93% of Employers Say Human-Centered Skills Are More Important as AI Reshapes Cybersecurity

National research from Rogers Cybersecure Catalyst finds AI is reshaping how early-career cybersecurity professionals build experience, increasing the need for judgment, critical thinking, and hands-on learning

TORONTO, Oct. 7, 2026 /CNW/ -- New research out today from Rogers Cybersecure Catalyst at Toronto Metropolitan University ("the Catalyst"), funded by the Future Skills Centre through the Government of Canada's Future Skills Program, examines how AI is changing the work traditionally done by early-career cybersecurity professionals and what that could mean for how they build foundational skills and experience.

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The report, Preserving Foundational Skills in AI-Enabled Early-Career Cybersecurity Work, explores how the growing use of AI in cybersecurity could affect entry-level roles, learning opportunities, and the pathways through which new professionals develop their expertise.

"AI is making many cybersecurity tasks faster and more efficient, but it also raises a practical question about how people get their start in the field," said Charles Finlay, Founding Executive Director of the Catalyst. "If some of the routine work that used to give people hands-on experience is now being done with AI, we need to think about where that experience comes from. People still need opportunities to work through problems, make decisions, and understand the systems they're working with. That's an important part of developing the next generation of cybersecurity professionals."

The "entry-level paradox"

Employers described a shift in traditional Level 1 cybersecurity work, with tasks such as alert triage, query writing, and incident investigation increasingly automated or AI-assisted. As a result, early-career professionals are taking on more complex investigations, exercising greater judgment, and navigating business and operational context earlier in their careers. Some employers are describing this as "Level 1.5" roles. This shift is creating an "entry-level paradox" where employers want job-ready cybersecurity talent, while AI is reshaping the routine tasks through which newcomers have traditionally become job-ready.

Several employers raised concerns about a potential "loss of practice," as AI reduces opportunities to independently perform the tasks that build technical knowledge, problem-solving skills, and professional judgment. At the same time, the research points to a broader shift in the capabilities employers value. While 64% of consultation responses identified foundational technical and IT knowledge as important, 93% of employers identified human-centred capabilities (commonly referred to as "soft skills") as increasingly important, including communication skills (36%), stakeholder management (27%) and critical thinking (18%).

AI literacy is not a stand-alone skill. Professionals need to know how to use AI appropriately in the context of their specific tasks. And they need to have these role-specific technical AI skills in combination with communications skills, collaborative abilities, and an ability to think critically about problems.

Rethinking how cybersecurity talent is assessed and developed

These changing expectations also have implications for how cybersecurity professionals are assessed and hired. Nearly 1 in 3 employers raised concerns about assessment and hiring practices as candidates increasingly use AI during technical assessments, certifications, and interviews. Employers questioned whether traditional credentials and assessments provide enough evidence of workplace readiness, and many expressed growing interest in more applied ways of demonstrating readiness, including:

• Proof of work (concrete evidence of a candidate's applied skills and capabilities, like technical portfolios)
• Simulations (practical scenarios that assess how candidates apply their skills in realistic situations)
• Scenario-based assessments (assessing how candidates approach realistic challenges with and without AI)

Participants also highlighted governance, risk, and practical risk decision-making as increasingly important. Early-career professionals may need to understand not only how to identify technical risks but also how to assess, communicate, and manage those risks within a broader business context.

The research points to a need for employers, educators, and training providers to rethink what "job-ready" means, how job readiness is assessed, and how early-career professionals can build and demonstrate the capabilities needed to succeed as AI changes traditional pathways into cybersecurity. This includes creating more opportunities for hands-on learning and operational experience, using applied assessments that test reasoning and judgment with and without AI, and preparing professionals to validate AI outputs, understand risk, and apply human judgment.

The Catalyst tested these approaches through two pilot training iterations involving 55 early-career cybersecurity professionals, using hands-on simulations, a tabletop exercise, and an AI literacy lab to practice these skills in realistic scenarios.

Ultimately, the research suggests that AI is not eliminating early-career cybersecurity roles but reshaping the work, pathways, and opportunities through which the next generation of cybersecurity professionals develops experience. As those pathways evolve, employers and educators will need to ensure that AI-driven efficiency is matched by meaningful opportunities to learn, practice, and demonstrate the skills cybersecurity work still depends on.

Full report available here.

About Rogers Cybersecure Catalyst

Rogers Cybersecure Catalyst is Toronto Metropolitan University's national centre for technology safety and security. Since its founding in 2018, the Catalyst has built a global reputation for developing the people, ideas, and solutions needed to address complex and emerging technology security challenges. Headquartered in Brampton, the Catalyst works with governments, industry, academic institutions, and partners, delivering programs and initiatives nationally and internationally. Learn more at cybersecurecatalyst.ca.

About The Future Skills Centre (FSC)

The Future Skills Centre (FSC) is a forward-thinking centre for research and collaboration dedicated to driving innovation in skills development so that everyone in Canada can be prepared for the future of work. We partner with policymakers, researchers, practitioners, employers and labour, and post-secondary institutions to solve pressing labour market challenges and ensure the benefits of lifelong learning are accessible to all. We are founded by a consortium whose members are Toronto Metropolitan University, Blueprint, and Signal49 Research, and are funded by the Government of Canada's Future Skills Program.

Methodology

Rogers Cybersecure Catalyst at Toronto Metropolitan University led a national developmental research project, Preserving Foundational Skills in AI-Enabled Early-Career Cybersecurity Work, funded by the Government of Canada's Future Skills Program. The project examined how AI is transforming early-career cybersecurity work and the foundational skills, competencies and workforce development approaches needed for an AI-enabled future of work.

The project began with a hypothesis that AI-enabled workflows may reduce opportunities for early-career professionals to develop foundational skills through hands-on practice and repeated exposure to core technical tasks. To explore this, the Catalyst conducted more than 25 semi-structured consultations with employers and senior industry experts across Canada, representing a range of sectors that include financial services, cybersecurity/technology, telecommunications, professional services/consulting, energy & utilities, transportation, manufacturing, retail, real estate, organization sizes, levels of AI adoption and geographic regions.

Findings from these consultations were further validated and refined through roundtables with more than 100 employers and cybersecurity professionals in Toronto, Vancouver, and Yellowknife. Insights from this engagement informed an employer-informed Skills Transformation Framework and two pilot training iterations involving 55 early-career cybersecurity professionals. The pilots tested practical approaches to developing, preserving, and assessing foundational skills in AI-enabled environments.

Findings from the consultations, roundtables and pilot programs were brought together to inform the recommendations and next steps outlined in this report for employers, training providers and policymakers.

Notes to the Editors:

Level 1.5: "Level 1.5" refers to an emerging cybersecurity role that sits between traditional entry-level (Level 1) work and the more advanced responsibilities typically associated with Level 2 or 3 roles. It reflects a shift toward early-career professionals taking on more complex responsibilities and exercising greater judgment earlier in their careers.

SOURCE Rogers Cybersecure Catalyst at Toronto Metropolitan University

Media Contact: Catalyst Media Relations, [email protected]