After years of tracking the global cybersecurity skills gap through its annual Cybersecurity Workforce Study, ISC2 is taking a more active role in shaping the future of the profession with the launch of its Cyber-AI Workforce Coalition.

Announced on October 20, the new coalition is one of the first major developments introduced by Scott Beale, ISC2’s CEO, who took on the role in December 2025.

Speaking to Infosecurity during the ISC2 Security Congress 2026, in Denver, Colorado, on October 26, Beale said he spent his first six months as CEO listening to the organization’s members.

A key finding from the consultation was that a majority of ISC2 members want the nonprofit to more ambitiously and vocally step into the AI safety and security space.

“We want to be the association that can help prepare the cybersecurity workforce for the many challenges of this AI era,” Beale added.

Mapping the AI Security Workforce and Its Emerging Skills Gap

Beale described the coalition as a “vendor-neutral convener” for global cybersecurity professionals. It aims to include thought leaders like HR managers and CISOs, some of the largest employers of cybersecurity practitioners, standard-setting bodies and even government representatives to discuss how cybersecurity roles are changing because of AI.

“Even as the US National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and others are updating standards and frameworks, companies are still facing a lack of resources for how to best advertise and fill these roles. How a bank describes these jobs is still very different from how a hospital would,” Beale said.

Hiring needs at the intersection of AI and cybersecurity remain uncertain, according to Beale. There remain unanswered questions about how AI will affect future demand for cybersecurity professionals, which skills will be most critical for AI security roles, and how experienced practitioners can upskill to meet emerging demands.

“The coalition a way for us to listen directly to these people and help move the sector in a way that can be responsive to their needs,” he said.  

Practical Tools to Define and Hire for AI Security Roles

In practice, the coalition will not create new standards or frameworks but will instead focus on delivering toolkits for employers to help them describe new job roles at the intersection of AI and cybersecurity.

These toolkits will include guidance for how employers hire, develop and organize cybersecurity talent, and how practitioners can identify and build the expertise employers need.

These new tools will help answer three main questions:

• How are cybersecurity jobs changing?
• How are employers writing job descriptions for these new roles?
• How are candidates preparing to interview and fill these jobs?

“As you know, ISC2 is working on a new AI security certification, and certainly we think It is going to be part of that answer and will help us define some of these new roles,” he said. “However, by no means do we pretend having the only solution to this problem.”

The coalition will hold its first meeting in November. Beale hopes it can develop its first series of toolkits by the spring of 2027 and have some companies using them in a pilot phase to help them hire AI security professionals.

The tools produced by the coalition are expected to eventually be made available for everyone to use, not just ISC2 members. Beale believes they will also be useful for universities and certification bodies to adapt their curriculums.