AI adoption creates cybersecurity blind spots for UK CIOs

Logicalis has reported that AI adoption is creating cybersecurity blind spots for UK organisations, according to its latest survey of chief information officers.

The research suggests security teams are struggling to keep pace as businesses roll out AI more widely. Some 41% of UK CIOs said AI had worsened incident response times, while 35% said it had reduced their organisation’s ability to detect breaches and cyberattacks effectively. Another 34% said AI had created new cybersecurity blind spots.

The findings highlight a gap between the pace of AI deployment and the controls many companies have in place to manage it. Businesses have moved beyond early trials and proof-of-concept work, but oversight of how AI is being used appears less mature.

Visibility is one of the clearest concerns. Just 37% of CIOs said they had full visibility of all the AI tools and services used across their organisation, leaving most without a complete picture of where the technology has been deployed.

That lack of oversight is compounded by weaker governance. Nearly two-thirds of respondents, or 62%, said they had compromised or relaxed AI governance standards because of limited knowledge or capability within their organisation.

Control gap

For many companies, the issue is no longer whether to adopt AI, but how to retain control as its use spreads across business functions. As AI systems become embedded in enterprise technology environments, security teams must monitor a broader, more complex mix of tools, services and workflows.

Mike Fry, Infrastructure, Data & Security Solutions Director at Logicalis UKI, described that challenge in the report. “AI is introducing a new level of complexity into enterprise environments and security teams are being asked to manage risks that are evolving just as quickly as the technology itself. As organisations embed AI more deeply into their operations, maintaining visibility and control becomes significantly more challenging, particularly if governance frameworks, skills and oversight are not evolving at the same pace,” he said.

The data suggests this is not only a technical problem. It also reflects organisational behaviour, including how staff adopt new tools and whether companies establish clear accountability for their use. In practice, AI can spread faster than policies, training and security processes are updated.

Many organisations are now trying to scale AI across the enterprise, changing the nature of the risk. When use is limited to small pilots, oversight may be simpler. Once adoption broadens, gaps in inventory, policy and monitoring become harder to close.

Fry said the figures point to a wider management challenge. “We are well beyond the proof of concept stage with AI. When only a third of organisations have full visibility of AI usage, it’s a clear sign that this is no longer just a technology challenge; it’s a cultural one. Most organisations are now trying to scale AI, but without the right behaviours, accountability and oversight in place, visibility quickly breaks down,” he said.

Governance strain

The survey adds to a broader debate in the UK technology sector about how companies govern AI once it moves into day-to-day operations. CIOs are increasingly expected to support deployment, manage risk and ensure security teams can still respond effectively when incidents occur.

For many organisations, the findings suggest a mismatch between board-level ambition for AI and operational readiness in IT and security. If incident response slows and breach detection becomes harder, the challenge is not simply one of efficiency. It is also one of resilience and accountability.

Logicalis argued that as AI is industrialised across enterprise environments, visibility and governance become harder to maintain. That is especially relevant where multiple teams procure or use AI tools independently, or where oversight frameworks have not been updated in line with adoption.

Fry said the focus now needs to shift towards security and control. “As AI systems become more embedded and autonomous, the role of the CIO is evolving rapidly. Success will depend not just on deploying AI, but on building the organisational discipline, accountability and expertise needed to manage it securely at scale,” he said.