How Threat Intelligence Is Reshaping the CISO Agenda in 2026

Setting the Context for 2026

As we move into 2026, it is the right moment to reflect on the threat intelligence trends that shaped 2025 and, more importantly, what CISOs can take forward to make the year ahead smoother, more resilient, and more strategic.

2025: The Year Threat Intelligence Proved Its Value

2025 marked a turning point for cybersecurity leadership. For many organisations, threat intelligence shifted from a supporting function to a business-critical capability. CISOs spent much of the year proving the value of intelligence-led security while navigating expanding attack surfaces, rising regulatory pressure, and an increasingly complex threat landscape.

It was a year of realisation: recognising how exposed organisations were, how fragmented intelligence had become, and how difficult it was to translate data into decisions leadership could act on.

For many security teams, this exposed the limits of fragmented feeds, static reporting, and intelligence that lacked clear relevance to organisational risk.

The CISO’s Role and What Comes Next

Today, CISOs sit at the intersection of technology, risk, and business strategy. Their role goes far beyond managing tools or responding to incidents. At its core, the CISO is responsible for understanding risk, prioritising what truly matters, and ensuring security decisions align with wider organisational goals.

This growing responsibility has brought greater visibility and influence. Yet challenges remain. Only 29% of boards include a member with cybersecurity expertise, and 21% of CISOs report being pressured not to disclose a compliance issue. Looking ahead, 2026 must focus less on proving the value of threat intelligence and more on operationalising it, focusing on intelligence that is timely, relevant, and decision-driven.

The trends below reflect these lessons and outline how CISOs can turn intelligence into measurable impact in 2026.

1. AI Adoption and Implementation

CISOs are moving from experimentation to practical use of AI in cyber defence, while remaining cautious about its risks.

• Confidence in defensive AI is growing. While a majority of CISOs still believe attackers may benefit more from AI, this concern has dropped significantly compared to 2023, signalling a shift in mindset rather than blind optimism.

• AI is no longer seen as overhyped. Most CISOs now view AI as appropriately valued, with a notable proportion believing its impact on security is still underestimated.

• Speed is becoming a concern. Over a third of CISOs feel their organisations are not adopting AI quickly enough to keep pace with evolving threats.

• Skills are catching up to tools. A growing number of security leaders are investing in hands-on training, including teaching teams how to effectively interact with generative AI through prompt engineering.

• AI is increasingly used to support analysts, not replace them, particularly for triage, enrichment, and prioritisation of threat intelligence.

This shift reinforces the importance of human-led intelligence, where AI enhances analyst judgement rather than acting as a standalone decision-maker.

2. Budget Pressures and Boardroom Reality

Despite rising threats, many CISOs continue to operate under constrained budgets, often struggling to translate security needs into business language that boards understand.

• Fewer than a third of CISOs believe they have sufficient funding to meet their cybersecurity objectives.

• Budget delays have real consequences. A majority report that postponing security upgrades due to budget cuts directly contributed to a successful cyber incident.

• Framing matters. Boards are more likely to approve increased spending when cybersecurity is positioned as a business enabler rather than a technical necessity.

• CISOs increasingly need to justify spend through risk reduction, resilience, and operational continuity, rather than tool-based arguments.

• Budget constraints are also driving tool consolidation and a stronger focus on platforms that deliver measurable value.

3. Compliance, Accountability, and Personal Risk

Compliance is no longer a box-ticking exercise. For CISOs, it has become a matter of personal accountability and professional risk.

• A significant number of CISOs report pressure to underreport or withhold compliance issues, highlighting ongoing governance challenges.

• Many security leaders say they would escalate concerns externally if their organisation failed to meet regulatory obligations.

• Regulatory and compliance knowledge is now seen as one of the most critical skills for CISOs to develop.

• CISOs are increasingly expected to interpret regulations, advise leadership, and demonstrate ongoing compliance, not just respond during audits.

• This growing responsibility is reinforcing the need for clear, auditable threat intelligence that supports both security operations and regulatory reporting.

As CISOs look to operationalise these priorities in 2026, the need for intelligence that is trusted, relevant, and decision-ready has never been greater. CYJAX supports security leaders by cutting through noise and fragmentation, delivering analyst-enriched threat intelligence that aligns directly to organisational risk, sector exposure, and strategic priorities. By helping CISOs focus on what matters most, CYJAX enables more confident decision-making across security, leadership, and governance.

Start 2026 with clearer intelligence.
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