In 2025, CISOs face a complex cybersecurity landscape. Threats continue to grow in sophistication, while budgets and staffing remain constrained. According to the 2025 Security Budget Benchmark Report from IANS Research and Artico Search, 89% of CISOs report being understaffed or stretched too thin. Overall security budgets grew by only 4% from 2024—the slowest increase since 2010. At the organizational level, only 47% of CISOs received a budget increase, 39% stayed flat, and 14% experienced reductions. These constraints ultimately lead to staffing shortages. According to ISC2’s 2024 Cybersecurity Workforce Study, 67% of respondents reported staffing shortages last year.
Many organizations are turning to artificial intelligence (AI), expecting it to provide security protection without the need for a robust internal cybersecurity team. While these tools offer operational efficiency, they are not in-and-of-themselves a security strategy. Overdependence on AI without the human expertise to contextualize its findings and align cybersecurity priorities with business goals, may only create the illusion of resilience.
In this blog, we’ll explore the value and shortcomings of AI in cybersecurity and how a partnership with a Managed Security Service Provider (MSSP) can better manage AI solutions while reducing overall costs.
AI is a valid and valuable tool for enhancing cyber resilience, helping security teams operate more efficiently and respond faster to threats. Kris Manning at Syngenta introduced an AI-powered management tool, which helped reduce the noise of false positive alerts. The tool created up to a 95% reduction in tickets. Manning recalled, "[The AI tool] promised to do all of the correlation and the deduplication of alerts, and we turned it on and our alerts went to almost zero."
Platforms from vendors including Palo Alto Networks, IBM, Microsoft, and Check Point provide similar capabilities, enabling organizations to reduce alert fatigue, accelerate triage, and focus analyst attention on high-priority threats. Many organizations have successfully integrated AI into their security operations, benefiting from vendor support, updates, and threat intelligence feeds.
Despite these advantages, AI should be treated as a supplementary tool rather than a comprehensive solution. Overreliance can introduce operational, strategic, and organizational risks that require human oversight and human-led security practices.
While AI offers efficiency gains, overreliance introduces several risks that CISOs must consider carefully:
AI models are highly context-dependent. A model trained on cloud workloads may underperform in on-premises systems or hybrid environments. Reduced alerts may appear to indicate better security, but critical incidents can go undetected. Continuous monitoring, validation, and testing are essential to ensure AI outputs are reliable.
AI is optimized for patterns it has seen. Novel attack methods, advanced social engineering campaigns, or insider threats may escape detection. Overreliance can create blind spots, while teams may deprioritize manual review, leaving vulnerabilities unaddressed.
AI tools evolve rapidly, requiring updates, retraining, or replacement. Without proper planning, organizations can encounter integration challenges, unanticipated costs, or technology churn. CISOs must consider whether a solution can scale with the organization and adapt to emerging threats over time.
AI should support a security framework, not define it. Tools designed to reduce false positives or automate triage may not align with governance, compliance, or risk management priorities. Deploying AI solely to offset staffing or budget shortages can undermine long-term resilience.
AI relies on continuous vendor support for updates and threat intelligence. Any disruption or lapse in service can reduce effectiveness. Additionally, threat actors are leveraging AI to craft sophisticated attacks, amplifying operational risk. KPMG’s Q2 2025 report revealed that 69% of leaders expressed concerns about AI data privacy, up from 43% in Q4 2024, reflecting the increasing dependence on vendors and the associated risks.
AI cannot perfectly replace human judgment in responding to incidents. Security breaches often require nuanced decision-making, cross-team coordination, and context awareness. Overreliance on AI can delay response and exacerbate damage.
Microsoft’s 2024 Data Security Index shows that security incidents linked to AI applications surged from 27% in 2023 to 40% in 2024, highlighting AI’s limitations in incident response. The report goes on to state, “Attacks from the use of AI apps not only expose sensitive data but also compromise the functionality of the AI systems themselves, further complicating an already fractured data security landscape.”
Improperly governed AI adoption can disrupt workflows, create confusion about responsibilities, and shift focus away from risk-based decision-making. Successful deployment requires governance, training, and continuous evaluation.
AI is powerful, but it can detract from your overall security resilience if not wielded properly. When staffing a robust internal cybersecurity team exceeds budgetary limitations, a Managed Security Service Provider (MSSPs) can provide the oversight and adaptability that makes AI a reliable component of security operations.
Key Benefits:
Returning to the initial conundrum, security budgets are tight in 2025, but CISOs must still ensure organizational resiliency against cyber threats. If the increased efficiency of AI solutions is not enough on its own, how will an additional partnership reduce costs?
Outsourcing security functions to an MSSP is often more cost-effective than building an internal team for several reasons:
Recruiting and retaining skilled staff is expensive and slow, because there simply are not enough cybersecurity professionals to meet demand. ISC2 tracked a 4.8 million person gap between market supply and demand, leading to intense competition in recruiting and rising wages.
Cyber resilience in 2025 requires a balanced approach. AI can increase efficiency, reduce repetitive workloads, and improve detection, but it is not a comprehensive solution. MSSPs provide critical expertise, operational flexibility, and reliable incident response.
For CISOs, the optimal strategy integrates AI tools, internal human expertise, and MSSP partnerships. AI should be explored thoughtfully to improve efficiency, while MSSPs with skilled personnel provide judgment, oversight, and adaptability. By combining these elements, organizations can maintain robust security posture despite budget and staffing constraints.
Contact SecureOps today to discuss how to ensure your organization’s cyber resilience amidst budget constraints.