The Global State of Operational Security 2026: The CIO Perspective

Key Findings

Operational Exposures Have Consequential Impacts on Business Continuity

CIOs emphasized a need for risk reduction in operational environments, pointing out that cyberattacks that impact operations pose a consequential threat to business health. 

Digital Transformation, AI, and Fragmented Governance

CIOs are responsible for unifying security and risk management under a single, internal domain as part of their digital transformation and convergence efforts. Yet there’s a disconnect between CIOs and the rest of the organization on how integrated operational security governance is—with 24% of CIOs claiming it’s fully integrated but only 16% of the rest of the organization say this is the case. This fragmentation may prevent business and technology leaders from obtaining a full picture of risk.

For the CIOs fitting these puzzle pieces together, AI is having a material impact on the final picture they're trying to achieve.

80% of CIOs said artificial intelligence (AI) is playing a role to varying degrees within operational environments, and 82% said AI capabilities have become a baseline requirement in cybersecurity procurement for their environments. CIOs acknowledged that while there have been largely positive impacts because of advanced technologies, there are some newly introduced risks.

AI Impact on Operations

Which of the following statements best describes your organization's overall experience with AI in operational environments?

High-Stakes Compliance in Complex, Converged Environments

Regulatory compliance programs continue to be a top driver of how CIOs plan their cybersecurity investments and strategies. There are a number of aspects of compliance that keep CIOs up at night, none lacking in complexity, as converged IT/OT environments make for a unique regulatory landscape.

• The biggest operational compliance barrier across an organization’s CPS, according to CIOs:

  • IT/OT alignment challenges: Gaps in skills‚ ownership‚ or collaboration between IT security and OT teams (42%)