Cybersecurity Teams Under Pressure as AI Exposes Skills Gaps and Drives Head Count Reduction
New Barracuda Research Study Reveals 68% of Security Teams Have AI-Related Skills Gaps and 56% Report Reduced Security
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Barracuda Networks, Inc., the cyber resilience platform leader making security easy for all size business, has released the Cybersecurity Skills Gap Report showing how AI, identity-based attacks, and expanding digital operations are putting pressure on cybersecurity teams. Almost all respondents (94%) report cybersecurity skills gaps, with the most common challenges linked to AI-related risks (68%) and advanced identity and phishing threats (67%), including business email compromise, OAuth abuse, and multifactor authentication bypass.
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Barracuda’s 2026 Cybersecurity Skills Gap Report: 68% of organizations report AI-related skills gaps, while 67% say security teams are under pressure and struggling to scale.
The report from Barracuda Research is based on the findings of an international survey of 2,000 IT and security decision-makers. It also reveals that security teams are struggling to keep pace with expanding responsibilities. Half say their security professionals are expected to support growing digital operations without additional resources. Further, 40% say business expectations exceed the team’s cybersecurity skills and tooling, while 35% say expectations exceed staffing capacity. As a result, 67% say their teams are struggling to scale to meet expanding and evolving business needs, and nearly a third (32%) say they can protect the business only reactively rather than proactively.
“The findings show how the impact of AI is changing the cybersecurity landscape faster than many security teams can build the necessary skills, visibility, and governance,” said Siroui Mushegian, Senior Vice President and Chief Information Officer, Barracuda. “Organizations need to reshape their security teams, combining the power of AI and automation with human expertise, judgement, and visibility. We must nurture these critical skills in the next generation of cybersecurity professionals, building new development pathways and opportunities for hands-on experience.”
AI is Changing Roles, But Not Removing the Need for People
Most organizations (79%) report that AI is already affecting security roles or head count. More than half (56%) have experienced professional workforce reductions linked to AI, divided evenly between entry-level and more senior positions.
At the same time, organizations continue to rely on human expertise for critical decisions. More than two-thirds (69%) use a shared decision-making model in incident response, where AI supports investigation and analysis while people retain responsibility for context, judgement, and final decisions.
Reshaping Cybersecurity Careers
As organizations implement consolidated security tools and AI takes on more routine analysis and response activities, human roles are shifting toward threat investigation, incident leadership, automation governance, and business risk management.
More than half (56%) the organizations surveyed say they need additional skills and expertise in incident response, decision making under pressure, and risk. These skill shortages could deepen if organizations automating the work of entry-level roles fail to build clear development pathways for new cybersecurity professionals.
The definition of a senior security professional is broadening as well. Technical expertise remains essential, but it increasingly needs to be combined with AI literacy, identity security knowledge, governance awareness, and strong communication skills as cybersecurity becomes a board-level business issue. Six in ten 61% reported skills needs in strategic security leadership, including AI governance and translating technical risk into business impact.
Methodology
Barracuda commissioned independent research agency Arlington Research to survey 2,000 mid- to senior-level IT and security decision-makers in organizations with 100 to 2,000 employees. Respondents represented a broad range of industries in the United States, United Kingdom, France, DACH (Germany, Austria, and Switzerland), Benelux (Belgium, the Netherlands, and Luxembourg), the Nordics (Denmark, Finland, Norway, and Sweden), Australia, India, and Japan. The research examined security skills and capability challenges experienced over the previous 12 months.
About Barracuda
Barracuda is a leading global cybersecurity company delivering complete resilience made easy to buy, deploy, and use through a partner-first model. Our intelligent BarracudaONE® platform provides cyber resilience across email, identities, AI, data, applications, networks, and managed XDR within an open ecosystem. Trusted by hundreds of thousands of organizations and partners worldwide, Barracuda delivers industry-leading solutions and support, powered by people and enhanced by AI, for all sized businesses.
Barracuda Networks, Barracuda, BarracudaONE, Barracuda IQ, Bailey with the AI stars logo, and the Barracuda Networks logo are trademarks or registered trademarks of Barracuda Networks, Inc. in the U.S. and/or other countries. All other names and brands may be claimed as the property of their respective owners.
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