AI is reshaping security teams not by wiping out staff, but by changing how they work. In a Dark Reading interview, Nick Kakolowski of IANS reports that CISOs mainly plan to use AI to help existing teams do more, reallocate work between junior and senior staff, automate routine tasks, and reskill personnel. The aim is to free experienced professionals to tackle more complex problems, rather than shrink headcount. Across organisations, this is prompting reorganisations and new priorities around data gathering, analysis, and problem-solving at scale.
Budget dynamics are changing too. Vendors are adding AI to their products and often raising prices, so CISOs are increasingly adjusting spend to keep up with the vendor stack while exploring smaller, faster-moving AI entrants and in-house development to address gaps. Many organisations are focusing on securing AI itself and on building capabilities to solve concrete security problems, sometimes at the expense of other areas like identity, SOC staffing, or vulnerability management.
While most CISOs do not yet expect to reduce teams significantly, there is a clear shift toward an AI-enabled pipeline: automating entry-level tasks, enabling higher-skilled staff to make strategic decisions, and using AI initiatives to justify and secure broader budgets. The discussion also touches on how education and talent pipelines must adapt, emphasising flexible, AI-skilled problem-solvers for the years ahead. Dated 6 October 2026.