Navigating AI-Driven Security While Optimizing the Customer Experiences: What Decision-Makers Need to Know
By Lane F. Cooper, Editorial Director, BizTechReports
As artificial intelligence (AI) reshapes the digital landscape, business leaders must confront a perennial -- but growing -- paradox: how to secure operations against increasingly sophisticated cyber threats while simultaneously enhancing customer and employee experiences to stay competitive.
Strategically, organizations must align security with business objectives to ensure protections enable, rather than hinder, growth. Operationally, they need to integrate AI and automation to streamline security workflows without adding complexity or disrupting productivity. Financially, AI-driven security investments must demonstrate clear ROI, balancing cost efficiencies with the need for robust risk management. Technologically, organizations must rethink data access, governance, and identity management to prevent AI-powered threats while leveraging the same innovations to strengthen resilience. Addressing these challenges holistically is key to navigating the future of security in an AI-driven world.
In a recent BizTechReports Vidcast, Stephanie Aceves, Senior Director of Product Management at Tanium, shared insights on the evolving cybersecurity landscape and the considerations decision-makers must prioritize to ensure their organizations remain secure, resilient, and competitive.
Balancing Security with Business Objectives
The fundamental challenge in security strategy is ensuring that protections do not stifle business operations. As Aceves pointed out, organizations exist to solve problems, not just to secure assets—which means security measures must support, rather than hinder, business goals.
“There’s always going to be a bit of tension,” Aceves explained. “We are not in the business of just securing things. The data and assets we protect are what allow businesses to operate effectively.”
For decision-makers, this means that security should not be viewed in isolation. Instead, it must be embedded into broader business strategies, ensuring that it enables growth, innovation, and customer engagement rather than becoming a bottleneck.
In this context, she says, AI is transforming the cybersecurity landscape in both positive and negative ways. While AI-powered tools can enhance threat detection, automate response efforts, and streamline security operations, they are also being leveraged by attackers to launch more sophisticated cyber threats.
“With the explosion of large language models and generative AI, we’ve seen an uptick in the types of adversaries leveraging the low barrier to entry to run more attacks,” Aceves said
For decision-makers, this raises a critical question: Is your organization prepared to defend against AI-powered threats?
Arriving at an effective answer will require organizations to assess their ability to leverage AI defensively, integrating it into security operations while staying ahead of emerging threats.
Managing AI-Driven Complexity
One of the biggest concerns for organizations today is the way AI accelerates data access and automation—often outpacing security controls.
“AI has immense power to scrape and synthesize massive amounts of data,” Aceves noted. “That can be scary for organizations that haven’t properly enforced data access controls or privileged access management.”
This underscores the need for strong data governance, identity management, and access controls. Organizations must evaluate their policies to ensure they can manage the risks associated with AI-powered data access.
To this end, she recommends decision-makers consider the following key questions:
Are our access controls strong enough to prevent unauthorized AI-driven data extraction?
Do we have the right policies in place to govern AI’s use across different departments?
Are we educating employees about the risks associated with AI-driven automation?
Shifting Security from an IT Issue to a Business Imperative
Cybersecurity, she points out, is no longer just a technical concern—it is an enterprise-wide priority that demands leadership involvement. The most effective security strategies align with business goals and engage stakeholders across departments, from IT to marketing, sales, and customer service.
“The most secure approach depends on top-down leadership,” Aceves emphasized. “Security is everybody’s responsibility.”
For decision-makers, this means:
Ensuring security conversations happen at the executive level, not just within IT teams.
Embedding security considerations into product development, customer experience design, and business operations.
Creating a culture where security awareness is a shared responsibility across the organization.
AI’s Role in Streamlining Security Operations
Security leaders are often overwhelmed with the complexity of managing vulnerabilities, responding to threats, and maintaining compliance. AI and automation, posits Aceves, can help alleviate this burden—but only if implemented strategically.
One key area where AI is making an impact is patch management. Delays in patching vulnerabilities remain a major risk for organizations, with many security incidents resulting from known but unpatched flaws.
“We have to recognize that patching is hard because IT environments are complex,” Aceves said. “A single patch might work perfectly on some machines but cause issues elsewhere. That’s why organizations need intelligent approaches to managing these updates.”
Decision-makers should consider how automation and AI-driven insights can help their organizations streamline patching and other security operations without disrupting workflows.
The Economic Impact of AI on Security and IT Operations
As organizations invest in AI-driven security solutions, they must assess the financial implications. AI can introduce cost efficiencies by reducing manual workloads and improving response times—but it can also drive up costs if implemented without a clear strategy.
“The organizations that are most successful with AI adoption are those that define their desired outcomes before implementing new technologies,” Aceves noted. “They don’t just use AI for the sake of AI—they use it to achieve specific business goals.”
To ensure a return on investment, decision-makers should:
Clearly define the business objectives they aim to achieve with AI-driven security.
Measure success based on tangible outcomes, such as reduced security incidents or improved operational efficiency.
Avoid “AI hype” and focus on solutions that align with their organization’s unique needs.
Rethinking Security Strategies for the AI Era
The introduction of AI into security operations represents both a challenge and an opportunity. As cyber threats grow more sophisticated and organizations accelerate their digital transformation efforts, business leaders must rethink their approach to security. Rather than treating it as a regulatory burden or a reactive measure, security must be positioned as a strategic enabler—one that not only protects the business but also fuels innovation and customer trust.
This shift requires a proactive mindset. AI-driven security strategies should not simply respond to threats but anticipate and mitigate them before they cause harm. Organizations must integrate AI capabilities into their security frameworks with clear objectives, ensuring that automation and data-driven insights enhance protection without introducing new vulnerabilities.
Equally important, insists Aceves, is fostering cross-departmental collaboration. Security can no longer be siloed within IT teams; it must be a shared responsibility across all business functions. From marketing to product development to customer service, every department plays a role in safeguarding data and maintaining trust. By embedding security considerations into business processes from the outset, companies can strike a balance between robust protection and seamless user experiences.
“We are at a critical moment in the digital era,” Aceves concluded. “AI is forcing us to rethink how we approach security. But if used effectively, it can help us protect businesses while empowering them to thrive.”