Four years after the public debut of ChatGPT, the cybersecurity landscape has entered a new phase—where AI is no longer just a tool, but a battleground.
The 2026 SANS AI Research Survey explores this unprecedented duality: the same generative AI technologies empowering defenders are equally leveraged by attackers. Security teams are now tasked with using AI to secure systems while simultaneously defending against AI-driven threats.
In this exclusive event, we reveal key findings from the latest SANS research, diving into the real-world tactics, struggles, and successes organizations face as they draw from this shared AI wellspring.
What You’ll Learn
- How many teams have actually deployed AI in security operations?
- Which use cases show results, and which have underdelivered?
- Budget, staffing, and training trends for AI integration
- Real-world examples of AI-enhanced attacks seen in the wild
- Which defense strategies have succeeded (and failed) against them?
- Patterns in attacker behavior powered by generative AI
- Confidence levels in AI-generated decisions during threat detection and response
- False positive rates, automation hesitations, and decision overruling
- Human-AI collaboration friction points
- How organizations balance investment between AI for defense and AI risk mitigation
- Strategic shifts in response to evolving attacker capabilities
2026 SANS AI Survey Insights: Poisoned Wells and Pure Springs: Drawing Security and Compromise from the Same AI Source
Report
This paper unveils findings from the 2026 SANS AI Research Survey, examining how organizations use AI for both security defense and offense as attackers increasingly weaponize the same technologies.
