mmuta , a data security leader ,

The findings indicate that adoption and use of AI tools is high across organisations , however , many are concerned about the impacts AI will have on their larger data security strategy . Only half of the respondents say their organisation ’ s data security strategy is keeping up with AI ’ s rate of evolution . What ’ s more , despite AI ’ s recent boom , implementing stronger data governance and security controls will be a higher priority for data teams in 2024 . When asked what significant initiatives their company is taking on in the next 12 months , 80 % of respondents said their top priorities were data

security related initiatives – such as implementing stronger data governance and security controls and modernising data architectures with new concepts like data mesh – while only 20 % noted integrating AI into business processes will be a top priority .

Other key findings from the report include :

AI sparks excitement and security risks for data professionals

The rapid evolution of AI and Machine Learning ( ML ) has spurred both excitement and concern across organisations . According to the report , employees are already leveraging these tools to increase productivity and streamline processes within their roles . Nearly nine-out-of-10 ( 88 %) data professionals note their employees are using AI and many data professionals are confident AI will help them become better at things like anomaly detection ( 44 %) and phishing attack identification ( 46 %).

At the same time , many are concerned about the broader security impacts AI will have on their organisation . More than half of respondents ( 56 %) cite the exposure of sensitive data via an AI prompt as their greatest area of concern . This trepidation reinforces the need for AI-specific security strategies and policies so organisations can confidently and securely utilise the technologies and also launch AI models at scale .

Data governance and compliance are top priorities

Although AI is top of mind for data professionals across every sector , trust , security and compliance are still leading

organisational priorities . Nearly all ( 88 %) data leaders believe data security will become an even higher priority in the next 12 months , ahead of AI . With 80 % of data professionals indicating that their data protection capabilities are better than they were a year ago , it ’ s likely budgets and resources will increase as data security continues to be a growing priority for business leaders amid today ’ s evolving threat landscape .

Collaboration : A vital element of data security

According to the report , there is no clear owner of data security across organisations . Respondents indicated that the job title most commonly accountable for data security is Data Privacy or Security Manager ( 19 %), or CTO ( 15 %). However , numerous other roles were also noted as being responsible for data security . This lack of ownership creates challenges around managing security collaboratively , which leads to teams operating in silos and insecure deployments .

Data access is still a major security challenge

Data access remains a major security obstacle for teams : 33 % of respondents cited a lack of visibility into data sharing and usage as their biggest security challenge and that they have missed business opportunities as a result .

Similarly , 56 % note that data security processes slow down access to data , meaning that over half of organisations are sacrificing some level of data-driven value for essential security outcomes – trading agility for trust and compliance . u

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