IT Career Trends

Fresh intelligence from the Malt Tech Trends report has landed today, and we're turning our attention to cybersecurity, a field that, quietly and pretty urgently, has become one of the defining professional battlegrounds. In an era where artificial intelligence is outpacing regulatory thinking, one discipline has found itself in the spotlight, Governance, Risk, and Compliance (GRC). AI is conjuring entirely new compliance obligations. The EU AI Act, for example, is erecting a parallel compliance architecture alongside them, one that demands GRC professionals get to grips with concepts like high-risk system classification, algorithmic transparency, fundamental rights impact assessments, and model governance. This is a categorically different kind of challenge that businesses are waking up to. On Malt, more than half of all cybersecurity projects now concern GRC, a structural shift in how organisations think about risk.  +31% growth in demand for ISO 27001 expertise  +229% growth in demand for ISO 7816 And yet demand is outstripping supply. The freelance market is moving fast, but the need for specialist GRC expertise is moving faster, creating a genuine window of opportunity for those with the right skills. The market, in short, is no longer purely a technical one. Regulatory compliance has become every bit as powerful a demand driver as security engineering itself. For freelancers who've seen this shift coming, the timing couldn't be better. If you want the full picture on how cybersecurity is developing on Malt, click here to read the full insights: https://lnkd.in/e-78fU7Z

Rundown: Top 10 Emerging AI Cybersecurity Roles, the result of two years of industry tracking that reflect current market studies, desired competencies, and evolving security threats. What you need to know: - AI security roles pay significantly more than traditional security positions - Most AI security jobs offer remote work options - Traditional security infrastructure without AI capabilities faces declining organizational support - The current AI cybersecurity field offers early adopters exceptional chances for career advancement. Success requires more than technical knowledge; success depends on technical skills plus business acumen plus communication abilities. Start here: AI Cybersecurity Careers: The Complete Guide https://lnkd.in/dPRSgTXi 1: AI Offensive Orchestrator: https://lnkd.in/dPRSgTXi 2: AI/ML Security Engineer: https://lnkd.in/dYivWb4P 3: AI Security Specialist: https://lnkd.in/dvEvcD_T 4: AI Incident Response Orchestrator: https://lnkd.in/dx_4gSAM 5: AI Threat Intelligence Analyst & Orchestrator: https://lnkd.in/dWUixVse 6: AI Ethics & Compliance Officer: https://lnkd.in/d9eDtKm7 7: AI Prompt Engineer (Security Applications): https://lnkd.in/dwTk4-Kb 8: AI SOC Orchestrator: https://lnkd.in/dYKnvihv 9: AI Governance Lead (above): https://lnkd.in/dvnmsa2s 10: Quantum-AI Security Specialist: https://lnkd.in/dp7Q-TKd Bottom line: Rapid change makes continuous learning mandatory. You need knowledge of both AI and security, but nobody expects you to master both domains overnight. Good thing, because that would require multiple lifetimes and possibly some form of brain enhancement technology that doesn't exist yet. This is our perspective at SANS Institute. What are you seeing? What emerging security AI roles should also be on the industry's radar?

The worst thing you can do for your cybersecurity career in 2026? Play it safe. Right now, our entire field is being restructured in real time. AI is rewriting workflows. Cloud is dissolving perimeters. Systems are becoming too complex for any one human to fully understand. And yet… Many security professionals are still optimizing for "stability". The attacker never plays it safe. Why do you? Grady Booch argues we’re entering a third golden age of software engineering; one defined not by individual programs, but by vast, interconnected systems. Every one of those systems is an attack surface. In this era, the professionals who matter most are those who can reason about: • How trust propagates • Where it breaks • How complexity hides failure • Primarily: How AI accelerates both innovation and exploitation That’s not a certification. That’s systems thinking. The uncomfortable truth If your strategy is: → Collect certifications → Stay in procedural roles: Create JIRA's, review JIRA's, assign JIRA's → Wait for that “dream role” to notice you You’re building a profile that looks like 10,000 others. CISSP. CISM. CEH. All valuable, No question. But if that’s the whole plan? You’re interchangeable. And AI is coming for the "interchangeable" roles first: • Alert triage • Vulnerability Managment, run tool->create tickets->escalate ticket • Checklist compliance • Pattern matching at scale If that sounds close to your day-to-day, that discomfort is data. This moment belongs to systems thinkers. AI coding tools are excellent at reproducing the patterns of the past. Which means they’re also excellent at reproducing the vulnerabilities of the past, but at scale inside systems their builders and defenders don’t fully understand. Someone has to catch that. Not the person who memorized the OWASP Top 10 and stopped. But the: • Analyst who learned to code n build custom detections • The Pentester who went deep into cloud architecture, chained vulnerabilities. • The Compliance lead who pivoted into threat modeling, Compliance-shift-left. • Engineer who studies failure modes, designs "resilience" not just exploits This is the era of depth + adjacency. The field isn’t shrinking. It’s stratifying. Those who stay procedural will compete with automation. Those who build unique, cross-disciplinary capability will design the systems automation depends on. 60% of people look back and wish they had taken the risk. The internal move you’ve been talking yourself out of, the "systems-thinking-learning" you've been delaying, what is it? Drop it in the comments 👇

Cybersecurity job postings are down 26% from their 2022 peak, but the headline number obscures where the cuts are actually landing. The Tier-1 SOC analyst, the security engineer, the DevSecOps specialist are are the roles getting hollowed out. AI handles alert triage now, with 95% accuracy per the vendors. Hiring managers know it, which is why they're not backfilling. Meanwhile, something else is happening on the other side of the ledger. "Head of AI" roles have tripled in five years, with 28% growth in 2023 alone. Job postings mentioning "Responsible AI" went from essentially zero in 2019 to nearly 1% of all AI-related positions by 2025. AI governance roles at mid-to-senior levels pay a median of $158,750 to $273,000, and they're growing at 40%+ annually — not because of hype, but because the EU AI Act, SEC breach reporting requirements, and ISO 42001 carry real penalties for non-compliance. The useful part is that this pivot doesn't require becoming a machine learning engineer. GRC experience, compliance chops, and policy work map cleanly to AI governance. 68% of privacy professionals are already handling AI-related responsibilities, so the adjacency isn't a stretch. The cybersecurity workforce isn't collapsing. The composition is shifting. Entry and mid-level execution roles are being automated and outsourced, while governance and AI risk roles are expanding into exactly the space those jobs used to occupy. #AIGovernance #Cybersecurity #AICompliance

Entry level cybersecurity jobs are being cut while AI focused security roles are being created. If you are trying to break in, this changes how you need to position yourself. SANS Institute's 2026 report shows the shift clearly: traditional entry level positions like security analysts dropped 32%, threat intelligence analysts 26%, and incident responders 22%. At the same time, 72% of organizations created new AI security roles. AI/ML security specialists, AI security engineers, and AI governance analysts are now where organizations are hiring. This does not mean you need to become a data scientist or machine learning engineer. It means understanding how AI tools work in security operations is now table stakes. If you are targeting a Tier 1 SOC analyst role, you need to understand how AI based detection tools operate, how to review automated alerts, and how to communicate findings that came from AI augmented workflows. Organizations expect you to work alongside automation, not replace it. Your positioning matters more now. If your resume only lists tools and certifications without showing how you understand AI augmented operations, you are missing the conversation happening inside hiring discussions. Practical experience with AI tools, labs that demonstrate operational understanding, and the ability to communicate how automation supports human judgment will separate you from candidates who ignored this shift. The jobs still exist. The requirements changed. Source: Complete AI Training / SANS Institute https://lnkd.in/gW-dATVF #CybersecurityCareers #AIinCybersecurity #CareerTransition

The Future of Compliance and Hiring in the US: The U.S. compliance job market is evolving, with significant hiring demand in healthcare, financial services, and specific high-growth tech sectors, particularly those facing rapid regulatory changes, ESG pressures, and AI-driven compliance challenges. ➡️ **Healthcare** Healthcare continues to see strong compliance hiring growth due to regulatory complexities in areas such as patient privacy (HIPAA), anti-kickback laws, and fraud prevention. There is a demand for professionals who can navigate evolving regulations, integrate AI tools for monitoring, and foster ethical cultures within large, multi-stakeholder organizations. ➡️ **Financial Services** The financial services sector remains a major hub for compliance roles, particularly in crypto and payment firms. These areas face increased scrutiny from regulators and must quickly adapt to new laws, sanctions regimes, and anti-money laundering (AML) requirements. Candidates with regulatory expertise and data fluency are in high demand. ➡️ **Multinational Corporations & Tech Giants** Global companies, ranging from pharmaceuticals to e-commerce, are expanding their compliance teams to address ESG reporting, cybersecurity compliance, and cross-border regulatory obligations. While many roles are open to non-lawyers, leadership positions often require legal degrees. ➡️ **High-Growth Tech & AI-Adjacent Sectors** Companies investing in AI-driven compliance tools are looking for skills to interpret automated outputs, manage risks in emerging tech areas, and connect human judgment with machine outputs. This trend is creating a demand for "data fluency" in compliance roles. ➡️ **ESG and Sustainability Compliance** ESG compliance is becoming a regulatory priority, necessitating professionals who can ensure that sustainability reporting meets both internal standards and external audits. ➡️ **Hybrid-Friendly Roles** There is a growing preference for candidates who can work in hybrid or remote setups, as this flexibility enhances retention and attracts top talent. ✳️ Key Skills in Demand ✳️ ✅ Regulatory expertise with adaptability to fast-changing laws ✅ Data analytics and AI tool fluency ✅ Training delivery and stakeholder engagement ✅ ESG and sustainability compliance knowledge ✅ Ability to build and sustain ethical cultures DM me to discuss your career growth in Compliance! Suzanne Tandet Cornerstone Search Partners, Inc. #compliance #audit #AIhiring

Compliance and risk leadership is changing in real time. You can feel it in every board discussion, every search, every regulatory headline. I’m seeing three trends reshaping the future of compliance and risk leadership. If you’re in the space, these changes are impossible to ignore. 👉 First: AI governance isn’t just a buzzword—it’s a new category of risk. Boards are asking for real frameworks, not just policies. Every exec I speak with is either building or searching for AI governance expertise right now. 👉 Second: Cybersecurity and AML have hit the board agenda. It used to be enough for companies to “do the work.” Now, regulators expect real accountability. That’s driving a hiring push for compliance talent that can actually sit at the table and have a point of view. 👉 Third: Business-minded compliance leaders are rising fast—especially in securities compliance. This isn’t about being the “department of no.” It’s about understanding the business and giving practical, clear guidance. Firms want leaders who can translate the rules into action, not just create more red tape. If you’re leading compliance, audit, or risk today, the expectations are shifting. The market is looking for people who can adapt, own new risks, and help boards make sense of what’s next. Curious if you’re seeing these shifts too—or is something different happening in your world?

OH, how fast this industry moves.... Last summer, CxO Institute Tech Magazine asked me to write about emerging trends in cybersecurity. I basically said, "If I were trying to break into cybersecurity today, I'd go the AI Governance route." At the time... Folks looked at me like I had two heads... "Child... Koko has gone loco." 😂 My thesis was simple: The next major pathway into cybersecurity wouldn't be the sometimes successful, and sometimes not, path: Help Desk → Systems Administration → Networking → Security Engineer → Security Leadership, and yada yada yada! At the time, based on the data, market trends, and the pace of AI adoption, I suggested it would be AI Governance. And at the time, it wasn't the popular opinion. And here we are, fast forward a year... While many traditional cybersecurity roles have remained relatively flat, demand for professionals who understand AI governance, AI risk management, AI compliance, and responsible AI has accelerated dramatically. My advice today is the same as it was then: If you're looking to break into cybersecurity, don't ignore networking, cloud, identity, or security fundamentals. Learn them and then become exceptional at governing AI, because organizations don't just need people who can secure AI. They need people who can answer the hard questions: • Should we deploy this model? • What are the risks? • How do we satisfy regulators? • How do we protect customer data? • Who is accountable when AI makes decisions? All those above. Those aren't engineering questions; those are what we in the profession call governance questions. And because of those "questions," The next generation of cybersecurity leaders won't simply be the people who know how to secure AI. They'll be the people who know how to help organizations adopt AI responsibly. Looking back, AI Governance wasn't, and still isn't, a "niche" discipline. I believe it's quietly becoming one of the fastest-growing pathways into modern cybersecurity as organizations race to build trustworthy, compliant, and responsible AI. I wrote about this shift nearly a year ago. Today, it feels even more relevant than when it was first published. Read the original article here: https://lnkd.in/d3W8Rx_g

The future of cybersecurity is expected to be shaped by several key trends and developments: 1. Increased Use of AI and Machine Learning: AI and machine learning will become more prevalent in cybersecurity for threat detection and response. These technologies can analyze vast amounts of data quickly, identify patterns, and respond to threats in real-time. 2. Zero Trust Security: The zero trust model, which operates on the principle of "never trust, always verify," will become more widely adopted. This approach requires strict identity verification for every person and device attempting to access resources, even if they are within the network perimeter. 3. Quantum Computing Threats and Solutions: As quantum computing technology advances, it poses both a threat and an opportunity for cybersecurity. Quantum computers could potentially break traditional encryption methods, but they could also enable the development of new, more secure encryption techniques. 4. Increased Regulation and Compliance: Governments and regulatory bodies will continue to implement stricter cybersecurity regulations. Organizations will need to ensure compliance with these regulations, leading to increased investment in cybersecurity measures. 5. Growth of IoT and 5G: The proliferation of Internet of Things (IoT) devices and the rollout of 5G networks will expand the attack surface for cyber threats. Security measures will need to adapt to protect these new and interconnected environments. 6. Focus on Privacy: With growing concerns about data privacy, there will be increased emphasis on protecting personal data. Organizations will need to implement robust data protection measures and be transparent about how they handle data. 7. Supply Chain Security: Cyberattacks on supply chains are becoming more common. Ensuring the security of third-party vendors and suppliers will be crucial for organizations to protect themselves from indirect attacks. 8. Human Factor and Security Culture: Despite technological advancements, the human factor remains a significant vulnerability. Organizations will invest more in cybersecurity awareness training and building a strong security culture to mitigate risks posed by human error. 9. Adaptive Security Architectures: Security architectures will become more adaptive, focusing on continuous monitoring and response. This approach allows organizations to detect and respond to threats more dynamically. 10. Cybersecurity as a Board-Level Concern: Cybersecurity will increasingly be seen as a critical business issue rather than just an IT concern. This shift will drive more strategic investment in cybersecurity initiatives and greater involvement from senior leadership. Overall, the future of cybersecurity will involve a combination of advanced technologies, stricter regulations, and a holistic approach to protecting digital assets in an ever-evolving threat landscape.