Cybersecurity investments are on the rise worldwide as companies navigate the uncertain waters of AI adoption, according to a recent survey of senior tech leaders by Milwaukee-based ManpowerGroup.
The company this week rolled out its “Scaling AI Securely” report through its Experis brand, which found 78% of the tech leaders it surveyed through a third-party firm say they’re upping cybersecurity spending.
And while AI and machine learning were among the most important technical skills identified by respondents at 37%, that was exceeded by cybersecurity at 46%, reflecting the growing importance companies are placing on their threat readiness.
Still, the share of those saying their risk strategy aligns with cybersecurity readiness has fallen from last year’s survey, from 77% to 72% in the latest report. Authors describe AI as the “new enterprise attack surface,” arguing strong cybersecurity should be seen as a necessary condition for broader use of the technology.
As AI becomes more widely integrated within business processes, report authors argue companies need to protect their models, training and retrieval data, as well as the prompts themselves, how AI models are integrated and the surrounding cloud environments.
“A weakness in any one layer can affect the reliability of the entire workflow,” they wrote.
But even as AI creates new openings for hackers, it’s also giving security teams more options to deal with the rising threat, the report notes.
Meanwhile, 66% of respondents said their employers are spending more on AI, but only 9% said the technology is “fully integrated” into strategy and operations and another 19% say they’re scaling it more broadly.
“AI investment is accelerating, but many organizations are still struggling to turn experimentation into measurable business value,” authors wrote.
About a third report “active integration” of AI into some aspects of their business, while another 30% say they’re researching it and running pilots. Just 10% haven’t begun looking into AI integration.
Experis tapped third-party research firm Reputation Leaders LLC to conduct the online survey of 1,930 senior leaders in technology roles across 12 countries between Jan. 28 and March 4. The pool of respondents included chief information offices, chief technology officers and others overseeing IT budgets and hiring.
