According to conventional wisdom, attackers and defenders are engaged in a never-ending death match in the constantly changing cybersecurity landscape, with increasingly sophisticated threats competing with corresponding changes in corporate and governmental responses This article explores ai market cybersecurity. . The ongoing conflict in 2026 is made even more intriguing by the emergence of AI-augmented technology. What, though, do we not anticipate? Dark Reading asked a variety of industry observers and threat intelligence experts about the latest developments that security teams should be aware of. This includes ransomware becoming less profitable, data embassies, corporate accountability, garage APTs, and CEOs in South Korea accepting accountability for significant data breaches. In the end, the contemporary SOC operates as an engineering factory where the "product" is robust, vendor-neutral detection logic that resides in a pipeline as opposed to a proprietary vendor database. — Anton Chuvakin, Senior Staff Security Consultant at Google Cloud ## The AI Bubble Will Explode and Then Recover Although there will be a correction in the AI market, cybersecurity and other industries will continue to benefit from AI. "The AI bubble will burst, not because AI is a bad idea or a pipe dream in and of itself, but because erroneous market exuberance always precedes a moment of correction in prices, valuations, etc. This demonstrated the susceptibility of industrial networks and the domino effect on logistics and suppliers." — Floris Dankaart, NCC Group's Lead Product Manager, Oversaw Extended Detection & Response ## Developer Role Evolution Instead of "move fast and break things," developers will become precision experts in guaranteeing the security of AI-generated code. "With the introduction of AI code, the role [of developers] is at a pivot point, but humans still have a crucial role to play in ensuring the code is secure." — Becky Bracken, Senior Editor, Dark Reading ## Hybrid Work in the Doghouse As office-based strategies become more popular due to security concerns, hybrid work will become less popular. Security risks will arise from hybrid work. By 2026, the SOC will be a distributed mesh of portable code, data pipelines, autonomous agents, and humans building all of the aforementioned and monitoring its operation rather than a physical room with screens and browser tabs. By replacing the "single pane" lie—which, to be honest, never existed—with a knowledge graph that links identity, asset, and security telemetry in real-time, this "shattered glass" architecture moves us from "grab a coffee and wait" log searches to "down a 5-Hour Energy" and instantly delves into high-context results that machines can act upon. The main interface turns into a virtual "workbench," a headless, cloud-based, API-driven (and MCP!) environment that makes extensive use of AI. In the end, the contemporary SOC operates as an engineering factory where the "product" is robust, vendor-neutral detection logic that resides in a pipeline as opposed to a proprietary vendor database. — Anton Chuvakin, Senior Staff Security Consultant at Google Cloud ## The AI Bubble Will Explode and Then Recover Although there will be a correction in the AI market, cybersecurity and other industries will continue to benefit from AI. "The AI bubble will burst, not because AI is a bad idea or a pipe dream in and of itself, but because erroneous market exuberance always precedes a moment of correction in prices, valuations, etc.