Security leaders are embracing AI for triage, detection engineering, and threat hunting as alert volumes and burnout hit breaking points.
A comprehensive survey of 282 security leaders at companies across industries reveals a stark reality facing modern Security Operations Centers: alert volumes have reached unsustainable levels, forcing teams to leave critical threats uninvestigated. You can download the full report here. The research, conducted primarily among US-based organizations, shows that AI adoption in security operations has shifted from experimental to essential as teams struggle to keep pace with an ever-growing stream of security alerts.
The findings paint a picture of an industry at a tipping point, where traditional SOC models are buckling under operational pressure and AI-powered solutions are emerging as the primary path forward.
Alert Volume Reaches Breaking Point
Security teams are drowning in alerts, with organizations processing an average of 960 alerts per day. Large enterprises face an even more daunting reality, handling over 3,000 daily alerts from an average of 30 different alert-generating security tools.
This volume creates a fundamental operational crisis where security teams must make difficult detection and investigation decisions under extreme time pressure. The survey reveals that alert fatigue has evolved beyond an emotional burden to become a measurable operational risk.
Investigations Remain Slow and Manual
The sheer mathematics of alert processing exposes the problem’s scale. The survey results revealed that it takes an average of 70 minutes to fully investigate an alert, that is, if someone can find the time to look at it. According to the survey, a full 56 minutes pass on average before anyone acts on an alert. This impossibility forces difficult choices about which alerts receive attention and which get ignored.
The survey results have unequivocally demonstrated a critical and well-known challenge within Security Operations Centers (SOCs): the sheer volume of alerts generated daily far exceeds the capacity of human analysts to investigate them thoroughly. Compounding the problem, modern security stacks and data sources continue to grow in number and complexity, leading to longer investigation times.
For high-priority incidents requiring immediate attention, these timeframes represent unacceptable delays that can compound breach severity. According to the latest CrowdStrike Cyber Threat Report, it only takes 48 minutes on average for a cyber threat like a Business Email Compromise to result in an incident.
The Hidden Cost of Overwhelmed SOCs
This overwhelming influx creates an impossible dilemma, forcing SOC teams to make difficult and often risky choices about which alerts receive attention and which are, by necessity, ignored. The consequence of this impossible situation is a heightened risk of missing genuine threats amidst the noise, ultimately compromising an organization’s security posture.
40% of security alerts go completely uninvestigated due to volume and resource constraints. Even more troubling, 61% of security teams admitted to ignoring alerts that later proved to be critical security incidents.
This statistic represents a fundamental breakdown in security operations. Teams designed to protect organizations are systematically unable to examine nearly half of the potential threats they detect. The survey reveals that this isn’t negligence but rather a forced adaptation to impossible workload demands.
SOC Teams Struggle with 24/7 Operations
The survey exposes critical gaps in round-the-clock security coverage. Many organizations lack sufficient staffing to maintain effective 24/7 SOC operations, creating vulnerability windows during off-hours when skeleton crews handle the same alert volumes that overwhelm full-strength day shifts.
Analyst burnout has become a quantifiable problem rather than just an HR concern. Teams report that suppressing detection rules has become a default coping mechanism when alert volumes become unmanageable. This approach reduces immediate workload but potentially creates blind spots in security coverage.
The staffing challenges are compounded by the specialized nature of security analysis work. Organizations cannot easily scale their teams to match alert volume growth, particularly given the shortage of experienced cybersecurity professionals in the current job market.
AI transitions from experiment to strategic priority
AI for security operations has rapidly climbed the priority ladder, now ranking as a top-three initiative alongside core security programs like cloud security and data security. This signals a fundamental shift in how security leaders view AI as a critical enabler for operational success today.
Currently, 55% of security teams already deploy AI copilots and assistants in production to support alert triage and investigation workflows.
The next wave of adoption is coming fast. Among teams not yet using AI, 60% plan to evaluate AI-powered SOC solutions within the year. And looking ahead, 60% of all SOC workloads are expected to be handled by AI in the next three years, according to the survey.
Organizations seek AI for core investigative tasks
Security teams have identified where AI can make the biggest immediate difference. Triage tops the list at 67%, followed closely by detection tuning (65%) and threat hunting (64%).
These priorities reflect a growing desire to apply AI to the early stages of investigation and surfacing meaningful alerts while providing initial context, and offloading repetitive analysis. It’s not about automating away human judgment, but about accelerating workflows and sharpening human focus.
Barriers Remain but Momentum is Clear
Despite strong adoption intentions, security leaders identify meaningful barriers to AI implementation. Data privacy concerns, integration complexity, and explainability requirements top the list of organizational hesitations.
The Future SOC Takes Shape
The survey data reveals a clear trajectory toward hybrid security operations where AI handles routine analysis tasks and human analysts focus on complex investigations and strategic decision-making. This evolution promises to address both the volume problem and analyst burnout simultaneously.
Success metrics for this transformation will likely center on operational efficiency improvements. Organizations will measure progress through reduced Mean Time to Investigation (MTTI) and Mean Time to Response (MTTR) in addition to traditional alert closure rates. Other meaningful success metrics include using AI to upskill and train new SOC Analyst and dramatically accelerate ramp up time.
By ensuring comprehensive alert coverage through AI augmentation, organizations can reduce the risk tolerance currently forced by volume constraints. The future SOC will investigate more alerts more thoroughly while requiring less manual effort from human analysts.
How Prophet Security Helps Customers
Prophet Security helps organizations move beyond manual investigations and alert fatigue with an agentic AI SOC platform that automates triage, accelerates investigations, and ensures every alert gets the attention it deserves. By integrating across the existing stack, Prophet AI improves analyst efficiency, reduces incident dwell time, and delivers more consistent security outcomes. Security leaders use Prophet AI to maximize the value of their people and tools, strengthen their security posture, and turn daily SOC operations into measurable business results. Visit Prophet Security to learn more or request a demo and see how Prophet AI can elevate your SOC operations.
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