In the rush to adopt artificial intelligence, there’s a blind spot many product companies don’t see until it’s too late: every time you copy sensitive data into a public large language model (LLM) such as ChatGPT, you may be training it to answer the same question for your competitors tomorrow.
That’s not just a concern; that’s how most public AI models work.
Unless there’s a zero data retention policy, your proprietary information, such as product designs, supplier metadata, or customer data, can be stored, influencing the model’s outputs for anyone who asks similar questions.
Without guardrails and risk management, your secure data could fuel someone else’s innovation.
When the stakes are high, like in regulated industries, complex workflows, or strategic product launches, your AI strategy must also be a trustworthy strategy.
The Hidden Cost of “Free” AI
For many teams, generative AI (GenAI) feels like magic: paste in a problem, get back an instant answer, and move on. But the reality is your data is also moving on (to your competitors).
And free LLMs aren’t the primary worry. In the rush to join the AI wave, some enterprise systems are bolting on third-party AI tools without proper security measures or data retention policies. So even if you trust that system’s security, you still can’t trust its AI.
In either of these cases, here’s what’s often overlooked:
- Your data doesn’t just vanish: It can be stored by external providers and reused.
- Competitors benefit: Your insights may help them streamline their use cases.
- Regulatory and compliance risks grow: Especially if you share personally identifiable information (PII), trade secrets, or unapproved data sources.
Public AI tools rarely offer enterprise-grade permissions, audit trails, or data privacy standards.
That’s why companies need secure, AI-powered solutions designed for business-critical environments.
Propel One: AI Without the IP Leak
Propel Software’s agentic AI solution, Propel One, was designed for the enterprise from day one.
Built entirely on Salesforce, it runs on Agentforce with the Einstein Trust Layer embedded, offering enterprise-grade AI trust layer protections that keep your intellectual property yours.
Core AI features include:
- Zero Data Retention Agreements – With OpenAI and other LLM providers, ensuring your information is never stored or used to retrain public models.
- Data Masking – Automatically hides PII and confidential details before leaving your environment.
- Grounding in Your Data – All GenAI responses are based on your approved CRM records, Data Cloud, and product ecosystem.
- Audit Trail & Notifications – Full transparency into how AI solutions interact with your data, plus real-time alerts when needed.
- Toxicity Detection – Filters out bias, unsafe language, and compliance risks.
- Secure Data Retrieval via API – Ensures the AI only accesses authorized data sources.
This functionality means you can adopt AI at scale, leveraging templates, automation, and streamlined workflows without sacrificing data privacy or competitive advantage.
From Use Cases to Competitive Edge
Propel One isn’t just secure, it’s delivering measurable value for real-world business needs:
- Streamlining product management workflows by summarizing item records to capture key details from specifications, revisions, or associations.
- Accelerating training programs by automatically generating quizzes directly from product data.
- Boosting operational efficiency by quickly creating multiple items in bulk.
- Enhancing sales and service experiences by surfacing detailed product information, prompting follow-up questions, and ensuring accurate, real-time responses to customers.
These agent-powered capabilities help stakeholders work faster and smarter, without exposing your secure data or customer data to public models.
The Future Belongs to the Secure Innovators
The next era of AI solutions will be defined not just by creativity, but by risk management. Leaders who combine GenAI productivity with secure data practices will outpace those who trade safety for speed.
Propel One delivers the AI-powered acceleration your teams need with the guardrails, permissions, and data privacy your business demands.
If you’re ready to explore AI features without fueling your competition, it’s time to adopt an AI strategy built on trust.
