Report by Splunk

The CISO Report: From Risk to Resilience in the AI Era

24 FINDINGSPublished Feb 24, 2026
View Original Report →

Key Findings

False alerts are a leading stressor for security teams (94%).

False PositivesAlert Fatigue

Tool fatigue is a leading stressor for security teams (79%).

Tool FatigueOperational Stress

92% of CISOs say that improving threat detection and response capabilities is a top priority.

Threat Detection and ResponseSecurity Operations

68% of CISOs prioritize investing in AI cybersecurity capabilities.

AI SecurityCybersecurity Investment

82% of CISOs worry agentic AI will increase deployment speed and the complexity of persistence mechanisms.

Persistence MechanismsAgentic AIDeployment Speed

Joint accountability drives the most value for key security initiatives (62%).

C-Suite CollaborationSecurity Initiatives

Joint accountability drives the most value for security budget and funding (55%).

Security BudgetC-Suite Collaboration

Joint accountability drives the most value for access to security-relevant data (49%).

Security-Relevant DataC-Suite Collaboration

High alert volumes are a leading stressor for security teams (98%).

Alert FatigueOperational Stress

More than four out of five CISOs oversee secure software development (DevSecOps).

DevSecOpsSoftware SecurityCISO

Lack of shared data views is a barrier to cross-departmental data sharing (70%).

Data SharingCross-Department

Data privacy concerns are a top barrier to cross-departmental data sharing (91%).

Data PrivacyData Sharing

86% of CISOs fear agentic AI will increase the sophistication of social engineering attacks.

Social EngineeringAgentic AI

Nearly all CISOs now report that their responsibilities include AI governance and risk management.

AI GovernanceRisk ManagementCISO

More than three quarters of CISOs are now worried about personal liability for security incidents, a sharp jump from last year when just over half expressed similar fears.

Personal LiabilityExecutive RiskCISO

39% of CISOs who have partially or fully adopted agentic AI strongly agree it has increased their teams' reporting speed, which is more than double the 18% among CISOs who are still exploring agentic AI.

Agentic AIOperational Efficiency

92% of CISOs say AI enables their teams to review more security events.

Security OperationsAI SecuritySecurity EventsSOC

95% of Chief Information Security Officers (CISOs) cite the growing sophistication of threat actor capabilities as their greatest risk.

Threat ActorsCybersecurity Risk

Nearly two-thirds of security teams experience moderate to significant burnout.

Employee BurnoutWorkforce Retention

Nearly four out of five CISOs report their role has become significantly more complex.

Role ComplexityCISO

High storage costs are a barrier to cross-departmental data sharing (76%).

Data StorageData Sharing

78% of CISOs prioritize strengthening identity and access management.

Identity And AccessAccess Management

89% of CISOs report improved data correlation with AI.

Data CorrelationAI Security

82% of CISOs believe agentic AI will increase the amount of data reviewed, and 82% say it will increase correlation and response speeds.

Agentic AIData Analysis