Agentic AI adoption in application security sees cautious growth
A new study conducted by Cycode has revealed changing attitudes towards the use of agentic artificial intelligence (AI) within application security, indicating both cautious uptake and notable benefits among early adopters.
The survey, compiled from respondents at RSA Conference 2025, found that 60% of cybersecurity professionals are still at the early stages of adopting agentic AI, while those who have begun implementation are already reporting tangible improvements in productivity and risk mitigation.
Adoption and anticipated growth
The study highlights a considerable proportion of the market preparing for broader adoption, with nearly 50% of respondents planning to integrate agentic AI tools within the next year. The incremental approach taken by organisations reflects a degree of caution, particularly around the concept of granting AI systems the autonomy to make decisions independently. This hesitancy is attributed to organisations seeking to adapt their security practices to rapidly evolving development requirements while weighing the associated risks and benefits of such technology.
The research points out that as awareness of agentic AI's capability within application security grows, the focus on educating the market about both its advantages and potential risks becomes more pronounced. The report suggests that clear communication around these factors may help overcome reservations among organisations still in the initial phase of AI adoption.
Impact on workflows and team dynamics
The survey results illustrate the impact agentic AI could have on software development pipelines. Thirty percent of respondents believe integrating agentic AI into continuous integration and continuous deployment (CI/CD) pipelines would significantly enhance the process. The increased speed and frequency of code deployment-termed "vibe coding" in industry parlance-has led to faster development cycles.
This acceleration does not necessarily alter the ratio of application security personnel to developers, but it can create the impression of a widening gap, with security teams struggling to keep up. The data indicates that whilst 45% of respondents maintain a 1:50 to 1:100 application security-to-developer ratio, 26% report a much wider 1:500 to 1:1000 ratio. This imbalance places considerable strain on security professionals who are responsible for oversight, with survey findings indicating that agentic AI solutions have the potential to alleviate these pressures.
Agentic AI capabilities in practice
Key findings from the survey reveal varied perceptions on the utility of agentic AI for security teams. Forty-four percent of those surveyed believe agentic AI's greatest benefit lies in supporting the identification, prioritisation, and remediation of vulnerabilities. Another 38% believe these systems will enhance application security testing (AST), highlighting the perceived value of collaboration between AI and human teams to streamline key security operations.
More than half (52%) of respondents agreed that, when integrated with AST tools, agentic AI's use of pre-commit hooks effectively sustains security checks during code commits, transforming what were previously overwhelming manual tasks into manageable automated processes. In addition, 44% of cybersecurity professionals highlighted the value of agentic AI in streamlining and enhancing secrets detection to help prevent data leaks, with many pointing to the importance of context-aware decision-making capabilities for the effectiveness of such solutions.
Industry commentary
Amir Kazemi, Director of Product Marketing at Cycode, commented on the findings:
"It's fascinating to follow the industry's measured, yet rapid adoption to Agentic AI. Many interpretations and modalities of 'agent' exist, from simple chatbots to complex workflow automations to true autonomous agents. Our data underscores that educating the market on what agentic AI truly is, why it matters for AppSec, and its tangible value is paramount right now. Cycode is committed to leading this charge, empowering security teams and developers the ability to sense, reason, and act with context through agentic AI solutions."
Cycode's latest research also notes the company's continued work in this area, including its agentic AI framework, which aims to support developers and security staff through autonomous AI teammates and context-aware remediation capabilities.
