The research, published by Enterprise Management Associates, highlights a fundamental realignment in corporate security spending. Securing AI-driven data flows now motivates 64.4% of DSPM investments, eclipsing the 56% of organizations focused primarily on preventing data exfiltration. Chris Steffen, vice president of research at EMA, notes that many enterprises fail to treat data security as a prerequisite for AI, leaving them vulnerable as they rush to integrate new technologies.

Governance remains a significant hurdle, with responsibility for AI-related risks split between IT departments, security teams, chief data officers, and governance committees. This lack of centralized ownership is compounded by technical friction, as 45.3% of respondents struggle to enforce consistent security policies across diverse cloud providers. To mitigate these operational pressures, over 85% of organizations are pinning their hopes on automation, with one-third of surveyed leaders projecting that automated remediation could cut their current workloads by more than half.