Fortinet, the global cybersecurity provider driving the convergence of networking and security, has found that AI has moved beyond hype to become a critical enabler of speed, accuracy, and scale in security operations. A 2025 IDC survey, commissioned by Fortinet, highlight that AI is now shaping hiring priorities and investment strategies, and is the architecture of modern cybersecurity teams for organisations across Singapore.
According to the study, AI is transforming both sides of the cybersecurity equation. For defenders, it offers the potential to automate detection, accelerate response, and scale threat intelligence with unprecedented speed. But the same capabilities are now being leveraged by attackers, who are using AI to launch stealthier, faster, and more adaptive attacks.
The IDC research shows that nearly 56% of organisations across Singapore say they have encountered AI-powered cyberthreats in the past year. Of those, 52% reported a 2X increase and 42% reported a 3X increase in threat volume. These attacks are harder to detect and often exploit blind spots in visibility, governance, and internal processes.
AI is no longer a future consideration; it's an operational reality. More than eight out of 10 organisations across Singapore are already using AI in their security environment. Organisations are rapidly progressing from AI-powered detection to more advanced use cases such as automated response, predictive threat modelling, AI-driven incident response, AI-powered threat intelligence, and behavioural analytics. These top five use cases reflect how detection has become table stakes, while response, prediction, and orchestration are now the next frontier.
Generative AI (gen AI) is also gaining traction, with adoption focused on light-touch tasks such as running playbooks, updating rules and policies, social engineering detection, writing detection rules, and guided investigations. However, trust in autonomous action remains limited. Use cases like auto-remediation and guided remediation are not widely deployed, signalling that we are still in the "co-pilot" phase of adoption.
The shift toward AI-first cybersecurity is also reshaping how teams are built. Across Singapore, the top five cybersecurity roles in demand include security data scientists, threat intelligence analysts, AI security engineers, AI security researchers, and AI-specific incident response professionals. Organisations have gone from merely deploying AI tools to building their cybersecurity teams around AI capabilities. This reflects a broader trend where the workforce is rapidly evolving to match the pace of technological adoption.
Cybersecurity budgets are trending upward, with nearly 86% of organisations reporting an increase. However, the vast majority of these increases were modest, 68% reported an uplift of less than 5%, and only 18% saw increases between 5–10%. This suggests that while budgets are growing, spending remains focused on covering rising operational and talent costs. Organisations appear to be carefully prioritising how and where these limited increases are deployed. The top five areas of investment over the next 12–18 months include identity security, network security, SASE/Zero Trust, cyber resilience, and cloud-native application protection, indicating a strategic shift from infrastructure-heavy spending toward more targeted, risk-centric priorities that reflect the evolving threat landscape. Teams Remain Under-Resourced and Overwhelmed
While cybersecurity is gaining executive attention, many teams remain under-resourced and lack dedicated focus. Only 6% of an organisation's total workforce is allocated to internal IT, and just 13% of that is focused on cybersecurity. Fewer than one in six organisations have a standalone CISO, and only 6% have purpose-built teams handling security operations and threat hunting.
This lack of specialisation is impacting performance. More than half of the respondents cited an overwhelming surge in threats, with additional pressures from tool sprawl and talent retention challenges. Execution suffers as teams struggle with burnout and complexity, reinforcing the need for smarter resourcing models.
As complexity grows, organisations are shifting toward unified cybersecurity frameworks that deliver end-to-end visibility, operational efficiency, and simplified management. Nearly all respondents (96%) are either converging security and networking or evaluating how to do so. In addition, consolidation is no longer viewed as just a cost-cutting measure; it's seen as a strategic necessity. Seven in 10 respondents are actively considering vendor consolidation, driven by benefits like faster support, cost savings, better integration, and improved security posture.
Simon Piff, Research VP, IDC Asia-Pacific, said: “The findings of this survey reflect the growing maturity of cybersecurity across the region. Organisations are no longer experimenting with AI, they are embedding it across threat detection, incident response, and team design. This signals a new era of security operations that is smarter, faster, and more adaptive to the evolving risk landscape. AI is fundamentally reshaping how threats are identified, prioritised, and acted upon, and this evolution demands a parallel shift in cybersecurity strategy and talent.”
Jess Ng, Country Head, Singapore and Brunei, Fortinet said: “CISOs across Singapore are entering a more advanced phase of cybersecurity planning—one where AI is not just augmenting defences but influencing how organisations structure teams, allocate budgets, and prioritise threats. At Fortinet, we are helping customers embrace this shift by embedding AI across the platform, enabling faster detection, smarter responses, and more resilient operations as cyber risks become more complex and distributed. As this complexity grows, so does the need for converged, intelligent, and adaptive security models that can keep pace.”
*IDC surveyed 550 IT and security leaders across 11 Asia-Pacific markets, including Australia, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, South Korea, Thailand, the Philippines, Vietnam, Hong Kong, and New Zealand, between February and April 2025. Eighty-eight percent (88%) of respondents represent organisations with over 250 employees and are directly involved in cybersecurity decision-making. The findings are published in an IDC Info Snapshot, sponsored by Fortinet: State of Cybersecurity in Asia/Pacific: From Constant Risk to Platform-Driven Resilience, August 2025, IDC Doc ##AP242530IB.
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