Adoption of AI in Cybersecurity Grows, but Experts Say Risks Remain High

With scams, fraud and new ways for criminals to commit financial crimes springing up seemingly by the hour, the World Economic Forum 2025 in Davos, Switzerland, has placed cybersecurity front and center.

“It’s highly likely that if your organization hasn’t experienced a cyber incident, it will at some point in the future and you don’t want to wait until that incident occurs to then put your cyber crisis communication plan in place,” Keri Pearlson, executive director, cybersecurity at MIT Sloan School of Management, said during a podcast titled “Global Security Outlook: The Risks We All Face and How to Fight Back.”

According to the World Economic Forum’s 2025 Global Cybersecurity Outlook, cyberspace is becoming complex and challenging due to technological advancements, more sophisticated cybercriminals and highly interconnected supply chains.

Akshay Joshi, head of the World Economic Forum Centre for Cybersecurity, said technology is being deployed “both by the good guys as well as the bad guys. A lot of criminal outfits as well are starting to harness AI technologies very effectively. Cyber resilience, it’s no longer a nice to have.”

Launched in 2018, the World Economic Forum Centre for Cybersecurity seeks to bridge the gap between cybersecurity leaders and business executives, Joshi said, recognizing cybersecurity as a strategic priority and not just a technical issue. In creating a global community of senior cybersecurity leaders, he added, the Centre works to improve cybersecurity efforts and strengthen global resilience.

Growing Complexity of Cybersecurity

Joshi said the top takeaway from the report is the increasing complexity in cyberspace, which “stems from a multitude of factors,” he said. “First of all, there is prevailing geopolitical uncertainty. Sixty percent of executives have in some way, shape or form changed their cybersecurity strategy or it’s impacted their cybersecurity strategy overall. So, the uncertainty that we are seeing in different parts of the world is having an impact on the cyber realm.”

For example, “when you see wars today are not just about physical warfare, you also see the fallout in the cyber realm, right? If you see increasing targeting of critical infrastructure or otherwise, it just impacts business decisions in terms of where they would like to operate or what are the vendors that they’re working with. If they’re working with a vendor that is based in a region that has an increased level of risk, it invariably impacts your overall risk profile as well. It gives you a sense that while we are not talking about absolute decisions, the geopolitics and the impact it has, even on cyberspace, plays a key role in terms of how people make decisions as to how they remain cyber secure.”

In addition, supply chains are becoming highly complex, Joshi said.

“The impact on one particular player within the broader supply chain can have cascading effects across the entire supply chain,” he said. “In 2024, for example, we experienced one of the biggest IT outages, which was due to a faulty update to a particular software that had impacts across different sectors of the economy. It gives you a sense of how these risks are more pervasive. In fact, 54% of large organizations believe supply chain-related risks pose the greatest impact to cyber resilience of their organizations.”

The Role of AI in Cybersecurity

What’s driving all the complexity?

“Cyberspace is essentially a reflection of how our society is evolving as well,” Joshi said. “If we look at emerging technologies, over the past couple of years we’ve seen tremendous advances in AI.” As that occurs, “organizations are rushing toward adopting these technologies within their environment. In our report, 66% of executives believe AI technologies can have the most significant impact on cybersecurity. But at the same time, 37% of organizations lack adequate processes to safeguard against the risks from AI technologies being adopted.”

This reliance on artificial intelligence (AI) is clear given the swift adoption of AI-powered automated cybersecurity systems. According to the December edition of the PYMNTS Intelligence report, “The AI MonitorEdge Report: COOs Leverage GenAI to Reduce Data Security Losses,” the percentage of chief operating officers (COOs) reporting their companies have adopted AI-powered automated cybersecurity management systems tripled, reaching 55% in August 2024, up from about 17% last May. Each of the COOs surveyed for the report represents an organization that generates more than $1 billion in annual revenue.

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