More than 91% of companies sacrifice AI adoption of much-needed hybrid cloud security
“Observability alone is not enough,” said Manish Ranjan, Director of Software and Cloud Research at IDC. “In today’s complex IT environments, especially with distributed AI workloads, security must be embedded as a strategic pillar, supported by governance, rather than an afterthought.”
Artificial intelligence is indeed accelerating the existing security gap. Companies have seen a surge in AI-powered ransomware (from 41% in 2024 to 58% this year) and have encountered attacks specifically targeting large language models (LLMS). Mark Walmsley of Freshfields CISO warned that “AI security cannot be an afterthought”, urging businesses to adopt deep observation and rethink public cloud strategies based on statements in news reports to stay ahead of AI-driven threats.
AI security requirements
Experts say the architecture of the hybrid cloud itself helps with security mistakes. As workloads move between on-premises and public clouds, policy inconsistencies and tools dispersed can create exposure. “Mixed complexity puts responsibility for debris control,” said Hetal Presswala, CSO of an EPC company. “A unified security approach is crucial because changing protocols and silos increase the risk of misconfiguration and data leakage.”
