AI's Impact on Organisations' Attitude to Cyber Resilience
AI is a double-edged sword when it comes to cybersecurity.
On one side, it reshapes the landscape by introducing transformative opportunities.
Conversely, critical risks are emerging as a directly result of AI use — and misuse.
Research by LevelBlue — a joint venture between WillJam Ventures and US multinational telco giant AT&T — indicates that while business leaders acknowledge the inevitability of AI-powered cyber threats, many remain unprepared to counter them.
The 2025 LevelBlue Futures Report
To assess cyber preparedness and attitudes, LevelBlue surveyed 1,500 C-suite and senior executives from 14 countries across seven sectors:
- Energy and utilities
- Financial services
- Healthcare
- Manufacturing
- Retail
- Transportation
- US SLED (state, local government and higher education)
The 2025 LevelBlue Futures Report reveals that only 29% of executives feel prepared for AI-driven attacks, even though 42% anticipate such incidents in the near future.
LevelBlue says: “Computing is advancing at blistering speeds. With so much change, there must be a balance of innovation and risk – this means aligning the priorities of the line of business and cybersecurity.
“We discovered that AI is a disrupting force in 2025, but only 29% of leaders admit they are prepared for AI-powered threats.”
Deepfakes and synthetic identity attacks are top concerns, with only 32% of leaders feeling their organisations are ready to counter deepfake threats, despite 44% expecting them to occur.
As AI facilitates more sophisticated and deceptive cyberattacks, 59% of executives acknowledge that employees are finding it increasingly challenging to differentiate genuine threats from benign activity.
“In 2025, AI is forcing organisations to pivot once again,” says Theresa Lanowitz, Chief Evangelist at AT&T Cybersecurity and LevelBlue.
“Our research shows that leaders are becoming more aware of the threats they face and elevating cyber resilience measures accordingly.
“However, they still underestimate the potential risk of AI-powered cyberattacks and have extensive work ahead to properly prepare and protect themselves.”
Explained: The reluctance and readiness gap
Despite the concerns outlined in the report, reluctance to adopt AI tools due to cybersecurity risks is surprisingly low, with just 29% of executives expressing hesitation.
What does this indicate? The pace of innovation progresses rapidly, yet security strategies trail behind.
It also illustrates the paradox organisations encounter: the ambition to innovate with AI surpasses the evolution of robust defences against the very threats AI can generate.
Encouragingly, the concept of cyber resilience is gaining traction at the highest levels, according to the report.
Over the past year, the proportion of executives who regard cyber resilience as a company-wide priority has risen from 27% to 45%.
Two thirds report that cybersecurity teams now align with business units and 43% of leaders in cyber-resilient organisations say boardroom engagement in resilience discussions is increasing.
This alignment is essential, as 79% of cyber-resilient organisations believe their adaptive cybersecurity approach enables greater innovation and risk-taking.
LevelBlue’s four steps for cyber resilience
The LevelBlue Futures Report recommends four specific steps to best achieve cyber resilience.
- Push cyber resilience up the organisation
- Embed cybersecurity responsibilities throughout the organisation
- Be proactive rather than reactive
- Prioritise resilience in the software supply chain
This guidance, coupled with the report, paints a clear picture: while organisations are excited about AI’s potential, they must accelerate efforts to understand and mitigate the risks it brings.
Cyber resilience is no longer just an IT concern but a business imperative.
By aligning leadership, investing in proactive defences, and embedding resilience throughout the enterprise, organisations can better prepare for the next wave of AI-powered threats and continue to innovate with confidence.
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