AI adoption and rising threats driving cybersecurity burnout in India: Sophos

A new study has found that cybersecurity burnout in India has escalated sharply in 2025, with artificial intelligence (AI) adoption and rising threat activity emerging as key drivers. The findings come from the fifth edition of The Future of Cybersecurity in Asia Pacific and Japan, released by Sophos in collaboration with Tech Research Asia (now part of Omdia).

According to the report, 95% of organisations in India reported cybersecurity burnout this year, up from 83% in 2024. The growing fatigue is being fuelled by increased threat volumes, mounting pressure from boards and executive leadership, and overwhelming cyber alert loads.

AI’s double-edged role

The report highlights how AI is playing a dual role in shaping cybersecurity outcomes. On one hand, AI-powered security tools are improving incident triage and escalation, helping teams respond faster and with greater accuracy. On the other hand, shadow AI – unauthorised AI tools used by employees – is complicating efforts to secure organisations.

Aaron Bugal, field chief information security officer, APJ, Sophos, noted, “The triad of increased threats, executive demands, and alert overload is making cybersecurity unsustainable for many teams. Cybersecurity stress and burnout are more than just operational concerns – they are cultural, strategic, and deeply human challenges. AI tools, when deployed thoughtfully, can provide relief by scaling operational capability and enabling faster incident response. But the surge of shadow AI poses new risks that many organisations are not prepared for.”

He added that organisations now face a need to extend security awareness beyond phishing emails to how employees use and share sensitive data through AI. Strong governance and clear boundaries around AI use will be critical.

Burnout as a business issue

The report underscores that cybersecurity burnout is no longer just a technology problem but a pressing business concern. High stress levels affect productivity, incident response, employee retention, and even contribute to data breaches.

• Rising burnout levels: 47% of Indian organisations said burnout is frequently experienced, compared with 37% in 2024.
  

• Support structures: 87% of organisations now provide counselling for stress and burnout, up from 74% last year.
  

• Impact on performance: Underperformance of IT teams, slower response times, and growing detachment from security responsibilities were reported as the most visible effects.
  

AI adoption is high, shadow AI risk is higher

AI’s promise remains undeniable. The report notes that 97% of Indian organisations are already using AI tools such as ChatGPT, co-pilots, and agentic AI. In addition, 92% have a formal AI strategy in place.

The risks, however, are mounting:

• 62% of organisations admitted to shadow AI usage, while 31% were unsure whether it existed in their workplace.
  
  

• The lack of visibility into what tools employees use and what data they handle has created new blind spots for security leaders.
  
  

This imbalance highlights the urgent need for robust AI governance frameworks that not only set policies but also ensure enforcement and oversight.

Budgets rising but challenges persist

Encouragingly, organisations in India are planning higher investments in cybersecurity. Around 71% expect to raise budgets in the coming year, with 30% planning increases of 10% or more, and 41% aiming for rises between 5% and 9.9%.

However, Indian respondents admitted that they continue to struggle on multiple fronts:

• Keeping pace with evolving cyber threats.
  

• Navigating reactive regulatory and compliance requirements.
  

• Building and sustaining a strong security culture across the organisation.
  

Conclusion

The Sophos report paints a clear picture: cybersecurity burnout in India has reached a critical point in 2025. While AI-driven tools offer new hope for resilience and efficiency, unchecked shadow AI and the relentless pace of threats are intensifying pressure on security teams. For Indian enterprises, the path forward lies in balancing technology adoption with governance, and in recognising burnout not as a technical glitch, but as a fundamental business challenge.

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