A lack of digital maturity is holding Australian businesses back from realizing the benefits of AI for cybersecurity, according to ManageEngine, an IT security, operations, and service management software firm.
Ramprakash Ramamoorthy, head of AI research at Zoho Corporation and ManageEngine, told TechRepublic that many local businesses are having difficulties achieving a return on investment from AI. Digital maturity, he explained, is the key to unlocking AI-driven benefits, such as automated detection and response as well as the rapid upskilling of cybersecurity staff.
AI’s ROI impacted by digital maturity
Disconnection between systems and departments has made AI return on investment hard to achieve.
Ramamoorthy added, “The trend we have observed is … give the same AI stack to three different companies, they will have three very different return on investments, three very different experiences from AI.”
Part of the problem is that Australian businesses often have an “inter-departmental digital divide” — meaning some departments are highly digitized, while others are not, creating significant disconnection between departments.
“This inter-departmental digital divide is one of the bigger reasons AI is not effective, and so we generally say digital maturity is the first step to attaining AI maturity,” Ramamoorthy said.
Digital maturity: The foundation for achieving returns from AI
Ramamoorthy said that many Australian businesses are struggling with a lack of digital maturity. The team at ManageEngine defines digital maturity across businesses as:
- Having streamlined processes.
- Having streamlined business data.
- Investing in existing rule-based automation.
Organizations that streamline processes and data and implement rules-based automation can achieve a level of digital maturity that enables AI to leverage data and processes holistically rather than in silos.
Cyber security operations improve with complete data visibility
The benefits of AI for cybersecurity flow from being able to see and interpret data across the organization, Ramamoorthy said.
AI’s key advantage for cybersecurity lies in its ability to identify deviations from what has been established through data as normal system or user behavior.
AI will bring productivity to cyber teams in digitally mature businesses
Ramamoorthy expects cybersecurity teams will become more productive with AI, noting that the technology will help businesses train or upskill new employees.
AI will recommend next-best actions
Ramamoorthy believes cybersecurity as a discipline may not opt for complete automated remediation.
AI agents making decisions could be next step in cybersecurity
The next two to three years will see the adoption of AI agents within cybersecurity, Ramamoorthy said.