AI is reshaping cyber security in Poland, but the talent advantage may not be enough

Poland is entering a decisive phase in the adoption of AI, with a strong pool of IT specialists but growing concern that attackers are benefiting faster than defenders.

At a recent European Economic Congress discussion, industry leaders warned that the balance in cyberspace is shifting.

Artur Józefiak, head of Accenture’s Cybersecurity Services Center for Europe in Poland, argued that AI is lowering the cost and skills required to launch cyberattacks. In his view, that change is widening the asymmetry between criminals and the teams trying to stop them.

Why attackers are moving faster

Security teams increasingly use AI for automation in security operations centers, faster triage of alerts, and vulnerability analysis.

But defenders must keep systems accurate and reliable, because low precision can flood analysts with false positives and slow incident response.

Attackers face fewer constraints and can accept lower success rates, experimenting at scale until something works. That makes AI-driven phishing, social engineering, and highly targeted campaigns cheaper to run and easier to personalize across languages and sectors.

Disinformation becomes a business risk

Experts also highlighted AI-enabled disinformation as a growing threat to business continuity, reputation, and customer trust. As content generation becomes automated, campaigns can be run continuously and tuned to specific audiences, including employees or suppliers.

In Poland, the risk is still often treated as secondary to classic cyber incidents, despite mounting evidence that coordinated narratives can disrupt operations and decision-making. Józefiak said the country needs clearer coordination and ownership for counter-disinformation efforts.

Skills, change management, and new roles

AI is also reshaping the workforce rather than simply replacing it, according to the Accenture executive. As code-generation tools spread, developers spend less time writing code and more time defining requirements, testing, and validating outputs, which demands new skills.

He argued that the bigger challenge is organizational change, including role redesign and training, not mass job losses. AI may accelerate entry into cyber security roles by acting as a learning partner, but it will not solve talent shortages on its own.

How Poland could avoid falling behind?

Speakers stressed that Poland’s advantage in IT talent will only translate into resilience if AI is integrated into core processes, not limited to pilot projects. They warned that excessive fear of risk could slow adoption, echoing earlier debates around cloud migration.

They also called for cross-sector cooperation, because modern attacks can cascade through supply chains and shared infrastructure. Without shared tools and processes, a disruption in one technical node can quickly spread across energy, transport, finance, and beyond.