ChatGPT has become the default AI, but in the European office it is above all a data risk. It answers questions and writes text, yet every input runs on US servers, and it does not know your work context. For a company with real customer and company data, that is two problems: data protection and no connection to your work.
Sally is the GDPR-compliant ChatGPT alternative from Germany: an AI chat that works in dialogue just the same, but additionally with your meetings, emails and connected tools, and runs exclusively in Germany. This article shows why that makes the difference in the office.
The ChatGPT problem in the European company
ChatGPT is impressive and often ideal for private use. In a company context with confidential data, the balance quickly tips.
Shadow AI: company data in the US cloud
The biggest risk is not attackers but daily habit. Employees paste contracts, customer data or internal notes into ChatGPT to be faster, often without bad intent and without approval. That is exactly how confidential data ends up uncontrolled in a US cloud. This shadow AI is the most common way data protection is breached unnoticed in a company.
Data location and Schrems II
ChatGPT is operated by OpenAI in the US. As soon as personal data is entered, the processing leaves the European legal framework, and after the Schrems II ruling that needs an assessment and appropriate safeguards. Without such measures, standard use is risky for company data, as our article on ChatGPT and GDPR shows in detail.
ChatGPT does not know your work context
ChatGPT knows nothing about your last meeting, your deal or yesterday's agreement. You have to paste every bit of context in manually, every time, and that is exactly where the data risk arises. The task AI is supposed to remove turns into risky copy and paste work.
Sally: the GDPR-compliant alternative for the office
Sally starts where a public chat stops: at your real data, processed securely, and at execution.
A chat on the basis of your meetings and emails
Sally joins meetings in Google Meet, Zoom, Microsoft Teams and Webex and then works with what was discussed. You ask the chat what was decided or what is still open, and get an answer with a source from the real conversation. No copying, no manual pasting of context that never leaves your hands in the first place.
Acting in your tools
A public chat only produces text. Sally acts. From the Sally chat you can send emails, read and write messages and fill the CRM, across all connected apps. Native connections exist for your CRM system and for Slack and Microsoft Teams, among others, plus 8,000+ tool connections via the integrations overview.
Its own models, hosted in Germany
Sally does not use OpenAI's US models, but its own language models hosted in Germany. This keeps the processing within the German legal framework, a transfer to the US is eliminated entirely. The comfort of a modern AI chat, without your data leaving the country.
What "GDPR compliant from Germany" means
The phrase is used often, proven rarely. For Sally it stands for three verifiable points.
Processing in Germany
Sally is operated by Aliru GmbH in Mannheim, and all processing happens exclusively in Germany. No detour via US data centers, which removes the Schrems II issue that burdens every use of ChatGPT with personal data.
No training on your data
Your conversations and documents stay your data. Sally does not use them to train models, only to help you. They do not drift anonymized into a global training set but stay within your area of responsibility.
Control and transparency
Meetings are recorded only with the consent of everyone involved, the visible assistant creates transparency. And because Sally is an approved, secure tool, the reason for shadow AI disappears: nobody needs to use ChatGPT secretly anymore, because there is a better, permitted tool. More on the page about GDPR and security.
ChatGPT or Sally: which for what
Fair is fair: ChatGPT is a strong general purpose tool. It is about the right purpose, not better or worse.
| Criterion | ChatGPT | Sally |
|---|---|---|
| General tasks, writing | Very strong | Focused on the office |
| Access to your meetings | No | Yes |
| Acting in your tools | No | Yes (email, CRM, messages) |
| Data location | US | Exclusively Germany |
| GDPR without transfer assessment | No | Yes |
| Shadow AI risk | High | Removed (approved tool) |
In short: For private and general tasks ChatGPT stays strong. For the office with real company data, Sally is the GDPR-compliant answer. The same logic applies to Anthropic's assistant, see our article on the GDPR-compliant Claude alternative.
Conclusion
ChatGPT is a strong tool, but for the European office with real data it has two gaps: the data location and the missing access to your conversations and tools, plus the shadow AI risk. Sally closes all three, as an AI chat that works on your meetings, acts in your apps and processes exclusively in Germany. ChatGPT for the office, only with your context and without the data protection compromise.
If you want to see how an AI chat feels that knows your meetings and acts in your tools: try Sally free for 30 days, GDPR compliant from Germany.
