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ANALYSIS
As board-level focus on cybersecurity grows, understanding of AI impact lags
When it comes to the board of directors’ understanding of cybersecurity’ s role, the report revealed:
• Cybersecurity prioritisation at the board level is on the rise, with 76 % of boards increasing their focus on the issue in 2024. Nearly all organisations now view cybersecurity as both a business( 96 %) and financial( 95 %) priority.
• Board members are less aware of the potential risks that AI use poses to their organisations. Fewer than half( 49 %) of all respondents indicated their boards fully understand the risks posed by AI, with awareness closely linked to whether their organisations are already deploying AI in their cybersecurity programmes.
Upskilling remains a focus in addressing the skills gap
As the cyberskills shortage persists, other key findings from the report include:
• Certifications continue to be highly valued by employers. Eighty-nine percent of IT decision-makers prefer to hire candidates who hold certifications. Most respondents said certifications validate cybersecurity knowledge( 67 %), demonstrate an ability to stay current in a fast-evolving field( 61 %) and indicate familiarity with key vendor tools( 56 %).
• Organisational support for funding certifications has declined. Only 73 % of respondents now say they are willing to pay for employees to obtain certifications, down from 89 % in 2023.
About the Fortinet Skills Gap Survey
• The survey was conducted among over 1,850 IT and cybersecurity decisionmakers from 29 different countries and locations.
• Respondents come from a range of industries, including technology( 22 %), manufacturing( 16 %) and financial services( 12 %).
Closing the skills gap is critical to business resilience
The 2025 Cybersecurity Skills Gap Report makes clear that cybersecurity has become a board-level priority, driven by the rise of AI and the escalating risks to business operations. Closing the global skills gap remains essential. Organisations must rethink hiring practices, tap into underutilised talent pools and invest in training and upskilling to build and retain the expertise they need.
This requires a co-ordinated approach grounded in three key pillars: raising awareness and education, expanding access to targeted training and certification, and embracing advanced security technologies.
To help organisations address these challenges, the award-winning Fortinet Training Institute, one of the industry’ s broadest training and certification programmes, is dedicated to making cybersecurity certification and new career opportunities available to all populations, including a Security Awareness Training service for organisations to develop a cyber-aware workforce.
The Security Awareness and Training service offers AI-focused modules to enhance understanding of AI and the role it plays in cybersecurity, including an introduction to GenAI and curriculum around AI-powered threats, covering the various methods that cybercriminals use when harnessing AI to create and enhance cyberattacks.
Additionally, as part of Fortinet’ s commitment to addressing this growing challenge, Fortinet is on track to train one million people in cybersecurity around the world by the end of 2026, since setting that pledge in 2021.
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