Enterprises adopt interoperable software platforms for automation, continuous protection and unified visibility, new research says
Cybersecurity software is quickly evolving through the integration of AI to protect increasingly broad, complex operating environments against a rising tide of threats, according to new research from global AI-centered technology research and advisory firm Information Services Group (ISG) (Nasdaq: III).
All aspects of cybersecurity now require more intelligence to keep up with the volume and sophistication of threats. With AI and machine learning, leading software platforms are increasing the efficiency and productivity of security teams.Share
The 2026 ISG Buyers Guides™ for Cybersecurity find that enterprises need unified visibility, continuous monitoring and rapid threat analysis and response to defend expanding operations. Rather than building a perimeter around a set of on-premises systems and workloads, organizations now require multiple integrated security systems covering hybrid and multicloud environments, distributed applications, autonomous agents and remote devices. Software providers are responding with AI-enabled enhancements that accelerate discovery of vulnerabilities and identification of root causes while reducing administrative tasks. These advances allow IT technicians to reliably resolve a higher volume of incidents.
“All aspects of cybersecurity now require more intelligence, applied faster and more consistently, to keep up with the volume and sophistication of threats,” said Doug Saylors, partner at ISG. “With AI and machine learning, leading software platforms are increasing the efficiency and productivity of security teams that need to balance coverage with cost.”
The ISG Buyers Guide research provides the rankings and ratings of 99 software providers and their products for protecting enterprise identities, endpoints, data and security operations. The series includes Buyers Guides focused on endpoint detection and response, identity and access management, non-human identities, security information and event management and data recovery platforms.
Security operations are evolving toward analytics-driven platforms that use automation to reduce alert fatigue and accelerate coordinated investigations. Behavioral analytics, real-time telemetry and automated response systems identify and contain threats more quickly across distributed environments. Organizations are also adopting continuous data protection, immutable backups and automated recovery validation to reduce the impact of ransomware and operational disruptions.
Identity is becoming the locus of enterprise access control, with organizations adopting zero trust principles and implementing AI-assisted risk analysis and adaptive authentication. Identity and access management for employees is an increasingly important component of cybersecurity strategies, while many companies are also addressing the proliferation of non-human identities. Growing access-related challenges are expanding requirements for automated discovery, identity lifecycle management and policy-based controls to secure applications, APIs and AI agents at scale.
Together, these software categories reflect growing demand for closely linked capabilities that strengthen enterprise resilience through automation and coordination, ISG says. Interoperability, scalability and consistent policy enforcement are essential. Cybersecurity represents the leading edge of enterprise operations where AI is escalating the importance of governance, operational control and execution.
“Enterprises increasingly evaluate cybersecurity platforms on their ability to operate across multiple domains,” said Jeff Orr, director of Software Research, IT and Technologies, ISG. “Providers that combine identity, policy enforcement, runtime control and response and remediation to establish and maintain trust are best positioned to meet emerging enterprise security needs.”
