AI ranks first for net-new security dollars in a year budgets grew 5%

IANS and Artico Search surveyed more than 500 security executives, and 45% of them worked somewhere the security budget actually rose this year ^[2][6]. Sixty-nine percent named AI for security as the first call on net-new dollars ^[3]. Subtract one from the other and at least 24 points of the sample are putting AI first in line at organizations where the budget held flat or shrank ^[1]. The 24 points are a floor: a CISO with a growing budget can reallocate inside it too.

The tooling line gives a second size check. AI security tooling is now 3% of the average security budget on its own ^[8]. A 5% increase means this year's new money is worth about 4.8 cents of every dollar of the current budget ^[4]. The AI line alone is roughly three-fifths the size of the entire increase ^[2]. The report does not say which programs gave up the difference.

The average covers two different populations. Venture- and private-equity-backed companies and well-funded public firms kept growing security budgets aggressively and funded new AI-specific tooling, according to IANS and Artico Search ^[7]. For a CISO whose budget held flat, buying the same tooling means dropping a renewal somewhere else.

How the money is booked tracks closely with whether it shows up. About 70% of organizations that treat AI as a dedicated budget line item or subcategory reported increased AI funding. That drops to 42% where AI sits inside the security budget, and 31% where it is funded in IT, data or innovation budgets ^[10]. The dedicated-line group is running at more than twice the rate of the last one ^[6]. "The organizations seeing the greatest momentum are using business interest in AI as a lever to get resourcing for security initiatives that enable AI use," said Nick Kakolowski, senior research director at IANS ^[16].

On the staffing side, 91% of CISOs expect AI to make their teams more productive within 12 months ^[12]. Eighty-one percent expect it to create demand for new roles and skills ^[13], and 69% do not expect it to cut existing headcount ^[14]. That leaves 31% who left the possibility open ^[4]. Software is now 35% of the average budget, two points behind staff and compensation at 37% ^[8][3]. "More AI and automation embedded in security workflows has not led to massive layoffs, but it has led to the repurposing of team members and a change in hiring and resourcing," said Steve Martano, IANS Faculty and Partner at Artico Search ^[17].

The displacement reading breaks if most AI security money is already sitting in IT, data or innovation budgets: then the 5% figure measures the wrong pot and the security budget stays intact. It breaks too if 2027 lands where CISOs expect, with 64% seeing an increase and 8% a cut, 19 points more expecting growth than got it this year ^[15][7]. Then this year's substitutions turn out to be a bridge to next year's larger base. I would still take the substitution reading for the flat-budget majority, because the survey asked where net-new dollars go first and most respondents were working from a budget that stayed flat or shrank.