Agentic AI has the potential to transform threat detection, investigation and response, but many current AI tools fail to meet security requirements, leaving cyber security teams without reliable tools, says Essam Ahmed, regional sales director at cyber security and GRC firm Exabeam.
Citing Grand View Research, Ahmed says SA’s enterprise agentic AI market is expected to reach $152 million by 2030. Demand is rising as companies face more complex cyber threats and a growing shortage of skilled professionals.
“The evolution of agentic AI is being driven by advancements in large language models, increased access to high-quality training data and rising demand for intelligent automation in security environments,” adds Ahmed. “At the same time, challenges such as rising alert volumes and the cyber security skills gap are also pushing demand for AI that can reason and make decisions.”
SA’s government has announced it will reposition cyber security as a core component of the country’s national security strategy. This follows a series of cyber attacks on government entities, including the South African Weather Service and South African Airways.
In June this year, Kerissa Varma, chief security advisor at Microsoft Africa, spoke about Microsoft’s latest Cyber Signals report, which outlines how AI is being used in e-commerce scams, job and employment fraud, and tech support cons, and offers practical strategies for businesses and individuals to protect themselves.
“South Africa is a major target due to the number of online businesses operating in the country,” Varma notes. “We’re blocking 1.6 million bot sign-up attempts every hour – these are bot armies trying to create accounts to perpetrate fraud.”
Unlike traditional AI tools that rely on manual input, agentic AI acts as a virtual analyst, making real-time decisions and automating responses. However, Ahmed warns that many AI assistants are overhyped, failing to deliver on promises of autonomy and contextual awareness.
Ahmed continues: “While presented as tools capable of reducing analyst workloads through intelligent automation, many AI assistants still struggle with complex decision-making, contextual understanding and adapting to modern threat landscapes. As a result, security teams are still facing significant alert fatigue, delayed response times and a reliance on manual workflows that AI assistants were meant to eliminate. At the same time, if AI solutions are offered as expensive add-ons, it means that AI isn’t comprehensively integrated within an organisation’s platform products. This raises red flags around functionality, compatibility, security and user experience.”
Despite growing interest, he says much of the excitement around AI in cyber security is inflated. “The gap between agentic AI hype and reality is twofold. It not only leads to security teams missing out on the benefits of AI, but also leaves critical systems and data vulnerable to evolving risks. With AI threats advancing at an increasing pace and security experts still high in demand, organisations need real AI that delivers real value for security teams,” says Ahmed.
South African organisations, already facing resource constraints, are especially vulnerable. The Council for Scientific and Industrial Research reports that 63% of cyber security roles in the country are unfilled, increasing pressure on existing teams.
Agentic AI can help fill that gap by automating low-level tasks, offering explainable actions and improving response speed. Combined with machine learning-based user and entity behaviour analytics, organisations can detect anomalies, identify insider threats and respond proactively.
Ahmed urges companies to adopt AI-powered security strategies that go beyond legacy tools. “Attackers are already using AI to automate malware and evade detection. Defenders must adopt equally advanced tools.”
With the regional threat landscape evolving rapidly, he says agentic AI offers a path to faster, smarter and more scalable security operations. “This isn’t about replacing human analysts – it’s about empowering them.”
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