Despite efforts to expand the domestic and international cybersecurity talent pool, demand continues to massively outpace supply, especially for teams handling real-time threats. According to government figures, the number of cybersecurity graduates in the UK has risen by over a third, yet 44% of businesses still report basic technical skills shortages. That figure jumps to 48% for incident management.
This shortage of skilled professionals not only delays incident response but also increases the risk of breaches going undetected altogether. In the absence of experienced industry professionals to recruit, businesses must explore smarter, more sustainable ways of running security operations.
In fact, it’s no exaggeration to say that the current pressure on security teams is unsustainable. Security Operations Centres are dealing with more data, more alerts and more decisions than ever before. One of the byproducts of this situation is that many are stuck in reactive mode, managing high volumes of log data, constantly pivoting between dashboards and struggling to distinguish real threats from false alarms.
This kind of operational grind isn’t just inefficient, it’s exhausting and unhealthy. What’s more, when teams are stretched thin, the risk of mistakes grows, morale dips and the risk of burnout increases. When people inevitably leave their roles as a result, the cycle restarts and the situation, unfortunately, becomes self-sustaining.
The role of automation
In this context, security automation is no longer a ‘nice to have’, it’s a critical enabler of better, faster and more scalable security operations. By introducing intelligent automation, organisations can lift the burden of repetitive tasks and free their people to focus on what matters. Threat Intelligence Platforms (TIPs), for example, now play a central role in helping teams identify, assess and respond to threats, often without human intervention.
Rather than manually sorting and analysing threat data, a TIP can aggregate information from across the business, identify relevant indicators of compromise, correlate it with external intelligence and trigger responses automatically using predefined playbooks.
When deployed as part of a vendor-agnostic strategy, a TIP can deliver a unified approach across cloud, hybrid and on-premises environments. This not only removes data silos but also improves risk visibility and reduces time to action, enabling teams to see the bigger picture and act with well-informed confidence.
Crucially, modern TIPs are also designed with usability in mind. Built-in low-code functionality makes it easier for less technical users to create workflows and automate tasks, helping to bridge internal skills gaps and increase resilience without hiring additional headcount.
Collaboration creates compound benefits
The case for automation doesn’t stop at operational efficiency; it also improves collaboration both inside the organisation and with trusted external partners. Internally, for example, automation helps unify previously siloed teams by facilitating shared intelligence, aligning responses and raising overall maturity. As a result, cybersecurity expertise is no longer confined to a handful of individuals; it becomes a skillset the whole business can draw on.
Externally, TIPs also support the exchange of real-time threat intelligence through industry-specific groups such as Information Sharing and Analysis Centres (ISACs), Information Sharing and Analysis Organisations (ISAOs), and National Cyber Security Centres (NCSC’s). These are trusted, community or government led groups that facilitate the sharing of cyber threat intelligence across specific sectors ,interest areas, or nations. In these settings, organisations can share data on active threats, emerging attack patterns and proven response techniques in a controlled and secure environment.
This idea of ‘collective defence’ is increasingly seen as a must-have, particularly for organisations facing advanced persistent threats. Working together to pool insights doesn’t just improve protection, it helps build a more robust and resilient security ecosystem that benefits everyone involved.
AI expands what’s possible
Then there’s the growing integration of AI within cybersecurity operations and processes. Already, it’s being used to analyse huge datasets and detect anomalies in real-time to generate appropriate threat response activities faster than any human team could.
AI systems can also learn from historic incidents, adapt to evolving tactics and proactively identify weak points before they’re exploited. In the typical high-pressure environments that security teams occupy, this kind of predictive capability is invaluable because it gives security leaders the insights they need to stay ahead of the risks.
The impact of AI is being felt in less high-profile ways. For example, advanced virtual assistants can handle low-level queries from employees, provide reminders about policy compliance and offer guidance on best practice – a service that removes distractions from the core team while also promoting a stronger security culture overall.
Building better environments for cybersecurity professionals
But what about the issues associated with work-related stress and burnout? Ideally, with the right automation and AI tools and associated processes in place, analysts are no longer trapped in a constant state of alert fatigue. Instead, they can focus their time and expertise on more complex and strategic issues while the technology covers mundane, manual tasks at scale.
This has a noticeable knock-on effect on attrition because when people feel they’re adding value rather than firefighting, they’re more likely to stay. Given that talent retention is now a top priority for many CISOs, creating the right environment for professionals to thrive is key.
Clearly, applying these various strategies to help close the cybersecurity skills gap won’t happen overnight, but automation and more effective collaboration can give organisations and their teams the breathing space they need. With the 2024 industry workforce shortfall reported to have reached 4.8 million professionals worldwide, nearly 20% up year-on-year, these innovations can’t come soon enough.
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