AI-First Firms Face 'Speed Tax' in Cybersecurity Recovery, Fastly Report Finds

Event summary

  • AI-first businesses take 7 months on average to recover from cybersecurity incidents, 80 days longer than non-AI-first firms.
  • Financial impact of incidents for AI-first businesses exceeds non-AI-first by 135%.
  • 44% of AI-first organizations report AI was directly exploited in their most recent incident.
  • 64% of organizations report AI scraping as a material cost center, with average annual impacts exceeding $348,000.

The big picture

Fastly's report highlights a growing disconnect between AI adoption and cybersecurity preparedness. As AI becomes more embedded in business operations, the expanded attack surface and increased recovery times pose significant operational and financial risks. The findings underscore the need for security tools tailored to AI-native systems, with Web Application and API Protection (WAAP) solutions emerging as critical investments.

What we're watching

Security Modernization
How AI-first businesses will adapt security infrastructure to match AI's rapid expansion.
Cost Management
Whether organizations can control rising infrastructure expenses driven by AI activity.
Expertise Gap
The pace at which AI-specific security expertise will become available to defend systems.

Related topics

Technology