A huge new survey shows company leaders are ready to spend big on cybersecurity again, and AI is the main reason why.
PwC released its 2027 Global Digital Trust Insights Survey on October 1, 2026, revealing that 84% of security and finance leaders expect their cybersecurity budgets to increase over the next 12 months. That number comes from 3,934 business and technology executives surveyed across 71 countries and territories between May and July 2026, making it one of the largest checks on corporate cyber spending habits this year.
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PwC Cybersecurity Budget Survey Shows Sharp Jump From Last Year
The headline number in the PwC cybersecurity budget survey is striking because of how much it moved in just one year. Last year's version of the same survey found 78% of leaders expected budgets to rise. This year, that figure climbed six percentage points to 84%, which PwC describes as a meaningful shift after a stretch of mostly flat cyber spending across industries.
PwC put it simply in its official release, stating that more than four-fifths of surveyed security and finance leaders expect cyber budgets to rise over the next twelve months, up from 78% last year, as nearly three-fifths cite AI in their top cyber budget priorities. The firm also said organizations are doubling down on cyber investment amid rapid advances in AI, language that frames this as a deliberate strategic move rather than a reaction to a single incident.
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Why AI Sits At The Center Of The Spending Surge
Fifty-eight percent of security leaders named AI as one of their top cybersecurity budget priorities for the coming year, according to the survey. That is not a small slice of respondents. It means AI has moved from being a side conversation in boardrooms to one of the biggest line items security teams are planning around.
PwC's survey summary labeled this trend "Cyber spending is back," explaining that after a few years of relatively flat budgets, organizations are increasing investment with AI acting as a key driver. The money appears to be headed toward protecting AI systems themselves, securing the data that feeds AI tools, managing risks tied to AI models, and building better detection for attacks that use automated or generative technology. In other words, companies are not just buying AI tools. They are also trying to defend themselves against threats that use the same technology.
A Global Pattern With Local Echoes
The PwC 2027 Global Digital Trust Insights cybersecurity budget increase finding is worldwide, not tied to one country. Researchers pulled responses from executives in 71 countries and territories, giving the 84% figure broad international weight. A regional breakdown from PwC Australia found 83% of security and finance leaders there expect budget increases in 2027, almost matching the global number, which suggests this is not a one-region story but a pattern showing up across markets.
Coverage of the survey has spread quickly through business and tech media. Bloomberg Law reported that after years of relatively flat spending, 84% of security and finance leaders now expect their cyber budgets to increase in 2027, with more than half ranking AI security among their top investment priorities. Infosecurity Magazine and other outlets echoed the same figures while noting that optimism about future budgets does not necessarily mean organizations feel fully prepared right now.
Spending Plans Outpace Actual Readiness
Here is the catch buried inside the good news. Channel Insider reported that while 84% of security and finance leaders expect cyber budgets to rise as AI risks grow, preparedness and data controls still lag behind in many organizations. That gap matters because a bigger budget does not automatically fix weak defenses. Companies still need to figure out how to actually deploy that money in ways that close security holes instead of just adding new tools on top of old problems.
Family Wealth Report added more detail on this tension, noting that half of security leaders feel least prepared for attacks specifically targeting AI systems. So while spending is clearly rising, the people in charge of defending these systems are openly admitting they are not fully ready for the newest category of threats. That is an unusual level of honesty for a survey built around optimistic spending numbers.
What This Means For The Months Ahead
The PwC survey does not set a hard deadline or a mandated spending target. Instead, it paints a picture of a shift already underway, with the next 12 months serving as the window during which these budget increases are expected to take effect. Companies will need to balance protecting traditional systems like networks, cloud platforms, and employee identities against the newer job of securing AI models and the data running through them.
The real test will come later, when researchers and journalists can check whether these planned increases actually show up in company budgets and whether that money translates into fewer breaches, stronger AI governance, and better-prepared security teams. For now, the PwC cybersecurity budget survey gives a clear signal that leaders expect to spend more. Whether that spending closes the preparedness gap experts have flagged is the question that will shape next year's follow-up survey.
