ManageEngine

81% of US and Canadian IT and cybersecurity leaders say AI has made cybersecurity decision-making easier overall.

8% of US and Canadian IT and cybersecurity leaders say cybersecurity becomes a permanent priority after an incident.

91% of US and Canadian IT and cybersecurity leaders are confident in their organization's cybersecurity posture.

Nearly 3 in 4 organizations in the United States have a fragmented IAM stack.

1 in 5 organizations cite IAM skill shortages and complexity as major challenges.

46% are currently evaluating consolidation toward unified identity platforms.

26% of US and Canadian IT and cybersecurity leaders say they accept risks they consider manageable.

44% of US and Canadian IT and cybersecurity leaders report that their organization made no structural or strategic change following their most recent incident.

24% of US and Canadian IT and cybersecurity leaders say AI has introduced new risks requiring significant changes to their cybersecurity strategy.

33% of US and Canadian IT and cybersecurity leaders believe a major cyber incident is inevitable regardless of their defenses.

25% of US and Canadian IT and cybersecurity leaders say unclear ownership can delay containment, remediation, or other critical actions.

23% of US and Canadian IT and cybersecurity leaders say known risks often remain unresolved until an incident or audit creates urgency.

59% of US and Canadian IT and cybersecurity leaders say business priorities always or often cause security initiatives to be postponed or downgraded.

Among organizations using AI in cybersecurity, 67% always or often act on AI-generated recommendations without additional verification.

80% of US and Canadian IT and cybersecurity leaders say heightened attention to cybersecurity lasts only one to six months after an incident.

84% of US and Canadian IT and cybersecurity leaders say employees are likely to report a cybersecurity mistake immediately.

83% of US and Canadian IT and cybersecurity leaders say fear of consequences influences how cybersecurity incidents are handled.

Among organizations using AI in cybersecurity, 29% always act on AI-generated recommendations without additional verification.

55% of US and Canadian IT and cybersecurity leaders say AI-enabled security tools have made their organization more willing to accept cyber risk.

49% of organizations identify governance gaps as a top investment priority for 2026.

36% of leaders are actively consolidating toward unified identity platforms.

9 in 10 organizations are piloting or using AI in identity and access management (IAM), yet only 7% have organization-wide deployment.

Organizations now manage machine identities at a ratio commonly exceeding 100:1, with some sectors approaching 500:1.

46% of organizations identify emerging identity complexities as a top investment priority for 2026.

Only 12% of organizations have achieved comprehensive automated life cycle management for machine identities.