KAMPALA, May 4, 2026 — Artificial intelligence [AI] is rapidly transforming cybersecurity and emerging as the sector’s most significant driver of change, according to a new report by the World Economic Forum [WEF].
The report, AI and Cyber: Empowering Defenders, developed in collaboration with KPMG, reveals that 94 per cent of cyber leaders view AI as a defining force, while 77 per cent of organisations have already integrated it into their security operations.
The findings highlight measurable gains in cost reduction, faster response times and improved resilience. While cybercriminals are increasingly weaponising AI to automate deception, generate malware and scale attacks at unprecedented speed, organisations deploying AI strategically are gaining a clear advantage. Those extensively using AI in security operations are reducing average breach costs by up to US$ 1.9 million and shortening breach lifecycles by around 80 days.
“AI has the potential to shift the balance towards defenders,” said Akshay Joshi, Head of the Centre for Cybersecurity at the World Economic Forum. “Organisations that treat it as a strategic capability, rather than a standalone tool, will be better placed to turn growing cyber risk into resilience and competitive advantage.”
Building on the Forum’s 2025 publication, Artificial Intelligence and Cybersecurity: Balancing Risks and Rewards, the 2026 edition focuses on how organisations are applying AI in practical defence scenarios. As enterprise attack surfaces expand to include hundreds of thousands of internet-facing assets, both the scale and complexity of cyber threats continue to rise.
Among the case studies, KPMG reports a 25 per cent increase in operational efficiency in threat intelligence. Accenture reduced security analysis time across more than 100,000 internet-facing sites from 15 minutes to under one minute, while IBM’s ATOM platform is enabling round-the-clock global threat detection and response, automating over 850 analyst hours each month and cutting end-to-end investigation time by 37 per cent.
“Attackers are moving faster and at greater scale than ever before. This report is a call to action for organisations to match that pace, with AI as a force multiplier for cyber defence,” said Laurent Gobbi, Partner and Global Head of Cyber & Tech Risk at KPMG.
The report underscores that AI’s true value lies in augmenting human expertise, accelerating decision-making and strengthening resilience — not merely automating processes. Its effectiveness, it notes, depends on clear deployment strategies, rigorously tested use cases before scaling, and robust governance with strong human oversight from the outset.
Drawing on 20 real-world case studies and insights from interviews and workshops conducted under the World Economic Forum’s Cyber Frontiers: AI & Cyber initiative, the report reflects contributions from 105 representatives across 84 organisations in 15 industries.
As cyber risks grow more complex, the report urges both business and government leaders to treat AI as a foundational security capability, investing not only in technology but also in the skills, processes and governance required to defend at machine speed.
About Cyber Frontiers: AI & Cyber
The Cyber Frontiers: AI & Cyber initiative, launched in 2024, brings together a global multi-stakeholder community to examine how AI is reshaping cybersecurity through a knowledge-sharing platform. It aims to equip organisations with the insights needed to harness AI responsibly, while developing frameworks to support the secure and scalable adoption of advanced, agentic AI systems.
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