Our cybersecurity predictions for 2026

**Executive Summary:** Security leaders predict that AI will remain central to cybersecurity in 2026, expanding capabilities and attack surfaces while not replacing human defenders; regulatory uncertainty (notably NIS2 adoption) and geopolitical concerns will shape vendor trust and procurement. They warn of increased risks from AI agents, machine/API identities, supply-chain targeting, and automated exploit development, and recommend prioritizing fundamentals—identity security, patching, monitoring, and visibility into AI/agent integrations—to mitigate these evolving threats.