As industrial systems grow more connected and intelligent, so too do the risks surrounding them. This edition of Industry Signals focuses on the idea that cybersecurity is foundational to industrial resilience. From safeguarding IP to securing operational technology and evaluating AI’s role in enterprise defense, we need to think beyond tools and toward systemic, forward-looking strategies.
The insights gathered here reflect a shifting landscape in which infrastructure, governance, and organizational readiness are just as critical as the technologies in play. Whether it’s real-time threat detection, converged IT/OT protection, or embedding trust into AI deployments, the future requires deeper integration and stronger alignment across all levels of the enterprise.
Security teams are adopting generative AI and other AI tools at increased speed, but there are widening gaps in trust, oversight, and measurable impact in the process. The findings in this survey highlight both the promise and pitfalls of operationalizing AI in cybersecurity contexts. Key Points:
- Adoption is accelerating across security functions: More organizations are integrating AI into workflows, though maturity levels vary.
- Generative AI introduces new risk vectors: The use of LLMs and similar models raises questions around data leakage, model integrity, and adversarial manipulation.
- Challenges in oversight and trust persist: Many teams struggle to establish governance, auditability, and clarity on model behavior.
- Gap between experimentation and outcomes: While many security groups have piloted AI, fewer report clearly tied improvements in outcomes or metrics.
- Strategic roles of AI are evolving: AI is moving from tactical support (e.g. triage, detection) toward broader strategic uses, but that shift brings complexity.
WEF’s Global Cybersecurity Outlook 2025: Complexity, Inequity & the Rising Stakes for Resilience The Global Cybersecurity Outlook 2025 frames cyberspace as an escalating landscape of complexity, driven by geopolitical tension, evolving threats, and technology interdependencies. It also warns that widening disparities in resilience are increasingly destabilizing the digital ecosystem. Key Points:
- Cyber complexity is amplifying risk: Intersecting forces such as emerging technologies, regulatory fragmentation, supply chain interdependencies, and geopolitical volatility are compounding cyber risk in unpredictable ways.
- Cyber inequity is widening: Smaller organizations and public‑sector entities lag in cyber resilience, while larger institutions pull ahead, deepening the divide in preparedness.
- Supply chains are a critical vulnerability: Over half of large organizations cite supply chain risk as the leading barrier to cyber resilience due to lack of visibility, insecure third parties, and cascading failure modes.
- AI is a double‑edged sword: While 66% of organizations expect AI to reshape cybersecurity, only about 37% have processes in place to vet AI’s security implications, creating a gap between aspiration and safe adoption.
- Regulation and workforce deficits strain resilience: Fragmented global cybersecurity mandates intensify the compliance burden, while a widening skills gap impairs organizations’ ability to absorb and respond to risk.
Siemens’ Keeping Your IP Safe in a Connected World: Building Layered Defenses for Secure, Collaborative Innovation Protecting electronic design IP in today’s connected, collaborative environment demands a layered security architecture, strict access governance, compliance with international standards, and a resilient organizational mindset. Key Points:
- Layered security is essential: Physical controls (access badges, surveillance, secure workspaces) must combine with digital measures (encryption, secure boot, authentication) to form a cohesive, resilient defense.
- Least privilege and role-based access controls (RBAC) limit exposure: Ensuring users only access what they must, and regularly reviewing those permissions, helps contain risk.
- Protecting data integrity with audit trails and versioning: Digital signatures, version control, and tamper-evident logs enable detection and recovery from unauthorized changes.
- Incident preparedness and culture matter most: No system is infallible; organizations must embed security into training, incident response plans, and continuous learning.
Building Resilience Through AI, Telemetry and Infrastructure-aware Design: Siemens’ New Class of OT Cybersecurity Article A new approach to OT cybersecurity is emerging: treating security as a real-time, data-driven capability built into the core of industrial operations. This evolving model emphasizes deep telemetry, AI-powered threat detection, and architectural convergence between IT and OT systems.
Key Points:
- Security is becoming embedded at the infrastructure layer: A shift toward modular, data center–like architectures enables continuous protection and scalability in industrial environments.
- Real-time threat detection is now operationally essential: AI-driven monitoring across devices and networks supports earlier, more precise response to cyber threats.
- Telemetry is the new visibility: Rich, high-frequency data capture across systems is enabling new insights into anomalous activity and risk patterns.
- IT and OT security must now operate as one: The lines between operational and enterprise networks are increasingly blurred, demanding unified cybersecurity strategies.
- Industrial resilience depends on design, not just defense: A proactive, integrated security posture is critical to sustaining trust and uptime in connected operations.
For a deeper look at how cybersecurity is evolving as a foundational element of digital industry, you may also want to explore Siemens’ perspective on the future of cyber defense in industrial systems. Across design, operations, and strategy, cybersecurity must be reimagined as a dynamic, enterprise-wide capability. Organizations must architect resilience from the ground up, pairing robust infrastructure with intelligent governance and a culture of continuous vigilance. As the scope of industrial risk expands, so must shift our approach to managing it with speed, clarity, and confidence.
That’s a wrap for this edition of Industry Signals. Have a report, use case, or event you'd like to see featured in an upcoming issue? Send a note via PM. We’re always looking to spotlight what’s shaping the future of industry and find recommendations from the Xcelerator Community especially valuable. Your insights and experiences continually shape Industry Signals.
