AI Threats Top Cybersecurity Preparedness Gap, PwC Finds
PwC survey of 3,934 leaders finds adversarial AI is the top cybersecurity preparedness gap.
PwC's 2027 Global Digital Trust Insights report, published October 1, surveyed 3,934 business and technology leaders in 71 countries. Fifty-two percent said adversarial AI attacks are their biggest cyber preparedness gap, while accountability is split across technology functions (29%), dedicated AI leaders (26%), and CISOs (17%). Only 49% reported full data classification and 48% full data-loss prevention. Eighty-four percent of security and finance leaders expect larger budgets, and 58% rank AI among their top five cyber spending priorities.
- 52% of 3,934 leaders called adversarial AI their biggest preparedness gap.
- AI risk ownership is split among CIOs, AI leaders, and CISOs.
- Only 49% fully implemented data classification and 48% data-loss prevention.
- 84% of security and finance leaders expect higher cyber budgets.
- 44% of CISOs cite AI governance skills as a barrier to agent autonomy.
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Threats targeting AI systems is the area that cybersecurity leaders currently feel last able to address, with skills, accountability and data protection gaps also looming large, according to PwC.
The consulting giant polled 3934 business and tech leaders across 71 countries for its 2027 Global Digital Trust Insights report, published on October 1.
Over half (52%) said adversarial AI attacks represent the biggest cyber preparedness gap.
The challenge of responding to these risks is compounded by governance issues.
PwC claimed no single ownership model has emerged for AI risk management, with respondents split over whether accountability sits with the CIO, CTO or technology function (29%), a dedicated AI leader or AI function (26%), or the CISO or cyber function (17%).
However, a third (33%) of CEOs and security and risk leaders said they have already appointed a dedicated AI role, such as a chief AI officer.
Data risk is also proliferating, which in turn impacts AI risk. Only around half of responding organizations said they’d fully implemented data classification (49%) and data loss prevention (48%) policies.
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That said, many are optimistic about the future, with 84% of security and finance bosses expecting budgets to increase – six percentage points higher than in 2025. Over half (58%) said AI is a top-five cyber budget priority.
Responsible AI governance (42%), platform hardening (38%), and supply chain security (35%) are top of the to-do list when it comes to AI.
However, organizations are also keen to utilize AI in their cyber defenses, including threat detection and alerting (50%), fraud detection (43%), and phishing detection and response (42%).
Skills Shortages Loom Large
Skills shortages remain a major roadblock to progress on AI security.
Over two-fifths (44%) of CISOs identified workforce skills in AI oversight and governance as one of their top barriers to increasing AI agent autonomy.
This matters, because over half (55%) ranked reliability of the technology as preventing broader adoption of agents.
Yet AI can be part of the solution here. Over half (53%) of respondents claimed that AI-enabled training is among their top priorities to help close the skills gap and retain employees, alongside providing more growth opportunities (59%) and nurturing a strong cyber culture (53%).
A recent report from Swimlane revealed that 62% of SOC workers believe AI has already helped their SecOps skill development.