AI Security Overtakes GRC to Become Cybersecurity’s Largest Market Category

IT-Harvest projects 657 AI Security vendors, surpassing Governance, Risk & Compliance as the cybersecurity industry’s largest category

BIRMINGHAM, MI, UNITED STATES, September 28, 2026 /EINPresswire.com/ — IT-Harvest projects that the AI Security category now includes 657 cybersecurity vendors, surpassing Governance, Risk & Compliance (GRC), which currently includes 618 vendors.

The shift marks a significant change in the structure of the cybersecurity market. For years, GRC has represented one of the broadest and most heavily populated areas of the industry. The rapid expansion of AI Security reflects the equally rapid adoption of artificial intelligence across enterprises—and the emergence of a new class of security requirements surrounding AI models, applications, agents, data, and infrastructure.

AI Security has gone from an emerging category to the largest category in cybersecurity in less than two years,” said Richard Stiennon, Chief Research Analyst at IT-Harvest. “The count of 657 vendors puts it ahead of GRC at 618 and demonstrates just how quickly the industry is reorganizing around the security implications of AI.”

“IT-Harvest initiated coverage of AI Security as a separate category in 2024. In the 2025 edition of Security Yearbook, 80 vendors were placed in the AI Security bucket. When Guardians of the Machine Age went to press on March 6 this year, I provided complete data on 378 AI Security vendors across 21 subcategories,” continued Stiennon. “Existing subscribers to our platform can investigate and track today’s 567 AI Security vendors. In a few weeks we will have pulled in an additional 90 that we have identified.”

IT-Harvest tracks the cybersecurity industry at the vendor and product level, providing market intelligence across thousands of cybersecurity companies worldwide. The company continually maps vendors into cybersecurity categories as markets evolve and new technologies emerge. IT-Harvest is the only data-driven, AI-first, industry analyst firm that tracks the long tail; that is every vendor in a space.

There are two main subcategories of AI Security. First, security for AI, which includes guardrails, model protections, and data federation. Second, AI applied to security problems like email/phishing, deep fake detection, SOC Automation, pentesting, vulnerability management, and DLP.

The emergence of AI Security as cybersecurity’s largest category also reflects a broader change in enterprise security priorities. Organizations are no longer treating AI solely as a productivity or technology initiative. As AI systems become embedded in business processes, software development, customer interactions, and autonomous workflows, securing those systems is becoming a core cybersecurity function.

IT-Harvest expects the AI Security market to continue evolving rapidly as established cybersecurity vendors expand their AI-focused offerings and new companies enter the market. Within a short time frame, every vendor will adopt AI.

### About IT-Harvest

IT-Harvest is a cybersecurity industry research and market intelligence firm. Its platform tracks 4,435 cybersecurity vendors and all of their products, providing data and analysis for security leaders, investors, consultants, vendors, and other industry participants. Subscribers use the platform for decision support, market research, competitive analysis, and quickly mapping an entire security stack to NIST Cybersecurity Framework and MITRE.

For more information, visit IT-Harvest.com.

Richard Stiennon
IT-Harvest
+1 650-388-6402
richard@it-harvest.com
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