Cisco

72% of all organizations surveyed are at least moderately prepared to control and secure agentic AI systems.

75% of Pacesetters (the most AI-ready group) report having the capacity to fully secure agentic AI systems that make decisions independently.

84% of Pacesetters (most AI-ready group) control agent actions with guardrails and live monitoring vs 24% of all companies.

Less than a third (31%) of organizations surveyed report that they are fully equipped to control and secure agentic AI systems.

87% of Pacesetters (most AI-ready group) report awareness of AI-specific threats, compared to 42% of all companies.

84% of Pacesetters (most AI-ready group) report full capability with end-to-end encryption for sensitive data, versus 30% of all companies.

55% of organizations surveyed prioritize defending models and data from tampering.

74% of Pacesetters (most AI-ready group) report full capability with dynamic & granular access controls for AI systems and datasets, versus 27% of all companies.

Only 29% of all companies have fully integrated AI into security and identity systems, compared to 62% of Pacesetters (most AI-ready group).

81% of Pacesetters (most AI-ready group) report full capability to detect and prevent unauthorized tampering, compared to 29% of all companies.

51% of organizations surveyed focus on recruiting the right talent to manage AI-specific cybersecurity threats.

Talent gaps are most acute in the area of cybersecurity for AI, affecting 60% of all companies surveyed.

61% say secure networking is critical.

94% believe an improved network will enhance their cybersecurity posture.

One severe outage per business per year, often driven by factors including cyberattacks, adds up to $160B globally.

Major network outages are often driven by congestion, cyberattacks, and misconfigurations.

98% say secure networking is important to their operations and growth.

61% say secure networking is critical.

94% believe an improved network will enhance their cybersecurity posture.

One severe outage per business per year, often driven by factors including cyberattacks, adds up to $160B globally.

96% of organizations plan to upgrade their IT infrastructure.

71% of respondents anticipate business disruptions from cyber incidents within the next 12 to 24 months.

86% of organizations have experienced AI-related security incidents in the last year.

Only 45% allocate more than 10% of their IT budget to cybersecurity. This allocation is down 8% year-over-year.

Only 4% of organizations worldwide have achieved a 'Mature' level of cybersecurity readiness. This is a slight increase from last year's Index, in which 3% of organizations worldwide were designated as Mature.

84% of organizations face increased security risks as employees access networks from unmanaged devices within hybrid work models.

Over 77% of organizations report that their complex security infrastructures are impeding their ability to respond swiftly and effectively to threats. These infrastructures are often dominated by the deployment of more than ten point security solutions

Only 49% of respondents are confident their employees fully understand AI related threats.

60% of organizations lack confidence in detecting unregulated AI deployments (shadow AI).

70% of organizations use AI for response and recovery.

89% of organizations use AI to understand threats better.

58% of respondents view external threats (like malicious actors and state-affiliated groups) as more significant than internal threats (42%).

85% of organizations use AI for threat detection.

51% of employees are using approved third-party GenAI tools.

86% of organizations continue to face the challenge of a shortage of skilled cybersecurity professionals. More than half of these organizations report having more than ten positions to fill.

Only 48% believe their teams fully grasp how malicious actors are using AI to execute sophisticated attacks.

Nearly half of organizations (49%) suffered cyberattacks in the last year.

22% of employees have unrestricted access to public GenAI.

60% of IT teams are unaware of employee interactions with GenAI.

64% of respondents worry about inadvertently sharing sensitive information publicly or with competitors.

Nearly half of respondents admit to inputting personal employee or non-public data into GenAI tools.

An overwhelming 99% of respondents anticipate reallocating resources from privacy budgets to AI initiatives in the future.

63% of respondents are very familiar with Generative AI (GenAI).

Among those aware of their country's privacy laws, 81% feel confident in their ability to protect their data, compared to just 44% of those unaware of such laws.

The 2024 Cisco AI Readiness Index reveals that IT budget allocations are anticipated to nearly double in the coming year as companies work to safely deploy AI technology

86% of privacy and security professionals support privacy legislation, recognising its positive impact on business operations.

96% of organisations report that the returns of privacy significantly outweigh the investments.

In the 2024 Cisco Consumer Privacy Survey, most global consumers (53%) said they are aware of their country's privacy laws.

96% of privacy and security professionals confirm that privacy investments provide returns exceeding costs.

90% of organisations see local storage as inherently safer.