As AI Adoption Accelerates, Sophos Sees Growing Security Gap For MSPs

At XChange Security, Sophos executives warned that organizations are adopting artificial intelligence faster than they can secure it, creating new challenges and opportunities for solution providers.

During the keynote, "Profiting From the Algorithm: AI's Real Impact on Businesses," Scott Barlow, chief evangelist and global head of community, Sophos, and Jason Clark, SVP, global sales engineering, Sophos, discussed how partners can help customers navigate the growing risks tied to AI while improving operational efficiency.

Barlow focused on what he called the "cybersecurity poverty line," describing it as the gap between purchasing security technologies and effectively operating them.

"The gap is between owning the security technologies and being able to run it as a system," Barlow said.

For MSPs, that challenge is often amplified by security-tool sprawl. Barlow said the average security operations center manages 10.9 security consoles, while many service providers rely on six or more security tools. Consolidation can reduce complexity and save nearly 50 percent of your operational budget, which leads to improved profitability, he said.

Clark said agentic AI is expanding the attack surface as organizations rapidly deploy AI-powered applications.

"The real problem is the gap between the rapid adoption and then governance of AI," Clark said.

Clark highlighted emerging threats including prompt injection attacks and poisoned AI tools, noting that only 18 percent of organizations have an AI security policy in place.

For solution providers, the opportunity lies in helping customers securely adopt AI while reducing operational complexity.

"Enable your customers. Do not fear it," Barlow said, urging MSPs to understand how customers are using AI and help them do so securely.

To learn more about securing organizations in the AI era, visit: Sophos.com/MSP.