Harnessing the power of AI is essential for modern cloud security because AI is also the latest weapon. Enterprises must mitigate evolving threats while adopting new technologies.
AI isn‘t just changing cloud computing, it’s completely reshaping how we think about security in the cloud—on both sides. Attackers use AI to cause breaches, and enterprises use AI to defend against such attacks. Let me break this down into what‘s happening and what enterprises need to do about it.
First, let’s face the facts: Over 90% of IT leaders are currently rewriting their cloud strategies as AI and hybrid cloud take center stage. This isn’t just a trend; it’s a fundamental shift in how enterprises think about and implement security measures.
The good, the bad, and AI
Here’s what’s interesting: AI plays both offense and defense in cloud security. On the defensive side, AI is helping bolster defenses, identify threats, and accelerate response times. However, this creates an “arms race” between defenders and attackers, as bad actors use AI for increasingly sophisticated attacks.
What’s keeping security leaders up at night? Data security and compliance remain top priorities, with 96% of organizations establishing enhanced security protocols. This isn’t surprising, given the dual-edged nature of AI in security.
Many are prioritizing hybrid cloud and multicloud deployments to better manage security risks and maintain greater control over sensitive data. Organizations actively integrate AI with their cloud strategies, mainly focusing on advanced security and threat detection. This integration primarily aims to enhance operational efficiency and improve data analytics capabilities in security operations.
Organizations have established procedures and policies for data privacy and compliance in cloud environments. Many consider repatriating workloads from public to private clouds, citing security and compliance requirements as a primary driver. This is leading to more repatriation for enterprises, and it is second only to cloud cost as the reason applications and data are being moved back to enterprise data centers.
Organizations are addressing the skills gap by actively hiring new staff skilled in artificial intelligence and machine learning and retraining existing staff. It’s almost impossible to hire from the outside, given the available AI and security skills. Many organizations cite a lack of skilled cloud security professionals as a significant constraint. When I do a post-breach audit, this is mentioned by far as the primary reason a breach occurred in the first place. Again, it’s people, not technology, that are the determining factor.
Rather than simply updating existing systems, organizations are designing entirely new cloud strategies to meet new security requirements. This includes implementing advanced workload-by-workload analysis to determine optimal hosting environments and security measures. Companies are moving away from “one-size-fits-all” solutions toward more flexible and resilient approaches that can adapt to emerging threats. This includes maintaining the ability to transfer workloads seamlessly between different cloud environments.
Getting ahead of the AI security curve
Now that we have covered what companies are doing, what should they do? I have a three-pronged set of recommendations that I give these days.
Embrace AI-powered security automation. The days of manual security monitoring are numbered, meaning you should stop doing it—today. By 2025, AI will be crucial in reducing manual workload in cloud security, particularly in areas like risk attribution and identifying priority issues. This isn’t optional anymore, it’s survival.
Evolve your zero-trust strategy. With the increasing volatility in the geopolitical landscape and the intensity of the AI race, insider threats are becoming a more significant risk. Organizations need to expand their zero-trust strategies beyond traditional boundaries.
Focus on data protection. New security standards are emerging to protect advanced AI models’ weights, ensure secure storage, and prevent unauthorized access. This is critical for protecting AI model data and needs to be part of your security strategy.
A weapon for defense and offense
The intersection of AI and cloud security represents one of the most significant technological shifts in enterprise computing, one that is often misunderstood. Enterprises are embracing AI-powered tools for defense while simultaneously preparing for AI-enhanced threats. This dual nature of AI in security means enterprises must balance innovation with risk management.
Looking ahead through 2025 and 2026, we’ll likely witness unprecedented cyber warfare that will make the 24-hour news channels. AI systems will battle each other; defensive AI systems protecting cloud infrastructure against increasingly sophisticated AI-powered attacks. This will create a new paradigm in security where the speed and complexity of attacks and defenses will far exceed human response capability. So, this is not about hiring better security tech to do the battle; this is about automating the defenses and hiring people who know how to do that. Good luck to all.
