AI amplifies cyberthreats across industries
Artificial intelligence is accelerating faster than most enterprise security systems can keep up. That’s the reality. It’s not just a boost to productivity and process optimization, it’s a double-edged system that attackers are now using more effectively than ever. When your adversary suddenly gets smarter, faster, and harder to detect, your defense strategy has to move just as fast, or faster.
This is where the role of the CIO is changing. It’s not just about uptime or tech efficiency anymore, it’s about protecting the infrastructure that carries the business. As attack surfaces expand, CIOs are stepping into the frontlines of cyber defense, shaping strategies along with CISOs and CTOs. The goal? Make security proactive and structural, not reactive. Teams need to understand how AI is actually being used in the real world, not just how it could be. Because while media narratives focus heavily on theoretical AI disasters, the actual threat is rooted in an ever-faster escalation of breaches being designed, tested, and launched with help from AI right now.
Allie Mellen, Principal Analyst at Forrester, made a strong point. She said CIOs play a critical role in executing the security measures proposed by cyber teams. It’s also their job to bring awareness company-wide. If leadership doesn’t understand what modern attacks look like, they assume legacy protections are good enough. They aren’t. It’s on leadership to push for clarity upstream and maintain precision in organizational decisions.
The good news? This threat isn’t unsolvable. The right mix of leadership, smart deployment, and clear understanding of AI’s practical, and probable, use in attacks can keep organizations ahead. You don’t need to chase every hypothetical threat, but you do need to move quickly on what’s already happening.
According to Trellix, nearly 90% of CISOs today say AI-powered attacks pose a major risk. That figure alone should signal that it’s not a niche concern, it’s the new standard for threat evolution. You don’t address that with policy docs and quarterly meetings. You address it with direct coordination across C-levels, fast decision-making, and a tech infrastructure that evolves in real-time. That’s how you stay ahead.
Heightened vulnerability in the healthcare sector
Healthcare is now one of the most targeted sectors in cybersecurity, and there’s no end in sight. The reason is straightforward: healthcare systems handle a massive volume of personal and medical data. That data is valuable. Criminals know it, and they’re using AI to breach systems faster and more precisely. If your organization operates in or adjacent to healthcare, this isn’t just an IT concern, it’s a business-critical threat.
AI changes the threat equation. Instead of blunt attacks, we’re seeing smart, adaptive intrusions. These aren’t random shots. They’re calculated. Josh Glandorf, CIO at UC San Diego Health, said it plainly: “Cyber is a huge problem for us, and AI pours gasoline on that fire.” To counter this, they’ve expanded their cybersecurity portfolio and started using AI-enabled tools like CrowdStrike Falcon to spot and shut down attacks before real damage is done. That’s a smart, rapid shift toward autonomous defense capabilities grounded in real-time detection.
Still, there’s a cost tradeoff. Glandorf was honest about the reality of budget limits. He explained that while it’s technically possible to invest most of the IT budget into security, doing so would grind other operations to a stop, nobody wants a secure hospital that’s unusable. This is the core issue many CIOs in sensitive industries face. You don’t get a blank check, and you can’t afford disruption.
Leadership in this space means understanding operational risk and balancing it against innovation. You still need budget for new systems, upgrades, and digital tools that improve care delivery, especially in an environment where expectations around patient experience are rising.
The numbers reinforce the urgency. According to the HIPAA Journal, over 6,000 breaches involving 500 or more health records were reported between 2009 and 2024. In 2024 alone, 275 million individuals had their personal health information exposed or stolen. That’s not hypothetical. That’s volume, happening now.
Executives in healthcare and beyond need to be clear on this: AI isn’t just enhancing your capabilities, it’s enhancing those of your attackers too. The solution is calculated investment, real collaboration between CIOs, CISOs, and CTOs, and a board that understands the real, not theoretical, cost of inaction. If you’re not adapting your strategy to these realities, you’re exposing your organization to preventable risk.
The rise of AI-enhanced phishing and email compromise attacks
Phishing used to be easy to spot, poor grammar, foreign domains, broken formatting. Not anymore. Attackers are now using AI to craft emails that closely mimic legitimate messages. The language is cleaner. The context feels right. And most important, the targets are now carefully selected. That’s a serious escalation, and it’s already happening.
The fastest-growing threat right now is business email compromise (BEC). In 2024, 73% of all reported cyber incidents were BEC-related, a 44% jump compared to 2023, according to Eye Security. That alone should push this higher on every boardroom agenda. It’s not theoretical, and you can’t dismiss it as a legacy problem. Add to that: VIPRE Security Group analyzed 1.8 billion emails and found that 40% of business compromise emails were AI-generated. Not cloned. Generated.
Andrew Marshall, Executive Vice President and CIO at Campus Apartments, pointed out that although the majority of incoming threats still lack sophistication, he’s seeing a growing percentage, around 10%—that are highly advanced. That’s the early phase of an upward trend that won’t slow down. AI phishing is scaling quickly, and each month it becomes harder to filter and detect.
Marshall also highlighted what many overlook: your systems can only do so much. If an employee scans a compromised QR code or clicks one wrong link, the best firewall in the world won’t stop damage that’s already inside. That’s why they’ve made cybersecurity training monthly. They don’t just train, they tie it to bonuses. When employees see that cybersecurity efforts affect something they value, behavior changes.
This is where executive focus makes a real difference. Technical investments are expected. What’s often underappreciated is how much power culture holds in strengthening security from the inside. Training is not a checkbox. It’s a constant investment in awareness. Getting people to report something that “doesn’t feel right” is one of the few cost-effective ways to stay ahead of socially engineered, AI-powered attacks.
If you want to keep defenses real, this has to stay personal. Involvement at the executive level signals to employees that cybersecurity isn’t outsourced to IT, it’s part of company-wide accountability. The speed, sophistication, and volume of these attacks will keep increasing. Leadership can’t afford to lag behind.
The enduring importance of fundamental cybersecurity measures
Despite rapid advances in AI-driven threats, the fundamentals of cybersecurity remain non-negotiable. The core controls, multifactor authentication, zero-trust frameworks, strong password policies, and consistent employee training, still form the baseline for effective enterprise security. These aren’t outdated tools. They’re critical fail-safes that continue to block the vast majority of known attack methods.
Complex problems don’t always need complicated solutions. Attackers often exploit gaps in the basics, weak credentials, untrained employees, or outdated access privileges. That’s why organizations that execute core cybersecurity measures consistently almost always outperform those chasing trend-based defense frameworks without clean fundamentals. It’s not about building something flashy. It’s about reducing risk where the data tells you those risks are most exposed.
Allie Mellen, Principal Analyst at Forrester, made the point clearly: “Time and time again, it comes back to doing the basics well because it’s just so incredibly difficult.” It’s not lack of awareness, it’s lack of consistency. Companies spend too much energy debating advanced tools while skipping foundational security steps, where most of the avoidable damage occurs.
From the C-suite’s perspective, this is a leadership issue, not just a technical one. These basics have to be implemented across the board, not just within IT teams. That means budgets must support structured enforcement. Policies must be followed company-wide. And training can’t come once a year, it has to reflect the pace of today’s threat landscape.
You don’t need to invest in everything. But you do need to make sure the basics are not just present, they’re executed. Consistently. That’s how you eliminate predictable failure points and create a stable foundation for rapid defense upgrades when circumstances demand it.
As AI-powered cyber threats become more dynamic, your team’s ability to rely on clean, enforced security fundamentals will determine how fast you can respond, without introducing new risk. That’s how you improve resilience without slowing down growth. You don’t win by reacting to everything. You win by executing what works, without gaps.
Key takeaways for leaders
- AI is reshaping cyber risk at scale: Leaders should align CIOs, CISOs, and CTOs to tackle AI-driven attacks strategically, focusing on real-time threat modeling over hypothetical scenarios to maintain infrastructure resilience.
- Healthcare faces elevated exposure: Healthcare CIOs must prioritize AI-based detection tools in their security stack, while balancing funding to avoid compromising system usability or innovation roadmaps.
- Email compromise tactics are evolving fast: Executives should enforce routine, incentivized employee training as AI-generated phishing becomes harder to detect and now accounts for a growing share of incidents.
- Foundational security practices win over time: Maintaining strong execution of basic cybersecurity measures remains essential, as they help reduce the majority of known vulnerabilities despite evolving threats.
