Report by Nozomi Networks
State of AI in OT Cybersecurity 2026 Report
Key Findings
5.0% of surveyed OT and ICS cybersecurity professionals report production deployment of agentic AI.
Only 7.6% of surveyed OT and ICS cybersecurity professionals are very confident in controls that protect AI tools and models because those controls have been tested.
Only 7.9% of surveyed OT and ICS cybersecurity professionals have deployed AI for multiple OT cybersecurity functions.
21% of surveyed OT and ICS cybersecurity professionals report that agentic AI has reached an active pilot, proof of concept, or production environment.
63.9% of surveyed OT and ICS cybersecurity professionals consider attacks targeting AI systems or operational data either a top-tier operational risk (20.5%) or an emerging priority (43.4%).
Only 11.9% of surveyed OT and ICS cybersecurity professionals have formally mapped and reviewed which AI-driven decisions could directly affect physical processes, safety systems, or operational continuity.
24.5% of surveyed OT and ICS cybersecurity professionals report using AI for SOC augmentation.
22.2% of surveyed OT and ICS cybersecurity professionals report using AI for incident response and triage.
43.4% of surveyed OT and ICS cybersecurity professionals consider attacks targeting AI systems or operational data an emerging priority they are beginning to address.
87.7% of surveyed OT and ICS cybersecurity professionals are using, evaluating, piloting, or planning AI for OT cybersecurity.
49% of surveyed OT and ICS cybersecurity professionals who believe AI's benefits outweigh the risks recognize material risks around reliability, data integrity, model manipulation, and the need for human oversight.
33.8% of surveyed OT and ICS cybersecurity professionals report using AI for threat detection and alerting.
16.2% of surveyed OT and ICS cybersecurity professionals are conducting a pilot or proof of concept for agentic AI.
31.5% of surveyed OT and ICS cybersecurity professionals report using AI for network monitoring and anomaly detection.
20.5% of surveyed OT and ICS cybersecurity professionals consider attacks targeting AI systems or operational data a top-tier operational risk.
69.9% of surveyed OT and ICS cybersecurity professionals believe AI's benefits in industrial cybersecurity outweigh the risks.