TL;DR
At Cybrary, we believe that readiness is no longer about static certifications. It's about continuous learning, embedded risk awareness, and the ability to act decisively in a dynamic, AI-accelerated threat landscape.
That's why we're investing in dynamic learning experiences, organizational risk benchmarking, and AI-powered insights to help businesses not just train individuals—but build cyber-capable organizations.
With this in mind, the following article builds on previous pieces we’ve done on AI’s emerging role in the cybersecurity industry in order to give you a more comprehensive snapshot of how this technology is changing how we think about and practice security.
Does it even need to be said anymore how prevalent AI has become? Recent research has found that over three-quarters of today’s companies are either using or exploring the use of AI, while 83 percent list AI as one of their top priorities. Across industries, whether in healthcare or banking or retail services, AI is regularly spoken about as an essential tool for maintaining growth and remaining competitive. Common knowledge now says that any business that doesn’t embrace AI in some way will be left behind.
Indeed, cybersecurity has not been immune to this hype. In fact, Forbes listed cybersecurity and fraud management as the second-most popular use of AI, falling just behind customer service. Because of this, it seems like everyone within cybersecurity has an opinion about how AI will or won’t change the industry. To help make sense of these views, we’ve decided to collect together some of our experts’ opinions. From threat detection to job security to education, here are some ways AI may or may not transform cybersecurity.
Gina Cardelli: AI is a powerful tool that requires balance
As the Principal Security Strategist at Fortra, Gina Cardelli’s job allows her to see firsthand how AI is getting used in the threat landscape — both for good and bad. “You see a lot of this stuff in the news,” she said. “There’s malware-as-a-service, there’s phishing-as-a-service. Many cyber criminals will actually develop service offerings around these technologies, using AI to do the work for them.” Fortunately, security analysts are also leveraging AI to combat these new threats by improving how they predict outcomes and detect anomalies.
But will this go too far? Will AI end up replacing the average security analyst? For Cardelli, the answer is no. “I think AI and machine learning will be great at reducing the hay that’s in the haystack,” she said, referring to the work of sorting through alerts to find actual malicious behavior. “But context is key when it comes to determining whether an alert is a true positive or not. Artificial intelligence may be able to bring you up to a certain point, but it's not going to be able to be fundamentally decisive.”
Still, she acknowledges that AI is definitely a powerful tool that is already changing how we work. Because of this, it’s important that we learn early on how to use it correctly. “If you use it to just enhance your work, you still have that component of critical thinking,” she said. “But you dance a fine line if you start using it to do your work. You may even start to lose the abilities that make you a good security analyst.”
Maurice Gibson: AI is altering how we think about jobs and education
From his position as Vice President of Product and Operations at CyberForward Academy, Maurice Gibson is well aware of how AI is changing both the job market and how we are preparing students for it. In our conversation, for example, he cited how Shopify CEO Tobi Lutke told workers that, before any new team members can be added, they must first prove the work cannot be done by AI.
“What this means,” said Gibson, “is that a lot of those entry-level jobs are going to get, I don’t want to say taken away, but they’re going to have to shift.”
In other words, because AI is so good at automating rote work, such as monitoring threats or sifting through large amounts of data, the roles that were once responsible for these tasks will need to become more specialized. This could make it more difficult to find entry-level work for some people. One way to combat this? Make AI a core part of the cybersecurity curriculum. “We have to modernize our education system in a way that makes sense for the future,” said Gibson. “And that includes trusting AI.”
Forrest Caffray: AI is already a game changer
For an unequivocally positive outlook on AI, we can turn to Forrest Caffray, a former content creator who is now taking cybersecurity courses through Cybrary. He recounted how he regularly uses AI every day to help him become effective at a variety of tasks, but particularly learning concepts in his courses. “Being able to search for things and find things is a good skill, but it really slows you down,” he said. “Whereas with AI, all I need to know is what this does and how it does it, and then it will give it to you. It just delivers.”
The speed and efficiency of AI is especially important to Caffray, who is eager to learn the basics of cybersecurity so he can get his career off the ground. To that end, he’s worked out a system for getting through his courses. “I’ll first use Cybrary itself, then AI to double check things in case I didn’t understand something. Then, if I have to, I’ll manually look something up.”
Despite this reliance, Caffray is confident that AI is not something we should be worried about replacing jobs. Instead, as long as people learn to adapt to AI’s capabilities, the technology will actually put us in a better place. “I really do think we’re on this cusp,” he said. “This AI revolution that’s coming around. I just want to be in a position so that I can take advantage of it and understand it so that I don’t get left behind.”
AI in cybersecurity will continue to evolve
Although these voices all have had extensive experience using AI and seeing how it is affecting cybersecurity, their opinions are just a snapshot in time. At the rate that technology is changing today, one can only guess how AI will affect cybersecurity in the near future. Will it prove to be a powerful tool we can use to augment our own efforts? Or will it replace human workers altogether? Or maybe something in between?
Whatever the case, it’s important to stay prepared for anything. Cybrary’s course work is a great way to keep up with the latest trends, technologies, and threats in the cyber world — whether that’s AI, machine learning, or something else altogether. Check out our full course catalog to find the right fit for you.
