By Chris Dimitriadis, Chief Global Strategy Officer, ISACA
Advancements in artificial intelligence and contending with the related risks will continue to shape the enterprise landscape in 2027. Here are several trends I anticipate commanding the attention of enterprise leaders and digital trust professionals in the coming year:
More rogue AI incidents lead to international framework adoption on AI assurance, assessment and audit. Many organizations deploying AI tools and systems are not fully confident in how and why these systems operate the way they do – and are just as uncertain how to course-correct if something goes wrong. This spotlights the importance of AI audits and maturity/capability assessments, not only to make sure organizations meet their compliance obligation but also to provide organizational peace of mind that their AI systems are functioning as intended and can be trusted to meet desired business objectives. Globally recognized frameworks are needed to help organizations chart this path, with governments and industry professional associations both having important parts to play to ensure these good practices are developed and adopted.
AI transforms the cybersecurity profession. The cybersecurity profession transforms across numerous fronts: from human-led operations to human-AI collaboration, securing AI agents rather that in-turn secure systems, reactive cybersecurity turns to predictive with help from AI, assurance becomes continuous, new focus on adversarial thinking on the use of AI, AI governance and risk management skills become a priority and cyber resilience and crisis management skills become in high-demand. Many are asking how the cybersecurity profession will change in this AI era. The statements above provide an opportunity to start focusing on those areas to become the cybersecurity professional of the future.
Energy becomes a competitive asset as affordable power for AI compute becomes a priority towards efficiency. If you’re looking for a sense of the extent to which AI is straining infrastructure capacity, consider that the US electrical grid reportedly needs to add the equivalent of more than 20 New York Cities by the early 2030s to keep up with demand, largely due to AI data centers. Look for increased focus on the economic realities of securing the power needed to support AI’s soaring capabilities and innovative potential. These energy needs will recalibrate the way many organizations approach their budgeting priorities.
AI wars intensify: AI against AI in the cybersecurity space. Whether AI is used more effectively by cybersecurity professionals or malicious actors is one of the most consequential questions of this era. This battle will ramp up in the coming year, and security teams will need to lean heavily on automated intelligent processes to counteract the escalating pace of AI threats and new vulnerabilities that AI agents will expose. Cybersecurity professionals will need to be well-versed in AI’s major implications in a security context, as the skill sets and protocols that worked even a few years ago will no longer be sufficient to contend with this AI-infused threat landscape.
AI governance and maturity assessments become part of the overall financial and operational assurance. Get used to hearing the term “AI governance,” which will be top-of-mind across the enterprise landscape as organizations increasingly rely upon AI as a catalyst for their growth. Mary organizations lack a clear, holistic view of where AI exists in their tech stacks, how it is being used and what related risks have materialized. Governance and maturity assessments will provide the needed assurance to validate that organizations have the oversight in place to confidently govern AI projects and reliably mitigate AI risk.
Post-quantum readiness becomes a real priority. Once the US Department of Commerce’s National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) finalized a set of post-quantum cryptographic (PQC) standards in 2024, the security community was able to begin planning needed next steps to prepare for the quantum future. Now, nearly three years later, urgency is rightfully kicking in for many organizations as the intersection between AI and quantum computing advancements only heighten the need to integrate quantum readiness into their enterprise risk strategy and develop concrete plans for upgrading and migrating systems to adjust to the new landscape.
AI RoI becomes a primary demand as pilots and projects fail, causing business approaches and models to be re-engineered. AI adoption remains rapid, but the days of implementations drastically outpacing oversight and governance of these projects are rightfully coming to an end. As the initial sizzle of the AI era gives way to a more mature and sustainable future, organizations are becoming savvier about ensuring AI projects align with critical enterprise goals and deliver real return on investment. Going forward, AI investments will increasingly be connected to rigorous AI cost governance and more sophisticated models that provide enterprise leaders with the insights to make better informed decisions about which AI investments will deliver RoI.
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Chris Dimitriadis, Chief Global Strategy Officer, ISACA
Chris is an experienced leader and board member with international authority in cybersecurity and a proven track record in developing and managing strategy, programs and initiatives. In his role with ISACA, Chris works toward the continuous alignment of ISACA’s strategy with the changing needs of our members, chapters and industries in more than 180 countries. He provides thought leadership in the digital trust space, identifies future directions in collaboration with the ISACA global community, and leads strategy implementation for business planning and execution at a global level.
