More Than Half of Organizations Plan to Adopt AI Solutions in Coming Year, Reports Cloud Security Alliance and Google Cloud

PRESS RELEASE

SEATTLE – April 3, 2024 – A new survey from the Cloud Security Alliance (CSA), the world’s leading organization dedicated to defining standards, certifications, and best practices to help ensure a secure cloud computing environment, and Google Cloud, found that a remarkable 55% of organizations surveyed plan to adopt GenAI solutions within the next year, signaling a substantial surge in GenAI integration. The State of AI and Security Survey Report indicates that the push behind AI’s adoption can be attributed in large part to C-level executives (82% of respondents indicated executive leadership as being behind the push), who recognize the competitive advantage it offers in the modern business environment.

The study also found that AI integration into cybersecurity is not just a concept but also a practical reality for many, with 67% of respondents stating that they have tested AI specifically for security purposes. As for the ability to leverage AI, 48% of professionals expressed confidence in their organization's ability to execute a strategy for leveraging AI in security, with 28% feeling reasonably confident and 20% very confident. Given the nascent stage of GenAI in this field, this level of assurance suggests that many professionals might be optimistic about their preparedness or overlook the intricacies of AI integration.

“The insights shared in this report into how industry experts view and prepare for AI's evolving role in cybersecurity are pivotal in navigating this transition and ensuring a resilient, forward-looking digital infrastructure,” said Hillary Baron, lead author and Senior Technical Director for Research, Cloud Security Alliance.

“AI is transforming cybersecurity, offering both exciting opportunities and complex challenges. However, the disconnect between the C-suite and staff in understanding and implementing AI highlights the need for a strategic, unified approach to successfully integrate this technology," said Caleb Sima, chair of CSA’s AI Safety Initiative.

“Once in a generation, we see a chance for profound cybersecurity transformation, not just incremental gains. With generative AI, we have the potential to turn the tables on attackers by 10x’ing the capabilities of defenders. While we need to counter attacker use of AI, it’s even more important to get going on integrating AI into cyber defenses today. The findings in the report resonate well with Google’s Secure AI Framework,” said Phil Venables, CISO, Google Cloud.

Among the survey’s other key findings:

Google Cloud commissioned CSA to develop a survey and report to better understand the industry’s knowledge, attitudes, and opinions regarding AI. Google Cloud financed the project and co-developed the questionnaire with CSA research analysts. The survey was conducted online by CSA in November 2023 and received 2,486 responses from IT and security professionals from organizations of various sizes across the Americas, APAC and EMEA. CSA’s research analysts performed the data analysis for this report.

Download the State of AI and Security Survey Report.

About Cloud Security Alliance
The Cloud Security Alliance (CSA) is the world’s leading organization dedicated to defining and raising awareness of best practices to help ensure a secure cloud computing environment. CSA harnesses the subject matter expertise of industry practitioners, associations, governments, and its corporate and individual members to offer cloud security-specific research, education, training, certification, events, and products. CSA's activities, knowledge, and extensive network benefit the entire community impacted by cloud — from providers and customers to governments, entrepreneurs, and the assurance industry — and provide a forum through which different parties can work together to create and maintain a trusted cloud ecosystem. For further information, visit us at www.cloudsecurityalliance.org, and follow us on Twitter @cloudsa.