Survey finds half of businesses planning to adopt AI

An intriguing new survey from the Cloud Security Alliance (CSA) and Google Cloud has found that over half of all organisations (55%) are planning to adopt artificial intelligence (AI) solutions within the coming year. According to the report, there will be a significant upturn in generative AI (GenAI) adoption by 2024, spurred on by C-suite prioritisation regarding the use of AI in the contemporary business environment.

The report signals an impending boost in GenAI integration as 82% of respondents noted executive leadership propelling the integration of AI for its competitive potential. The introduction of AI into cybersecurity appears to be moving from mere conception to a practical reality according to 67% of the respondents who have put AI to the test specifically for security reasons.

About 48% of the professionals expressed faith in their organisation's capacity to implement a strategy that leverages AI in security. While 28% are reasonably confident and another 20% exceedingly assured, such assurance hints at the potential overconfidence or oversight in the light of the complexity of AI integration considering the embryo stage of GenAI in the field.

Senior Technical Director for Research at CSA, Hillary Baron stated, "The insights shared in this report into how industry experts view and prepare for AI's evolving role in cybersecurity are pivotal in navigating this transition and ensuring a resilient, forward-looking digital infrastructure."

Caleb Sima, chair of CSA's AI Safety Initiative noted, "AI is transforming cybersecurity, offering both exciting opportunities and complex challenges. The disconnect between the C-suite and staff in understanding and implementing AI highlights the need for a strategic, unified approach to successfully integrate this technology."

Key findings in the study also show that security professionals are cautiously hopeful about AI, with 63% believing in its capability to bolster security measures. Denoting the most considerable use cases of AI technologies, the study revealed rule creation (21%), attack simulation (19%), and violation detection (19%) as the main areas of planned implementation. About 51% of C-level executives reported a clearer grasp of potential AI use cases compared to just 14% of the staff, signifying a disparity in AI comprehension within organisations.

CSA developed this survey and report in conjunction with Google Cloud to gain a better understanding of the industry's knowledge, attitudes, and opinions regarding AI. The survey, conducted online in November 2023, accrued 2,486 responses from IT and security professionals from organisations of different sizes across the Americas, APAC, and EMEA.