Why consolidation has become critical

Three-quarters of organisations have already started consolidating security vendors because complexity has become unmanageable. The real cost of tool sprawl isn’t licensing – it’s slow response times. When attackers can move across networks in minutes, teams switching between tools and manually stitching data together have no chance of stopping them.

Consolidation allows security teams to centralise data, accelerate detection, and respond in minutes instead of hours.

The AI threat shift

Next year, AI will redefine the threat landscape:

• Adaptive attacks: AI systems learn about a target’s defences and change tactics mid-attack, making traditional detection methods far less effective.
• Autonomous breaches: Research suggests that agentic AI will cause a public breach in 2026, with autonomous agents navigating networks and exfiltrating data with minimal human oversight.
• Speed advantage: Defenders will require AI-enabled tools capable of analysing data across the entire attack surface instantly – something fragmented architectures cannot deliver.

Why unified platforms win

Consolidated platforms provide the visibility and automation AI-era threats demand:

• Holistic visibility across identity, endpoints, cloud, network, and data.
• Centralised risk management, allowing leaders to prioritise based on real business impact.
• AI-driven response that uses context from the entire security stack to contain threats before they escalate.

Key predictions for 2026

• 55% of enterprises will accelerate consolidation, driven by missed SLAs, rising overheads, and security drift.
• Integrated GenAI will cut employee-driven incidents by 40%, but only when supported by a platform approach.
• 45% of Fortune 500 organisations will appoint a Chief AI Security Officer, signalling a new era of executive oversight.
• Quantum security spending will exceed 5% of IT security budgets, as organisations prepare for post-quantum risks.

What security leaders should do now

• Balance platforms with specialist tools – consolidation doesn’t mean giving up innovation.
• Mitigate risks such as vendor lock-in and reduced flexibility by prioritising open standards, integration capabilities, and clear exit strategies.
• Prioritise data centralisation to give AI the visibility it needs to defend at machine speed.

The bottom line

By 2026, cyber defence will be a battle of AI versus AI. Consolidation isn’t optional; it’s the foundation that enables fast, intelligent defence. Organisations that simplify their architectures today will build the resilience needed for tomorrow’s threats. Those that don’t will be left defending modern attacks with outdated, fragmented systems – a strategy guaranteed to fall behind.

John Bruce is CISO at Quorum Cyber, an Edinburgh-headquartered managed security services provider.