As more enterprises adopt AI, security leaders are now faced with a more complex reality. 2026 will push them to rethink accountability, identity verification, intelligence sharing, and platform strategy. With attackers moving at a fast pace and AI expanding across businesses, the traditional process can no longer keep up. To mitigate risks, enterprises should rebuild the core foundations of their cybersecurity strategy.
Accountability cannot be automated
AI agents can perform procedural work that security teams traditionally handled. This shift is inevitable and beneficial, but we humans remain responsible for the outcomes of automated systems. Reviewing the work of thousands of AI agents is impossible with traditional alerts. Instead of drowning security analysts in fragmented signals, organisations need systems that unify related alerts and tasks into common decision points. This will create a “Goldilocks spot” that pairs high automation with human responsibility. Analysts can then make a single auditable decision rather than hundreds of inconsistent, smaller ones. This preserves oversight while fully benefiting from AI’s consistency, breadth, and speed.
The deepfake defence paradox
Deepfakes have advanced to the point where attackers can convincingly replicate a person’s image, voice, or behavior at minimal cost. This should concern CISOs, as video and voice communications are heavily compressed, making it difficult to differentiate between real and manipulated content. Many companies still think detection systems can handle this issue. When a detection system flags a fake, it also teaches attackers how to refine their methods. This creates a dangerous feedback loop where attackers can keep trying endlessly until they succeed. In 2026, the most resilient enterprises will move beyond single-layer detection and adopt multi-factor, out-of-band verification methods that operate entirely outside the communication channel. We see early examples of this in consumer technologies such as iOS Contact Key Verification. Enterprises will need similar models to verify identities. Detection remains essential, but the verification process needs to evolve.
Collective security at the core of enterprise defence
For years, organisations have benefitted from the intelligence shared by their security vendors. Yet, many enterprises decide to share information only after something happens. This limits the collective gain. Cyber attackers do not operate alone. They share insights, techniques, and tools, thereby creating a global network. Defenders must think and have the same collective mentality to protect their data. In the coming year, enterprises will comprehend that selective intelligence sharing makes everyone’s defences stronger, including their own. The challenge is to implement this while protecting sensitive data and still surfacing crucial signals. As customer comfort grows and as platforms evolve to support data sharing more securely, the industry will move toward a more interconnected model. This model will be more collective as the safety of one truly becomes the safety of all.
The end of security silos
Cybersecurity has been facing the hurdle of fragmented architectures, defined by acronyms and isolated point solutions. Identity security, endpoint protection, UEBA, and CTEM evolved separately while relying on the same underlying machinery. This can cause gaps that attackers can easily target. Large-scale AI platforms already give us an idea of what the future holds. They present a single interface capable of executing various operations that once required multiple tools.
2026 will see enterprises actively move towards a unified security ecosystem, breaking boundaries between products. Instead of worrying about which tool to pick, organisations should focus on the outcomes they want to achieve. A unified platform will make this possible, where teams can see activities and alerts and be able to act on them quickly. This approach will enhance visibility, reduce operational complexity, and eliminate gaps.
The year ahead will challenge every organisation to reevaluate its assumptions. AI will continue to transform both offense and defence, while the rise of deepfakes will necessitate new models of trust. Intelligence sharing will become necessary. Security platforms will develop from fragmented systems and adopt a unified approach. Organisations that are clearly and intentionally prepared to accept these changes will reduce risk and lay the groundwork for secure growth in the digital landscape.
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