As organisations across the globe finalise their 2026 budgets, two dominant forces are reshaping the ledger: the rapid ascendancy of Artificial Intelligence (AI) as both a tool and a threat, and the definitive financial pivot from on-premise hardware to cloud-native defence.
Reporting from the latest 2026 CISO Budget Benchmark, which surveyed over 300 security leaders, we are witnessing a paradox of “doing more with more”. Budgets are healthy for some, with over half of organisations now spending more than $5 million annually on cybersecurity. But despite this, confidence remains low with 56% of security professionals fearing their growing budgets are still not enough to counter today’s threats. 🔗Register to access the full report here.
AI – the sword and the shield
AI presents a dual reality for CISOs: it’s the primary driver of operational efficiency and also the source of their deepest anxieties.
Nearly all respondents (99%) agree that AI will fundamentally transform cloud security. However, the industry is split on the timing of this transformation, revealing a disconnect between leadership and operations:
- 54% of executives believe the impact is already here.
- 90% of architects and engineers (those closest to the code) see the disruption as a future event.
This perception gap creates a vulnerability. If leadership believes the tools are ready but the engineers don’t, organisations risk deploying AI defences that are not yet mature enough to handle the threats they face.
New threat vectors
Investing in AI-powered solutions is now the number one factor driving security spend (54%). But nearly half of all spending is driven by the need to counter AI-driven threats. CISOs are increasingly worried about novel attack vectors that legacy tools can’t see:
Prompt Injection |
This is the SQL injection of the AI age. Attackers use carefully crafted natural language inputs to manipulate Large Language Models (LLMs) into leaking data, ignoring safety protocols, or executing unauthorised actions. |
Training Data Poisoning |
By corrupting the integrity of the data used to train models (such as the “Nightshade” attacks which alter pixels to mislead image recognition) attackers can fundamentally break an AI’s ability to discern threat from benign activity. |
Over-permissioned AI Agents |
Perhaps the most insidious risk is the “Blast Radius” of AI agents. These autonomous digital workers often hold excessive access rights. If compromised, an AI agent can move laterally across a network at machine speed, exploiting permissions to access sensitive data far faster than a human hacker could. |
Cloud overtakes on-prem
If AI is the future concern, the Cloud is the current financial reality. The 2026 benchmark reveals a historic crossover: organisations now allocate more budget to cloud security products (21.1%) than to traditional on-premise tools like firewalls and endpoint protection (17.1%). This is alongside the 85% of reported organisations that are increasing their cloud security spending this year.
In the mid-market (organisations with 2,500-5,000 employees), the reliance on cloud tooling is so acute that it now consumes more budget (23.7%) than the security staff payroll itself (20.3%). This signals a massive shift in reliance from human monitoring to automated, cloud-native tooling. However, buying tools is not the same as buying security.
The complexity trap
The race to the cloud has resulted in a sprawl of disconnected tools. The average enterprise now juggles between 50 and 80 discrete security tools. It’s no surprise that 49% of CISOs cite cloud complexity as their top inhibitor to effective security.
When data is scattered across multi-cloud environments, SaaS applications, and shadow IT, visibility drops. You can’t protect what you can’t see. The budget increases for 2026 are frequently being absorbed not by new capabilities, but by the operational overhead of managing this complexity.
Fighting fire with fire
As threat actors weaponise AI to mimic employee behaviour and exploit vast cloud environments, CISOs need to leverage their increased budgets to integrate AI into their own defences, but this all needs to be done strategically.
At Mondas, we believe the goal for 2026 is clear: move beyond funding tools and start funding outcomes.
Consolidate |
Automate |
Validate |
| Reduce the vendor sprawl. Integrated platforms offer better visibility than best-of-breed silos. | Use AI to handle the noise of Tier-1 alerts so your human experts can focus on the complex, novel threats. | Ensure your AI adoption includes human-in-the-loop verification to bridge the gap between executive optimism and engineering reality. |
Security in 2026 isn’t about having the biggest wall; it’s about having the smartest immune system.
Mondas can address resource strain through our Managed Security Services (MSSP) and vCISO offerings. We can provide a 24/7 SOC monitoring and on-demand security architecture. We bridge the skills gap and high cost of recruiting internal teams. We aim to be a force multiplier supporting IT Managers and CISOs by absorbing the operational burden so internal teams can focus on strategic growth. Find out how we can support your organisation, get in touch today.
This article was brought to you by Lance Nevill, our Cyber Security Director at Mondas. Lance works with organisations towards their compliance, learn more about Lance on 🔗LinkedIn here.
