CEBU CITY – Asia Pacific organizations are
struggling to keep pace as cybersecurity complexity and AI-driven threats
strain their current ability to respond effectively, revealed findings of a new
study commissioned by Fortinet, the driving force in the evolution of
cybersecurity and the convergence of networking and security.
Forrester Consulting supplemented this research
with custom survey questions asked of 585 APAC decision-makers and influencers
of their organization’s cybersecurity solutions. The custom survey began and
was completed in March 2026.
“Organizations across APAC are
facing a dual challenge, rapidly evolving AI-driven threats and increasing
internal complexity. While investment remains strong, many are still struggling
to operationalize security effectively. Moving toward integrated,
platform-based approaches will be critical to improving visibility, efficiency,
and resilience,” said Amelia Lau, Forrester Consulting Project Lead.
The study highlights cybersecurity risks driven
by more advanced attackers and increasingly complex environments, and continued
investment in cybersecurity and artificial intelligence (AI).
The findings point to a clear shift toward
simplifying security architectures, improving operational efficiency, and
embedding AI into unified platforms.
It bared that 57 percent of organizations cite
AI-driven threats as a top concern, while 54 percent highlight fragmented tools
and architectures and overwhelming alert volumes.
Security operations are under pressure, with 50
percent of organizations reporting that alert volume makes it difficult to
distinguish real threats, and 48 percent still relying on manual workflows. Cybersecurity
maturity remains constrained, with 68 percent of organizations at an
intermediate stage and only 16 percent reaching advanced levels.
These findings saw a clear shift as complexity
moves beyond an operational challenge to become a core driver of cyber risk.
Shift to
platform-based security gains momentum
Organizations are accelerating their move
toward unified, platform-based security architectures. While only 20 percent
operate a unified platform today, this is expected to rise to 59 percent over
the next 12–24 months, it said.
The shift is being driven by the need to reduce
tool sprawl with 58 percent, improve integration, at 52 percent and manage
growing hybrid complexity, 49 percent. Despite
these challenges, organizations continue to prioritize improving threat
detection at 40 percent and incident response, 39 percent, underscoring the
growing gap between security expectations and operational reality.
Findings said that future priorities reflect
this transition, with organizations focusing on SOC automation, improved
visibility, and platform consolidation to enhance efficiency and scale
operations.
However, challenges remain that 51 percent cite
migration cost and disruption as barriers and 46 percent remain uncertain about
platform capabilities across domains.
Despite these concerns, findings bared that organizations expect to see
these benefits through consolidation.
It said that 90 percent of organizations expect
improvements in operational metrics, with over 60 percent anticipating gains of
at least 10 percent in areas such as detection and response times, analyst
productivity, and overall, SOC efficiency.
The findings suggest that platform-based security
is becoming an increasingly important operational approach for organizations
seeking to reduce complexity and improve efficiency.
“Customers today are dealing with increasingly
complex environments, where fragmented tools, limited visibility, and growing
alert volumes are making it harder to detect and respond to threats effectively,”
according to Bambi Escalante, Country Manager, Fortinet Philippines.
Escalante added that at the same time, these
organizations are looking to leverage AI to improve speed and efficiency but
often lack the integrated foundation to do so.
AI
Investment surges, but readiness and integration lag
AI is emerging as both a growing threat vector
and a critical enabler of defense, 91 percent of organizations plan to increase
AI budgets, with over half expecting double-digit growth. More than 60 percent
expect AI to improve detection accuracy, accelerate response, and strengthen
overall security posture.
Organizations also see AI as key to reducing
complexity, with 58 percent expecting consistent policy enforcement, 57 percent
centralized control, and 56 percent reduced manual workflows.
However, readiness gaps persist: Fragmented
environments, limited automation, and lack of unified data are hindering
effective AI adoption and many organizations are still building the
foundational capabilities required to operationalize AI at scale.
This underscores that realizing AI’s potential
in security operations depends heavily on having integrated environments and
unified data foundations in place.
“At Fortinet, we are helping organizations
simplify their security architecture and strengthen resilience through a
unified, platform-based approach that brings together visibility, automation,
and AI-driven intelligence,” Escalante said.
According to Rashish Pandey, VP of Marketing
and Communications, APAC, Fortinet, organizations are placing significant
expectations on AI to transform security operations, from improving detection
to accelerating response. However, AI can only deliver meaningful outcomes when
it is built on an integrated foundation.
“Without unified visibility and connected data
across environments, AI risks amplifying complexity rather than reducing it.
Integration is what enables AI to operate at scale and deliver real security
impact,” Pandey said.
