Gartner just released its 2026-2027 ThreatScape. It maps today’s cyber threats on two scales. The first is how much signal comes from threat actors. The second is threat advantage, or how much the attacker stands to gain. Most of the chart looks familiar. However, one corner should get every leader’s attention.
That corner is labeled critical threats. And AI now lives there. Right?
What changed on the map
Phishing, ransomware and DDoS attacks still sit in the established threats zone. Your security team already has playbooks for those. So they are not the big story this year.
Instead, look at the top right. Prompt injection and AI application compromise now sit next to software supply chain attacks as critical threats. Prompt injection means someone hides instructions in content your AI reads. As a result, the AI follows the attacker instead of you. AI application compromise means the AI tool itself gets taken over.
Gartner also flagged AI infrastructure as a newly added threat. In other words, the servers, models and pipelines behind your AI are now targets too. Meanwhile, AI-augmented attacks show a significant change in threat activity. Attackers are using AI to move faster and work at a bigger scale.
The threat that should keep you up at night
Gartner places agentic automation hijack with the unpredictable threats. So what does that mean in plain English?
An AI agent is software that takes actions on your behalf. For example, it might send emails, update records or move files. A hijack happens when someone else takes control of that agent. Your agent is still doing work. It is just doing that work for someone else.
Here is the hard truth. The same autonomy that makes agents valuable is what makes them a target. More power means more damage when things go wrong.
Risk grows on two axes
The second chart in the graphic is the one I want every leader to screenshot. It is Gartner’s preliminary risk assessment for AI agents. It scores risk on two things.
- Data sensitivity. How valuable or private is the data the agent can touch?
- Autonomy (agency). How much can the agent decide and do without a human?
Embedded agents touching low-sensitivity data land in the green zone. Next, stand-alone and goal-driven agents move into medium risk. Finally, multiagent systems touching sensitive data land in red. Not maybe. Red.
That is why I never tell clients to start with the most autonomous option. Start where the risk is low. Then earn your way up the curve with proof.
What leaders should do now
At UnDesto AI, I help organizations deploy agentic AI and automations. I also help them set up governance and observability. Those last two are not paperwork you do after launch. Instead, they are part of the launch. Here is where to begin.
- Build an agent inventory. List every AI agent and AI tool in use, including the ones teams set up on their own. After all, you cannot protect what you cannot see.
- Map each agent to the risk chart. Note what data it touches and how much it can do alone. Then review anything in the red zone first.
- Turn on telemetry. Telemetry is the logs and signals that show what an agent actually did. Without it, a hijack can run for weeks before anyone notices.
- Test for prompt injection. Feed your AI tools content with hidden instructions and see what happens. It is far better to find the gap yourself.
- Keep a human in the loop for high-risk actions. Payments, data deletion and outside messages deserve a human check. Speed is great. However, accountability matters more.
- Review your AI vendors. Supply chain risk sits in the critical zone for a reason. So ask vendors how they secure their models and your data.
The bottom line
AI is expanding the attack surface. At the same time, it is strengthening defense. Which side benefits more depends on the choices you make before you hit deploy.
So here is my question for you. Do you have a full list of the AI agents running in your organization right now? If the answer is no, that is your first step. And if you want help building it, let’s talk.
Want the full playbook for moving AI from pilot to real adoption? Join my Founder’s Club L.E.A.D. The AI Shift.
Source: Gartner 2026-2027 ThreatScape, shared by Gartner for IT on LinkedIn.