Conor Dunbar, Digital ICT Sector Lead
The impact of AI on the cyber security industry in NI
This article was originally published in the October 2025 edition of Sync NI's magazine.
With a robust tech ecosystem and cutting-edge research institutions, Northern Ireland is positioned to advance both AI for cyber security and cyber security for AI – two interdependent domains critical to safeguarding digital infrastructure.
Northern Ireland’s cyber security sector generates over £237 million in Gross Value Added (GVA) and supports more than 2,750 jobs. The region has become a hub for innovation, anchored by institutions like Queen’s University Belfast’s Centre for Secure Information Technologies (CSIT).
The launch of the UK’s first Cyber-AI Hub, hosted by CSIT, marks a significant milestone by integrating AI into cyber-defence strategies. This will develop a talent pipeline of AI-cyber professionals and encourage further sectoral development.
AI as a cyber security enabler
From startups to global enterprises, Northern Ireland-based companies are leveraging AI to counter increasingly sophisticated cyber threats.
AI enhances cyber security by automating threat detection, analysing anomalies, and accelerating incident response. Machine learning algorithms can process vast datasets to identify patterns that signal potential breaches more efficiently than traditional methods.
AI systems can detect malicious code, prevent fraud, monitor network behaviour, and generate reports for stakeholders. These capabilities are already being deployed across Northern Ireland’s finance, healthcare, and public service sectors, helping protect critical infrastructure.
Securing AI systems
As AI becomes more embedded in infrastructure, securing AI itself is paramount. AI systems are vulnerable to emerging threats such as Prompt Injection (malicious prompts that manipulate AI behaviour) and Data Poisoning (corrupted training data that skews outputs).
Cyber security must be integrated throughout the AI lifecycle, from design and development to deployment and maintenance. The Cyber-AI Hub is leading research in this area, developing secure data analytics pipelines, robust training paradigms and monitoring systems to ensure AI technologies remain secure, robust and resilient.
Encouraging strategic partnerships
AI developments in the cyber security sector have resulted in strategic partnerships, especially between industry, public sector, and academia.
Initiatives like Invest NI’s Grant for R&D Programme and the City & Growth Deal projects, such as Momentum One Zero, the Cognitive Analytics Research Laboratory, and the Artificial Intelligence Collaboration Centre, empower businesses to integrate AI into their cyber security while safeguarding from emerging vulnerabilities.
Cyber security firm Rapid7 partnered with CSIT to advance cloud security using AI and machine learning. Their joint research focuses on identifying active threats in cloud environments, particularly the exposure of sensitive data.
CSIT embedded researchers within Rapid7 to co-develop solutions that enhance threat detection. Raj Samani, Rapid7’s Chief Scientist, noted: “This partnership comes at a time when there is a defender advantage surrounding AI. That window will close, so industry-academia collaboration is critical to expedite security advancements.”
Building a future-ready workforce
Northern Ireland aims to expand its cyber security workforce to 5,000 professionals by 2030, and AI will play a central role in this. Educational programmes, industry partnerships, and government initiatives are aligning to equip talent with skills to tackle both AI-driven threats and protection of AI systems.
Recent investments such as Allstate’s £16 million commitment to reskill its workforce in Northern Ireland in areas like cyber security, AI, and cloud computing highlight how public-private collaboration is fuelling innovation across the region.
Defining the future of digital trust
AI is transforming cyber security in Northern Ireland by accelerating threat detection, improving resilience, and opening new frontiers for innovation. At the same time, cyber security is essential to protect AI systems driving this change.
By embracing both AI for cyber security and cyber security for AI, Northern Ireland is not just defending against future threats, it’s helping define the future of digital trust.
With continued investment, ethical oversight, and a strong talent pipeline, the region is poised to lead in building a secure, AI-powered digital future.
About the Author - Conor Dunbar, Digital ICT Sector Development Lead at Invest NI
Conor is Invest NI’s Digital ICT Sector Development Lead. His role involves working closely with stakeholders, including companies, representative bodies, government (regional and national), and academia, to address the challenges and to exploit the opportunities that relate to the tech sector. He has represented Invest NI on Innovation City Belfast’s Executive Committee, NI Cyber Steering Group, and CSIT’s Industrial Advisory Board.
Comments