Cybersecurity budgets are rising, but AI is also exposing gaps that many organizations have not yet closed.
PwC’s 2027 Global Digital Trust Insights Survey found that 84% of security and finance leaders expect cybersecurity spending to increase over the next 12 months, up from 78% a year earlier. AI is a major driver, with 58% of security leaders ranking it among their top cyber budget priorities.
More than four in five security and finance leaders expect their cybersecurity budgets to increase over the next 12 months, according to PwC’s 2027 Global Digital Trust Insights Survey. The 84% figure is up from 78% last year.
The survey gathered responses from almost 4,000 business and technology executives across 71 countries and territories. AI is a major reason for the spending increase, with 58% of security leaders ranking it among their top cyber budget priorities.
But higher spending is arriving alongside major gaps in preparedness. Only 39% of security, risk and operations leaders said they have a fully formalized and integrated operational continuity plan specifically addressing cyber risks, according to PwC.
AI is becoming a security problem of its own
Half of security leaders said attacks targeting AI systems are among the threats their organizations are least prepared to handle. That puts AI-related attacks ahead of cloud threats at 40%, third-party breaches at 34% and ransomware at 33%.
Organizations also reported gaps around AI-enabled attacks. Autonomous botnet compromises, adversarial attacks and data poisoning were each cited by roughly half of security and risk leaders as areas where preparedness remains weak.
AI is increasingly being used defensively as well, particularly for threat detection, alerting, and phishing detection. But only 22% of leaders said they would authorize AI agents to carry out cyber-defense actions fully autonomously.
Reliability and technology maturity were the biggest barriers, cited by 55% of respondents, followed by accountability and explainability at 46%. Among CISOs, 44% identified workforce skills in AI oversight and governance as a major obstacle.
AI accountability is still fragmented
The survey suggests organizations are adding AI leadership faster than they are defining who ultimately owns AI risk. About one-third have created dedicated AI roles, but only 47% strongly agree that cyber risk is a standing board-level agenda item.
That gap matters because AI security is increasingly crossing traditional boundaries between cybersecurity, data governance, technology and business operations. The survey found that 29% place AI accountability with the CIO, CTO or similar technology role, while 26% favor a dedicated AI leader and 17% put responsibility with the CISO or cybersecurity function.
PwC said, “Cyber resilience will require C-suite elevation,” arguing that security needs to be embedded in executive decision-making as organizations deploy AI.
What the spending could actually change
The survey points to a less glamorous problem behind the AI spending boom: organizations may be adding advanced defenses while basic protections remain incomplete.
Only 5% of respondents said they had fully implemented all seven data-risk measures examined by PwC, down from 7% last year. PwC also reported that just 49% had fully implemented data classification policies and 48% had fully deployed data-loss prevention across key data-exit channels.
For channel partners, those gaps point to demand beyond AI-specific security products. Customers may need help with data classification, DLP, identity and access controls, continuity planning, cloud security and AI governance before autonomous security tools can be deployed safely.
AI can improve detection and response, but it cannot compensate for weak data controls or unclear accountability.
The opportunity goes beyond AI security tools
PwC’s findings suggest cybersecurity spending will keep growing, but the opportunity is likely to extend well beyond AI tools themselves.
Security providers, MSPs and integrators may see more demand for continuity planning, data protection, multicloud security and third-party risk management as customers try to close foundational gaps before expanding AI adoption.
For partners, the key question is not simply how much customers are spending, but whether that spending is addressing the controls and governance needed to support increasingly autonomous AI systems.
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