Beyond ‘managed’ security: 5 ways to close the cyber performance gap
Can your cybersecurity keep pace with AI-powered threats? Discover how future-ready cyber services are meeting the challenge.
Cyber threats are moving faster than most enterprises can respond
Cyber threats are evolving faster than enterprise defenses. Adversaries now leverage AI-driven reconnaissance, automated exploits, and machine-speed attacks to outmaneuver traditional controls. Yet many organizations still rely on managed security models built for a slower, more predictable era—leaving critical vulnerabilities even as risks accelerate.
Closing that gap has become a board-level priority. In a new KPMG survey, more than 8 in 10 CEOs ranked cybersecurity as the top business threat over the next three years—reinforcing that cyber resilience is essential to enterprise growth.
Forward-looking CISOs are responding by seeking service providers who can do more than just manage security as a status-quo operation. They want a new standard of adaptive, agile cyber services that combine AI, automation, analytics, and deep human expertise to move their organizations from reactive protection to proactive defense.
Here are five ways leading organizations are redefining what “managed security” means—and how they’re working with future-ready cyber providers to stay ahead of their relentlessly advancing adversaries.
Challenge #1
How do you keep up with AI-powered attackers?
Threat actors are weaponizing AI—automating reconnaissance, phishing, and social-engineering campaigns faster than human-led defenses can react. They use machine learning to refine tactics and scale attacks across entire ecosystems—while traditional security response models struggle to catch up.
The future-ready model
Leading service providers are helping organizations use AI to fight AI. By embedding AI-powered automation and advanced analytics into managed security operations, they’re creating defenses that continuously monitor, validate, and respond across every digital layer of the enterprise. These new cyber managed models correlate data across environments, test controls in real time, and automate containment before incidents spread. This builds an adaptive posture that learns and strengthens with each event.
What it enables
- Continuous, AI-assisted scanning across applications, infrastructure, and APIs to uncover vulnerabilities early.
- Machine-learning correlated across telemetry sources to detect true anomalies and eliminate noise.
- Automated triage and containment through security orchestration, automation, and response playbooks that shorten response cycles.
- AI-driven threat intelligence integrated directly into patch and remediation workflows.
- Regular model tuning informed by red team and adversarial simulation exercises.
Challenge #2
How fast can you see—and act on—what matters most?
Most enterprises are juggling dozens of disconnected tools and vendors across multi-cloud environments, creating blind spots, conflicting alerts, and data that rarely add up to a complete picture. When visibility breaks down, small issues can escalate before teams even know where to look.
The future-ready model
Modern cyber providers add clarity, not complexity. By connecting data across identity, exposure, and threat domains, they give companies a single source of truth to monitor risk in real time. AI-driven analytics cut through silos to surface what really demands attention, while unified dashboards help cyber, IT, and compliance teams act together instead of in isolation. The outcomes include faster insights, stronger coordination, and fewer surprises.
What it enables
- Integrated visibility across identity, testing, and threat environments—no more blind spots.
- Real-time dashboards that pinpoint and prioritize risks across business units.
- Automation that links detection, validation, and remediation for faster action.
- Common data language that improves coordination among cyber, IT, and risk functions.
- Ongoing monitoring that strengthens audit readiness and board reporting.
Challenge #3
How can you close cyber skills gaps without slowing modernization?
Security teams everywhere are stretched thin. The demand for skilled analysts, engineers, and governance experts continues to rise while budgets and headcount tighten. As innovation initiatives expand cloud footprints and AI utilization, overextended cyber teams struggle to support innovation and keep daily operations secure.
The future-ready model
Modern managed services deliver the enhanced cyber capabilities that companies need today. These providers combine operational excellence, continuous innovation, and on-demand expertise to fortify internal teams and extend their impact. AI-driven monitoring and analytics reduce manual workloads, while specialized teams provide targeted support where needed—bringing depth and flexibility without adding permanent headcount. By automating routine tasks and centralizing operations, organizations can maintain coverage, consistency, and compliance as they modernize at speed and scale.
What it enables
- Delivery pods that provide flexible capacity and on-demand expertise.
- 24×7 global monitoring that expands protection without inflating staff costs.
- Industry-aligned professionals fluent in compliance, risk, and operational demands.
- Automated workflows that eliminate repetitive monitoring and reporting tasks.
- Continuous tuning of controls and processes to keep pace with new threats and technologies.
Challenge #4
How can you prove value while controlling cost?
Cyber budgets keep increasing, yet many organizations struggle to show measurable performance gains. Complex vendor ecosystems, overlapping tools, and reactive processes drive up costs and dilute value. CISOs face pressure from boards and CFOs to demonstrate ROI and establish more efficient, predictable costs.
The future-ready model
By embedding automation, analytics, and standardized delivery across operations, leading managed security providers can drive both measurable outcomes and cost certainty. They do this by reducing manual effort via innovative approaches that tighten up workflows and eliminate redundant tools. Their flexible subscription models tie investment to outcomes, giving leaders improved performance metrics and cost structures. The net: a stronger security posture, lower operating overhead, and demonstrable returns on innovation.
What it enables
- Automated workflow standardization that reduces manual effort and speeds up response.
- Unified platforms that consolidate vendors and eliminate overlapping tools.
- Outcome-based pricing models that align spending with measurable results.
- Elastic scaling of cyber capacity to meet changing demand without capital expense.
Challenge #5
How do you demonstrate compliance and control—on demand?
Boards, auditors, and regulators expect real-time assurance that controls are not only documented but demonstrably effective. Yet most compliance reporting is still manual, scattered across spreadsheets, systems, and service providers. That means max effort and limited visibility when questions arise.
The future-ready model
Enhanced security services automate control validation and evidence collection to provide an always-current view of risk posture. By integrating testing, monitoring, and reporting into daily operations, go-to providers turn compliance from a point-in-time exercise into a consistent discipline. Automated mapping to frameworks such as NIST, ISO, and PCI keeps requirements aligned as regulations evolve, while built-in analytics highlight trends and potential weaknesses before audits do. The same automation and analytics that streamline assurance also drive ongoing improvements that help security programs adapt and strengthen over time.
What it enables
- Always-on control monitoring that provides real-time readiness across key frameworks.
- Automated evidence gathering and audit-quality reporting with minimal manual effort.
- Centralized dashboards that give executives and auditors a single, trusted source of truth.
- Integrated analytics that surface emerging compliance gaps and guide corrective action.
Service
Cyber Managed Services
Strengthen defenses and upgrade operations with a human-led, AI-enabled approach that continuously learns, adapts, and protects.
Ready to redefine what ‘managed’ means?
Most organizations today have outgrown the traditional managed security model. They need a smarter, more adaptive model built for speed, scale, and continuous improvement. KPMG Managed Services helps enterprises make that shift and accelerate their path to adaptive, agentic cyber operations that move them from reactive protection to proactive resilience. Our integrated platforms and service offerings—powered by AI, automation, and human expertise—deliver continuous visibility, faster response, and enterprise confidence. We keep our services on the leading edge with ongoing innovation in areas like AI, automation, analytics, and detection capabilities.
Our services include:
- Managed identity services: Automate access and governance to provide secure, efficient control across today’s increasingly complex environments.
- Managed cyber risk: Validate and test applications, APIs, and infrastructure to identify and remediate vulnerabilities before they become threats.
- Cyber threat management: Detect, analyze, and contain attacks in real time with AI-enabled automation and 24×7 human oversight.
- Managed security testing: Safeguard application, cyber defense, and AI systems through rigorous testing that embeds trust, transparency, and resilience into every model.
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Meet our team
Our KPMG Cyber Managed Services teams combine deep technical expertise, operational experience, and strategic insight to help organizations build lasting resilience. Our professionals span threat management, identity, and risk disciplines, bringing a human-led, technology-enabled approach to every engagement. AI and automation are embedded in how we deliver—enhancing precision, visibility, and speed. Working side by side with clients, KPMG helps strengthen protection, improve performance, and continually adapt to the evolving threat landscape.
Chris Crevits
Principal, Advisory, Cyber Managed Services, KPMG US
Douglas A LaGore
Principal, Advisory, Cyber Security Services, KPMG US
DJ Wilkins
Partner, Advisory, Cybersecurity & Tech Risk, KPMG US
Chris Crevits
Principal, Advisory, Cyber Managed Services, KPMG US
Douglas A LaGore
Principal, Advisory, Cyber Security Services, KPMG US
DJ Wilkins
Partner, Advisory, Cybersecurity & Tech Risk, KPMG US