PwC’s 2027 Global Digital Trust Insights survey of 3,934 business and tech leaders across 71 countries reveals how leaders are managing cybersecurity as rapid advances in AI, geopolitical volatility, and interconnected systems reshape cyber risk. Against this backdrop, the report shows where leaders are investing to strengthen resilience and where critical gaps remain.
Key takeaways
- Security for AI has taken centre stage: Protecting AI systems has become the most significant cyber preparedness gap. Security leaders identify attacks targeting AI systems as the top cyber threat they’re least prepared to address.
- Cyber spending is back: After a few years of relatively flat cyber budgets, organisations are doubling down on their investment, with AI being a key driver. Among security and finance leaders, 84% expect budgets to increase—six percentage points higher than last year—and 58% of security leaders rank AI in their top cyber budget priorities.
- The trust gap in autonomous agents: Organisations are eager to put AI agents to work for cyber defence, but far less willing to put them in charge. Only 22% would authorise fully autonomous AI actions, with reliability and maturity concerns being the biggest barriers.
- When the lights go out: Keeping the business running, even through disruption, is the ultimate goal of cybersecurity. But surprisingly, only 39% of security, risk, and operations leaders have fully formalised and integrated operational continuity plans that specifically address cyber risks, even though cyber incidents have become a matter of when, not if.
- Strong foundations matter more than ever: As organisations focus on emerging threats and leveraging data for use in AI systems, many are doing so without fully securing the data they’re entrusted to protect. On average, companies have implemented only three out of seven key data risk measures across their organisations.
- Who’s accountable for AI? No single ownership model has emerged for AI governance and risk management: 29% of CEOs and security and risk leaders say accountability sits with the CIO, CTO, or technology function, 26% with a dedicated AI leader or AI function, and 17% with the CISO or cyber function.
- Managed services extend critical capabilities: Organisations are turning to strategic partners for specialised expertise as technologies and threats evolve. AI (53%) and cloud security (49%) rank among their top priorities for managed security services over the coming year.
Read the full report.