Dive Brief:
- Enterprises are grappling with cybersecurity gaps as AI adoption rolls on, according to an Accenture survey published Wednesday of nearly 2,300 security and technology executives across 24 industries.
- While security posture maturity ranges, most businesses lack the cyber capabilities required to defend against AI-driven threats, the survey found. Nearly 4 in 5 businesses admit to lacking the foundation needed to safeguard models, data pipelines and cloud infrastructure.
- Less than half — 42% — of organizations strike a balance between AI development and security investment, according to the report. Spending on generative AI initiatives was 1.6 times higher on average than security budgets from 2023 to 2024. In 2025, that number is expected to increase to 2.6.
Dive Insight:
CIOs are under pressure to move AI projects along faster and demonstrate the corresponding value, but a need for speed doesn’t always translate to sustainable momentum.
“Organizations are prioritizing speed and innovation over security, often treating it as an afterthought in the race to integrate AI,” Accenture said in the report. “This translates to a dangerous pattern: security controls are frequently omitted from initial planning phases, forcing teams into costly and inefficient retrofitting.”
While IT leaders and their cyber counterparts express concerns about AI’s impact on security standing, the business focus on speed and talent shortages are difficult to rectify. More than 80% of executives recognize the cybersecurity talent crunch as a major obstacle to achieving a better posture, according to the Accenture report.
AI agents and the proliferation of automation are throwing a wrench in playbooks, too.
“Just as with anything to do with automation, whether it's AI or not, it can create a bigger problem faster,” Steve Fenton, director of developer relations at Octopus Deploy, told CIO Dive.
Some organizations are already working to mitigate potential threats. More than 2 in 5 business leaders said they’ve reassessed privacy and data security measures to prevent threats and misuse tied to AI, according to a Gallagher survey published in March.
