Business leaders using generative AI (GenAI) to automate and optimize their cybersecurity reported an optimistic outlook on the financial benefits of the technology in a recent survey.
The December 2024 AI MonitorEdge Report from PYMNTS includes insights from chief operating officers (COOs) representing 60 companies with annual revenues greater than $1 billion.
The survey revealed that more than half (55%) of the organizations were already using GenAI to run automated cybersecurity management systems by August 2024. This represented a threefold increase from just three months earlier, when only 16.7% were leveraging GenAI-driven cybersecurity management systems.
Additionally, nearly a third (30%) of organizations used GenAI to identify fraud and anomalies in August 2024, up from 18.3% in May 2024.
“These findings underscore a broader trend of AI becoming an indispensable asset for strategic risk management,” the report stated. “As cyber threats grow in sophistication, COOs view AI as an essential tool in maintaining organizational resilience and trust that it can protect their organization from security breaches and fraud.”
GenAI cybersecurity yields significant savings, COOs report
In addition to the ways companies are using GenAI, ranging from low impact tasks like email and summary generations to high impact tasks like cybersecurity management, the PYMNTS report also dives into the financial implications of GenAI cybersecurity adoption.
In several cases, companies that used GenAI for cybersecurity management reported greater savings than those that used GenAI for other tasks; for example, organizations that used GenAI for high impact tasks saved about 5.8% of their annual revenue over the last 12 months on average, but this savings amount increased to 6.5% when specifically counting those who use GenAI-driven cybersecurity systems.
Organizations that reported a “very positive” return on investment (ROI) from their use of GenAI averaged savings of 6.1% of their annual revenue over the last 12 months, while those that specifically used GenAI for automated cybersecurity management saved even more — 7.7% their annual revenue on average, according to the report.
Full GenAI integration expected within five to eight years
The report noted that in addition to savings reported through the survey, respondents predicted significant long-term ROI from using GenAI for cybersecurity and other tasks.
“Many expect to see very positive returns by 2030, followed closely by full deployment as a result,” the report stated. “Firms using the technology for high-impact tasks, such as data security, expect its ROI to be very positive in 5.6 years.”
COOs already reporting a very positive ROI from their GenAI use predicted the technology would be fully embedded at their organizations within 5.7 years on average. Those who use GenAI for high impact tasks — like cybersecurity — estimated on average that it would take about 6.9 years for full integration. Overall, predictions for when full AI integration would take place ranged from about five to eight years in August 2024 — down from six to 10 years when the survey was previously conducted in May 2024.
AI-powered cybersecurity tools continued to gain traction along with AI use by threat actors in 2024, and GenAI systems have the opportunity to enhance and speed up proactive cyber defense through real-time analysis and anomaly detection, PYMNTS analysts wrote.
Another recent survey, conducted by CyberRisk Alliance, of North American security administrators and executives found that respondents were generally favorable about the use of AI to combat phishing, with about 50% saying they planned to introduce AI and automation to their email security strategy in the future.
