Gartner® Report: AI Security Priorities for CISOs

AI is now inseparable from cybersecurity strategy, with CISOs under growing pressure to demonstrate that their organizations are becoming AI-native. This creates a familiar tension: move quickly to adopt AI or slow down to ensure investments actually pay off. In the Gartner Report, “Predicts 2026: CISOs Must Embrace Relief of Missing Out on AI,” Gartner states that “Cybersecurity strategy driven by fear of missing out will lead to wasteful investments and disappointing realized value. CISOs must embrace AI ‘relief of missing out’ by prioritizing AI initiatives that align with their cybersecurity priorities.

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AI in cybersecurity is creating new pressure for CISOs

AI adoption across the cybersecurity market is accelerating rapidly, and security organizations are expected to show quick wins. In many cases, as Gartner’s research highlights, “AI hype drives C-level leaders to multiply initiatives and prioritize speed of adoption over the identification and management of risks.”

For CISOs responsible for operational resilience, regulatory compliance, and budget efficiency, this dynamic creates both tangible security risk and long-term strategic debt.

Why AI security strategy must focus on cybersecurity value

A core message of the Gartner Report is that AI itself should not be the goal; rather, it should be in the service of cybersecurity outcomes. Effective AI security strategy requires a practical AI security roadmap that ties initiatives to business priorities and cybersecurity fundamentals.

The report includes among its recommendations a specific call to “Degrade AI from a discrete roadmap to a set of activities inside core cybersecurity objectives (e.g., NIST CSF 2.0’s Govern, Identify, Protect, Detect, Respond, Recover) when presenting a cybersecurity roadmap.”

Key takeaways: AI security risks and challenges

AI-driven FOMO can lead to wasteful investments and stalled programs.
Rushed AI projects often bypass governance and security best practices.
Generative AI cybersecurity tools can create continuous roadmap churn.
SOC productivity gains from AI may be offset by rising incident complexity.
Repetitive, AI-assisted workflows can increase operational risk.

How CISOs can prioritize AI risk management and smarter AI investments

Seeing AI as just one tool within a broader cybersecurity program can lead to significant benefits. Security leaders who focus on embedding AI thoughtfully into governance, detection, identity, and response initiatives can avoid technical debt, reduce operational friction, and adapt more effectively as AI security threats and capabilities evolve.

The role of AI governance and identity security

As AI expands the number of identities, workflows, and access decisions organizations must manage, AI governance and identity security become foundational. AI-driven environments increase the scale, speed, and complexity of access, making visibility, policy enforcement, and assurance non-negotiable.

From RSA’s perspective, this reinforces the importance of comprehensive identity governance, lifecycle management, and high-assurance authentication. Without them, AI introduces new attack paths and operational blind spots rather than reducing risk.

For additional perspective, explore RSA resources on AI including adopting best practices for AI-powered cybersecurity risks and securing the AI workforce.

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The Gartner Report “Predicts 2026: CISOs Must Embrace Relief of Missing Out on AI” is an essential resource for CISOs and security leaders seeking to refocus AI initiatives on outcomes that matter.

Gartner, “Predicts 2026: CISOs Must Embrace Relief of Missing Out on AI,” Jeremy D’Hoinne, Deepti Gopal, Pete Shoard, Akif Khan, Arthur Sivanathan, Christopher Mixter 22 December 2025