PwC says Irish organisations ‘under-prepared’ as AI reshapes cyber threats

A new survey by PwC has revealed that Irish organisations are lagging behind global counterparts in integrating cyber risk into their operations, preparing for incidents, using AI agents for defense, and ensuring quantum security. Only 17% of Irish business and information security leaders strongly agree that cyber risk is integrated into enterprise risk management processes, compared to 41% globally.

Only 23% of Irish respondents regularly conduct realistic incident response exercises, whereas 41% worldwide do so. Irish leaders are also more cautious about AI control, with just 6% ready to authorize fully autonomous execution by AI agents, compared to 22% globally. Reliability and maturity of technology were the biggest barriers to increased AI autonomy in Ireland, cited by 69% of respondents, while regulatory constraints and adversarial manipulation were mentioned by 57% and 57% respectively.

In contrast, 84% of global security and finance leaders expect cyber budgets to increase in 2027, compared to 34% in Ireland. Half of global respondents identified attacks targeting AI systems as the least prepared threats, while over half of leaders felt unready for AI controlling large networks. Only 6% of Irish respondents have implemented quantum-resistant measures, compared to 21% globally.

However, 68% of Irish respondents are piloting, testing, or exploring quantum security, slightly ahead of the global 65%. PwC's Leonard McAuliffe emphasized that cybersecurity should not only protect businesses but also give them the confidence to innovate, highlighting that many organizations are still under-prepared for the rapidly evolving cyber landscape.