Your next cybersecurity breach could be about skills
Global cybersecurity spending continues to climb, particularly in finance, healthcare, and tech, yet a growing reality is emerging: the next breach may not stem from technology alone - it could come from skills gaps
Cybersecurity is more than a back-office concern for business. It’s evolved from a risk to a strategic growth driver. Investors, executives, and CIOs are all feeling the pressure to function as threats multiply. And as AI accelerates change, VCs are responding. Data security deals have surged 420% quarter over quarter, while network security, the backbone of business connectivity, has seen deal values rise more than 250%, fuelled by tech mergers and acquisitions. Investors and VCs are no longer chasing tools; they’re looking for cybersecurity solutions that deliver high value and sustainable growth.
A closer look at a recent VC investment heatmap by Pitchbook shows how AI is reshaping cybersecurity from Q2 2025:
- AI protection has led the way with $393M in deal values.
- There’s a 163% YoY increase, showing strong investor confidence in AI-driven security applications.
- Data protection and encryption dominate with a total value of $2.6B, up 255% YoY, highlighting enterprise demand for advanced AI-enabled data security.
- Endpoints, antiphishing platforms, and cloud workloads reflect early-stage opportunities for AI integration in application security and operational workflows.
What these trends underscore is that AI is no longer theoretical. It’s actively shaping security applications, investment priorities, and the skills organisations need to deploy them effectively.
Global cybersecurity spending continues to climb, particularly in finance, healthcare, and tech, yet a growing reality is emerging: the next breach may not stem from technology alone – it could come from skills gaps. This raises critical questions for businesses: where should they invest, how must IT leaders evolve, and what talent strategies are required to stay ahead of cyber threats?
CEO Priorities and Cybersecurity
According to a recent Gartner Survey, 85% of CEOs see cybersecurity as critical for business growth; 61% are concerned about AI-related cyber risks, as the C-suite understands the rising risks: escalating threats, tightening global privacy regulations, and rapid AI-driven innovation have made advanced security a top priority. Layered network defences are no longer a nice-to-have; they’re essential.
CEOs are increasingly framing cybersecurity investment as a growth enabler, not just a defensive measure. But there are concerns with how quickly things are changing and how businesses can keep up. For example, new Microsoft research shows that 71% of UK employees have used unapproved AI tools at work. The rise of Shadow AI creates new security and privacy risks, yet the same report points to huge productivity gains. What Shadow AI illustrates is both the upside of efficiency and the downside of uncontrolled risk.
So how do leaders balance the pros and cons? Expertise. The answer lies in hiring and developing talent that understands both the power and the pitfalls of AI. People who can innovate responsibly while keeping the business secure.
Whether investing in cybersecurity or evolving internal systems, it’s not just about the tools anymore; it’s about the skills and people that power them.
CIO challenges and strategic imperatives
As we look to the CIO, we see unprecedented pressure to align IT with broader business objectives. According to Gartner’s 2025 CIO report, leaders are wrestling with growth optimisation, leveraging data and AI and modernising application portfolios, alongside the all-important cost control.
Yet 62% of strategy leaders report that legacy IT models are insufficient to meet future goals, and only 26% of CIOs consider themselves experts at balancing cost, value and risk at an enterprise level.
This gap underscores the need for CIOs to be able to shift from task-focused execution to decision-oriented leadership. Running IT as a business, not a back-office function.
The right talent for Cyber Security and business success
Meeting all these challenges requires more than technology; it demands the right talent.
Effective CIOs and CEOs are prioritising workforce strategy, from hiring cybersecurity and AI specialists to upskilling existing teams. Aligning IT capabilities with business growth means building a workforce that can implement advanced solutions safely and efficiently, ensuring that technology investments translate directly into competitive advantage and organisational resilience.
Companies that invest in cybersecurity talent see measurable reductions in breach costs and faster incident response.
Workforce planning is inseparable from cybersecurity strategy
With talent acquisition and retention emerging as critical differentiators, initiative-taking organisations are building internal security centres of excellence, leveraging specialist contractors for AI-driven security roles, and embedding cybersecurity into employer branding to attract and retain top talent. By aligning skills development with strategic security priorities, businesses can turn their workforce into a competitive advantage while mitigating evolving.
Our teams see firsthand how AI-driven threats are evolving. Having the right talent is no longer optional; it’s strategic. Building future-ready roles ensures that cybersecurity becomes an enabler, not a blocker, for business growth – Ricci Putnam, Chief Growth Officer, Salt
Cybersecurity is no longer peripheral; it’s central to growth, investment, and workforce strategy. At Salt, we don’t just help with hiring, we develop workforce strategies that build future-ready roles and shape the teams’ organisations.
Workforce Planning with Salt: Turning Cybersecurity into a growth engine
- Know your cybersecurity skills gaps: Identify where your cybersecurity capabilities and talent fall short, before they become business risks.
- Connect strategy to execution: Ensure IT, security, and workforce plans align with CEO priorities and business objectives.
- Invest in the future: Build teams ready for tomorrow by combining the right people, AI, and platforms. Protecting growth while driving innovation.
With Salt, it’s not just hiring, it’s designing the workforce that powers secure, sustainable business success.
