Cyber security automation is now business-critical for 97% of UK organisations
LONDON, UK. 20th November 2025 - ThreatQuotient, a Securonix company and leader in threat intelligence platforms, has released this year's Evolution of Cybersecurity Automation and AI Adoption Report. This year's study delves into how cyber security teams are operationalising artificial intelligence, examining the key drivers behind AI deployment from threat detection and response acceleration to predictive analytics and decision support. According to the report, 97% of UK cyber security professionals now regard automation, increasingly powered by AI technologies, as essential to business operations - a significant rise from 78% of UK respondents in the previous year and 61% in 2023.
The research, conducted by Opinion Matters, surveyed 750 senior cyber security professionals from large organisations with over 2,000 employees in the UK, USA, and Australia from five industry sectors. Now in its fifth year, the study charts the evolution of cyber security automation and explores AI adoption as cyber security professionals aim to tackle escalating cyberthreats faster and more effectively.
Everyone Wants Automation, but 96% Still Hit Roadblocks
Ninety-six per cent of UK respondents still face persistent challenges when implementing cyber security automation, and like other countries surveyed, technology issues remain the dominant barrier. However, UK respondents were also more likely to say that breaking systems was a key challenge (28% versus 23% globally). When it comes to AI adoption, the challenges shift towards human factors such as skills, management buy-in and user adoption. UK respondents were more likely than their Australian and US counterparts to report problems with AI making incorrect or undesirable decisions (30% versus 26% globally). However, 4% of UK respondents did report that they hadn't encountered any issues with automation, indicating that as automation matures and the focus shifts to AI integration, operational friction is starting to ease.
All regions report increased cyber security automation budgets compared to last year, but the UK has slightly less new funds overall this year, with 43% receiving net new funding compared to 49% of global respondents. However, 63% of UK respondents are allocating budget from other tools, compared to the global average of 56%. More than two-thirds (69%) are allocating budget from outside of the security team (e.g. IT Ops).
The key performance indicators for automation are evolving toward a new operational standard, with a marked shift away from its impact on employee well-being towards more quantifiable metrics. UK respondents prioritise operational metrics like Mean Time to Detect (MTTD) and Mean Time to Respond (MTTR) as core indicators of effectiveness, with 55% of respondents using these as key measurement criteria. This pivot reflects a growing emphasis on performance outcomes, as organisations seek tangible, data-driven improvements to validate rising investment levels in automation technologies.
AI Implementation in Cyber Security
This study explores the primary motivations and influences affecting AI deployment. The results highlight that 52% of UK organisations are prioritising AI adoption to improve productivity (versus 56% globally), while 48% focus on achieving greater efficiency (versus 44% globally). The top use cases for AI adoption for UK respondents all involve AI working with humans and include vulnerability assessments and prioritisation management (39%), assisting triage and analysis of actions with a human in the loop, chosen by 38%, and 37% said analytics and threat detection.
"UK organisations are clearly accelerating their journey toward AI-powered cyber defence. This year's report shows a shift from automation as a nice-to-have to a strategic imperative. While technical hurdles persist, human factors like breaking systems and trust are now the biggest challenges. Encouragingly, more teams are integrating AI with human oversight and focusing on measurable outcomes like MTTD and MTTR, signs that operational maturity is taking hold," said Leon Ward, Chief Transformation Officer at Securonix.
Leadership Paradox with Executives Both Driving and Blocking AI
Respondents report that pressure from the board is the dominant driver for both efficiency and productivity. Fifty-eight per cent say their senior leadership team is keen for them to adopt AI to achieve efficiency gains, while 59% say their board is pushing them to adopt AI for productivity boosts. Among UK organisations seeking efficiency gains, 51% put reducing headcount in their top three drivers or motivations. However, 28% of UK respondents also say gaining management buy-in is a top problem they encounter when implementing AI in cybersecurity. This contradiction indicates that the strong focus on unlocking the competitive benefits of AI is being hindered by tactical uncertainty over specific use cases.
Blockers and Barriers to AI adoption in Cyber Security
A lack of human skill, AI making incorrect decisions, and technology issues all feature as key challenges of adopting AI in cyber security for UK organisations, and they echo many of the difficulties seen in automation adoption. Political implications when selecting international suppliers are the top concern (33%) for UK respondents, followed by concerns about security (32%). Worries about relying too heavily on AI or a single provider (31%) ranked in third place.
When it comes to key performance indicators for AI, UK respondents show greater concern for team wellbeing than other countries surveyed, with 55% using "how well we are managing the team" as a key metric, while resource management (48%) and performance effectiveness with KPIs like MTTD/MTTR (49%) are less frequently used.
"Cyber security teams across the UK are no longer asking whether to adopt automation and AI, they're asking 'how can we do it better?' As the technology matures, the focus is shifting from experimentation to execution. With the right investment, leadership alignment and human-machine collaboration, organisations have a real opportunity to turn AI into a force multiplier for resilience, efficiency and strategic advantage," Leon Ward added.
The research also compares sectors, analyses roles, and examines how cyber security automation and AI are being adopted across the three surveyed regions. To read the full report, visit https://www.threatq.com/cybersecurity-automation-adoption-report.
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Securonix is leading the transformation of cyber security with the industry's first Unified Defense SIEM powered by agentic AI, purpose-built to decide and act across the threat lifecycle with a human-in-the-loop philosophy. Built for scale, precision, and speed, our cloud-native platform empowers global enterprises to shift from reactive security to proactive, autonomous operations. Recognised as a Leader in the Gartner Magic Quadrant for SIEM and a Customers' Choice by Gartner Peer Insights, Securonix is driving the next era of intelligent, autonomous security operations. Learn more atwww.securonix.com.
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