Cybersecurity emerges as the foremost disruptor for 2026
Cybersecurity isn’t a side conversation anymore, it’s the main agenda. According to Veeam’s latest research, nearly half (49%) of IT and business leaders say cyber threats will be their biggest disruptor in 2026. That’s not surprising. The cost of disruption from one major attack isn’t just technical downtime; it’s brand damage, legal implications, and loss of customer trust.
The biggest threats identified? Ransomware and AI-driven attacks. Ransomware remains the most cited risk, with 66% of leaders naming it a top concern. Right behind is AI-generated malicious activity at 50%. Attackers aren’t trying to break down the front door anymore, they’re automating, adapting, and scaling their attacks faster than many companies can defend against them.
If you’re a C-suite leader reading this, here’s the takeaway: cybersecurity is now a competitive differentiator. It’s no longer enough to rely on traditional firewalls and antivirus solutions. You need live defenses, dynamic systems that update in real time and learn as they operate. This includes workforce training, zero-trust architecture, and real-time response capabilities. And it needs board-level visibility, not buried in IT status reports.
Anand Eswaran, CEO of Veeam, put it plainly: “Cybersecurity and AI are today’s reality, and accelerating in 2026.” He’s right, tech complexity is increasing, but so is opportunity. Companies that invest smartly in secure, resilient architectures gain trust, reliability, and speed, all of which compound over time.
AI serves as both a technological enabler and a potential security liability
AI is moving fast, faster than most regulatory frameworks can keep up with. That’s both exciting and dangerous. In the same Veeam survey, 22% of decision-makers identified AI maturity and regulation as a major disruptor heading into 2026. Another 27% said they feel least prepared for issues tied to automation errors or misuse of AI in cyberattacks.
Here’s what that tells us: while AI is increasing productivity, automating workflows, and improving decision-making, it’s also opening new attack vectors. We’re dealing with a duality. On one hand, you can use AI to detect vulnerabilities. On the other, bad actors are using similar models to craft more targeted, efficient attacks. AI-generated phishing, voice imitation, data poisoning, these are not theoretical issues. They’re happening now.
For executives, the core issue is governance. How do you deploy AI at scale while managing its risk? Start with clear guidelines for AI usage inside the company. Support transparency across development and deployment. Monitor for unintended outcomes. And perhaps most importantly, treat AI adoption as a strategic transformation, not just an IT upgrade.
AI isn’t good or bad. It’s complex. It amplifies what’s already there. That’s why C-suites need to lead on AI ethics, resilience, and accountability. If you’re not defining how your AI operates, someone else, or something else, will do it for you.
Strengthening cybersecurity and data resilience is the top IT strategic priority
The numbers are clear. 45% of business and IT leaders surveyed by Veeam marked cybersecurity as their top initiative for 2026. In a parallel breakdown, 45% spotlighted AI and automation at scale. Either way, security and resilience are leading the agenda, well ahead of traditional priorities like customer experience or sustainability.
What does that tell us? The playing field has shifted. Companies are recognizing that sustainable growth depends on operational resilience. If your infrastructure can’t withstand a breach, recover fast, and continue operating under stress, then scale is limited. And to be clear, resilience doesn’t mean backups that sit idle. It means systems designed to detect, absorb, and bounce back from impact, immediately.
Data resilience is central here. You need to understand your critical assets, know where they are, and protect them through intelligent recovery frameworks. These initiatives intersect with cybersecurity but shouldn’t be conflated. Security is keeping threats out. Resilience is making sure the business doesn’t collapse when something breaks through.
For C-suite leaders, this is now a capital allocation question. If your 2026 priority list doesn’t include actionable investment in security infrastructure, high-availability architecture, and real-time recovery systems, then you’re exposed. Delays in prioritization lead to compounding risk. The better question isn’t whether to invest, it’s how aggressively you deploy resources to fortify your competitive foundation.
IT budgets for data protection and resilience are on an upward trajectory
Security and data resilience aren’t just strategic, they’re getting the budgets to match. Over half of the respondents in Veeam’s study expect to increase their spending on these areas in 2026. 15% project a significant upgrade in budget, while 39% are planning modest increases. That’s a strong signal: business leaders understand that risk isn’t static, and neither can security investment be.
These aren’t departments that scale with headcount. Data resilience and cybersecurity funding should be proportional to data volume, exposure level, regulatory risk, and threat surface. That means as you accelerate cloud adoption and workforce digitization, you also accelerate the urgency to harden systems, from core infrastructure to backup protocols to endpoint protection.
Still, spending alone isn’t enough. Value comes from precision, investing in the right tools, not just more tools. Leaders need visibility into which systems are mission-critical, how long downtime can be tolerated, and where the recovery gaps are. Without that clarity, rising budget lines may not translate into real-world protection.
C-suite leaders have an opportunity here: align budget increases with measurable resilience outcomes. Know what success looks like, whether that’s reducing recovery time objectives, increasing detection speed, or cutting exposure windows. The companies that do this well won’t just be secured, they’ll be structurally stronger in how they operate, scale, and respond.
Data sovereignty and compliance are shaping cloud strategy decisions
Regulations are becoming more demanding. Customers are becoming more cautious. Both are pushing C-suite leaders to rethink how they structure their cloud strategy. In Veeam’s global survey, 46% of decision-makers said data sovereignty is “extremely important” in planning. Another 30% said it’s “moderately important.” That’s three-quarters of all respondents placing high strategic weight on where data is physically and legally stored.
The shift isn’t about preference, it’s about necessity. Different regions are enforcing stricter data laws, and customers increasingly expect organizations to respect those boundaries. This growing need for compliance impacts cloud architecture, vendor relationships, and operational flexibility. The ability to control how and where data resides is no longer optional. It’s essential to governance and risk reduction.
Another concern gaining attention is vendor lock-in. 28% of respondents said data portability and minimized lock-in were “extremely important.” 35% rated them as “moderately important.” Executives are looking for more control over their cloud stack, not only for performance reasons, but to ensure agility when regulations or business priorities shift.
Pressure’s coming from the outside too. Fifty-nine percent of leaders confirmed customer expectations around data protection have either “significantly” or “somewhat” increased. That means the C-suite needs to treat data governance and sovereignty not just as compliance exercises, but also as customer experience and trust-building mandates.
Organizations face growing challenges with data visibility and recovery readiness
IT environments are expanding fast. More SaaS applications. More cloud platforms. More distributed systems. And with that scale comes fragmentation. According to Veeam’s research, 16% of leaders said multi-cloud growth has significantly reduced their visibility into where their data resides. Forty-four percent reported that visibility had been “somewhat” reduced. Only 8% said visibility improved.
The implications are significant. If you don’t know where your data lives, or which platform is responsible for which part of it, then you can’t effectively secure it. And you definitely can’t recover it at speed. Recovery readiness is where this visibility gap gets dangerous. In the event of a zero-day exploit or cloud outage, operational confidence drops fast.
Only 29% of respondents said they are “very confident” in their ability to recover critical data after a sophisticated cyberattack. When it comes to sustaining operations during a multi-day cloud provider outage, just 21% said they were “very confident.” That’s low. It shows that most companies still lack mature contingency plans tied to actual architecture, not just policies on paper.
Executives should pay close attention to these signals. Visibility needs to scale along with infrastructure. That means real-time data mapping, ownership clarity, and cross-platform monitoring. Without it, the business is flying blind, especially under pressure. Recovery ability can’t be reactive. It has to be built into daily systems, tested in real-world scenarios, and reviewed continuously. Better visibility leads to better readiness. Better readiness limits disruption.
Enhanced governance and increased accountability are essential for improved cybersecurity outcomes
Security frameworks can’t operate in isolation anymore. Stronger governance and clear accountability are becoming critical components of effective cybersecurity. In Veeam’s 2026 outlook, 41% of executives said that more accountability at the executive level would significantly boost cybersecurity and data protection. An additional 31% said the impact would be moderate. Leadership is recognizing that oversight matters, and not just from IT, but from the top down.
The demands on vendors and partners are also rising. Half of the respondents said it will be “extremely important” in 2026 for external partners to comply with their organizations’ cybersecurity standards. Another 38% agreed it will be “moderately important.” This signals a growing shift, security no longer stops at company walls. Weakness in any point of the ecosystem can directly compromise core business operations. Boards and executive teams have to start thinking beyond internal controls and begin applying the same standards across their supply chains.
Public policy is part of the discussion now. Seventy-two percent of surveyed leaders support a ban on ransomware payments, with over half expressing strong support. That tells us that leadership isn’t just waiting for regulation anymore, they’re asking for it. Executives increasingly see clear policy as a tool for reducing threat incentives and enforcing baseline standards that apply across industries.
If you’re leading a business, this is a strategic inflection point. Governance needs to become embedded in how your tech and vendor decisions are made. Proper accountability frameworks enable proactive action, faster response times, and measurable improvement in organizational risk posture. Security under pressure begins with leadership alignment and well-established responsibility.
AI is poised to enhance security incident detection and recovery, though it also introduces new risks
AI is becoming a catalytic force in security operations. According to Veeam’s research, 50% of leaders believe AI will improve their ability to detect security incidents. Another 24% expect AI to contribute to stronger data recovery outcomes. That level of optimism signals a shift toward viewing AI not just as an operational enhancer, but as a core asset in threat detection and response.
There’s merit in that view. AI can identify patterns that humans miss, particularly in massive datasets. It can automate detection of anomalies, reduce false positives, and decrease time to reaction. Those are measurable gains in a field where delay creates damage. But the same capabilities can become problems if misapplied. Eighteen percent of leaders warned that automation errors pose an emerging risk. And they’re not wrong.
Overreliance on machine-led systems without proper validation creates exposure. Misconfigured tools can miss threats or trigger inappropriate responses. Without oversight, AI amplifies risk instead of reducing it. To avoid that, AI must be implemented with governance structures, access controls, and human-in-the-loop safeguards. C-suite leaders need to understand how their AI functions, what data it consumes, and how it behaves in uncertainty.
Efficient security strategy going forward involves pairing AI capabilities with strong architectural design and continuous feedback loops. The goal isn’t just speed, it’s accuracy, adaptability, and shared intelligence between systems and teams. Leaders who optimize that balance will unlock both operational efficiency and greater resilience.
Final thoughts
Leadership in tech isn’t just about adopting the newest tools, it’s about anticipating impact, managing risk, and scaling with intent. The signals are clear. Cybersecurity is no longer just an IT problem. It’s a board-level priority. AI is no longer experimental, it’s driving real outcomes and real vulnerabilities. Data resilience isn’t a backup plan, it’s a core requirement for business continuity.
For decision-makers, the path forward isn’t complicated, it’s just non-negotiable. Invest where resilience meets intelligence. Build visibility into every layer of your infrastructure. Hold your internal teams and external partners to higher security standards. Design governance with clarity and distribute accountability to where it actually matters.
2026 will reward precision, agility, and trust. The organizations that lead on security, scale thoughtfully with AI, and stay disciplined around data governance won’t just stay ahead of threats, they’ll outperform the market.
