In 2026, many organisations will have agentic AI – with direct access to critical data – operating as a non-human workforce, demanding controls beyond traditional oversight. The primary risk lies in Identity and Access Management, where existing frameworks are designed for human users, not autonomous agents. A single misconfigured agent or malicious prompt could cascade across systems, compromise sensitive data, and disrupt operations.
This extends beyond the CISO’s remit. Organisations will need enterprise-wide, AI-aware strategies: strong IAM for agentic identities, continuous monitoring of autonomous activity, ransomware resilience, and clear accountability.
Ecosystm analysts present the key trends shaping the cybersecurity market in 2026.
1. AI in Security & Operations Will Rely on Strong Foundation
In 2026, AI and ML tools will appear across security operations, software development, and IT, but only organisations with strong foundational programmes – clean data, integrated platforms, and skilled teams – will be able to realise real value. Developers will increasingly use AI for code suggestions, test generation, and routine deployment tasks, while IT teams will leverage AI-powered monitoring and incident-prediction tools. Security operations will use AI to triage alerts, but human analysts will retain decision-making authority.
Full-scale “AI first” defences or autonomous systems remain unrealistic for most organisations this year; the risk of hidden vulnerabilities persists.
Organisations must invest in tool adoption, governance processes, and human skills that enable effective collaboration between AI and humans. Tech providers should emphasise “co-pilot” use-cases, not “replacement” narratives, and pilots should focus on narrow, measurable goals like reducing false positives or automating log ingestion.
2. Shadow AI Agents Will Be the New Insider Threat
Enterprises and tech-savvy employees are experimenting with autonomous AI agents to perform increasingly complex tasks, often with minimal supervision or governance. Many of these agents – granted access to systems like email, financial reporting, and supply chain data – will not only have read privileges but also the ability to take action. This will create an identity sprawl and a shadow workforce potentially beyond the control of traditional access management systems.
Nefarious actors will shift their sights from phishing human employees to prompt-injection attacks targeting AI agents.
The risks will only increase with the rise of ‘orphaned’ agents, left behind when employees are insufficiently offboarded. Cyber leaders must rethink identity and access strategies, extend governance to autonomous agents, and implement continuous monitoring and accountability to prevent AI-driven breaches from bypassing traditional controls.
3. Third-Party AI Will Introduce New Supply Chain Risks
By 2026, AI models will increasingly be sourced from third-party vendors and partners, elevating model-supply-chain risk to the same level as traditional software-supply-chain risk. The risk goes beyond a model’s outputs; it includes its origin, how it was trained, and whether it can be trusted. Some organisations may face incidents where a vendor’s AI module introduces bias, corruption, or hidden vulnerabilities.
Boards will ask tough questions about the provenance of AI models and whether organisations have assurance around security, bias, and governance.
For CISOs, this means ensuring AI vendor assurance is embedded into procurement processes, audits, and ongoing risk management. Leaders will need to continuously monitor third-party AI models, validate their performance, and ensure governance frameworks cover all dependencies. Organisations with mature risk-management practices will navigate these challenges effectively, while those without such frameworks remain exposed to operational, reputational, and regulatory risks.
4. Synthetic Media Will Challenge Brand Reputation
As deepfakes and synthetic content become more common, organisations will adopt layered verification protocols – yet many will struggle to keep pace.
In 2026, organisations will have to worry not just about executive spoofing via video or audio; they will grapple with realistic synthetic media in customer service, internal communications and brand marketing. Some forward-looking firms will deploy AI tools to flag manipulated content, log provenance, and enforce “trusted channel” rules. But many organisations will lag, still relying on manual checks, legacy workflows and ad-hoc training. The risk: a convincing fake could bypass controls, damage reputation or trigger costly fraud.
A pragmatic strategy: map your most-sensitive use cases (e.g., payments approvals, HR onboarding) and build verification steps there, even if broader rollout comes later.
5. Chief Trust Officer Will Be a Standard C-Suite Role
In 2026, the CISO’s role must evolve to unify privacy, security, and governance, as AI shifts the focus from protecting systems to managing decisions and data intent.
Security now includes newer threats – data poisoning, model evasion, and attacks that compromise AI integrity – beyond traditional perimeter defences. Privacy stakes are higher, with AI consuming vast amounts of sensitive data and exposing risks such as prompt leakage or inference attacks on anonymised datasets. Governance is critical to ensure accountability, auditability, and ethical application, preventing “shadow AI” sprawl and enforcing compliance with emerging regulations across the world.
With their enterprise-wide visibility of risk, control over identity and access, and experience integrating technology with policy, CISOs are uniquely equipped to become Chief Trust Officers, orchestrating these disciplines to enable responsible, compliant, and innovative use of AI across the organisation.
