ use of free AI tools such as ChatGPT presents a “colossal disaster waiting to happen, Instamo founder Freddie Savundra warned in a panel debate this morning.

Speaking at MIT Live 2026, Savundra said that rather than waiting for upgrades to their customer relationship management (CRM) systems, some advisers inevitably become impatient and turn to freely available AI tools to boost efficiency, however this presents a huge risk to their clients’ data.

He said: “The thing that concerns me about this is, I think fundamentally that it’s very difficult to be a CRM.

“They are trying really hard to release these features all the time.”

But where they cannot keep up with the features ChatGPT and other easily accessible AI can offer, some advisers may take the risk of using “shadow IT,” or technology that has not been checked by compliance, he warned.

While that might bring operational efficiency, it is creating a huge risk, said Savundra.

He said: “I think we’re in for the you know the biggest storm possible from a cybersecurity point of view.

“There’s a colossal disaster waiting to happen if we keep doing this shadow IT approach.”

For those who suffer a data breach as a result, it won’t be a case just regretting it and being more careful next time, he argued.

Savundra said: “I think they are just going to be out of business.

“But the ones that are doing the right thing, following the right policies, are the ones that are going to be okay.”