Will security managers be replaced by AI?
Updated
Security managers score 43 of 100 for AI exposure. The largest share of their task time, 65%, is work AI speeds up while they stay in charge. AI can take over 7% outright, and 28% stays with people.
- 7% AI can do it
- 65% AI helps
- 28% Needs a person
Moderate exposure
Higher than 58% of the 923 occupations we scored.
Task by task
We graded 28 tasks, listed here from most to least exposed. AI can do 2 of them today, speeds up 18 and leaves 8 to people.
| Task | AI exposure |
|---|---|
| Write or review security-related documents, such as incident reports, proposals, and tactical or strategic initiatives. AI drafts and summarizes incident reports; person reviews before filing. | 75% AI can do it |
| Prepare reports or make presentations on internal investigations, losses, or violations of regulations, policies and procedures. AI drafts investigation reports and slides; person reviews final version. | 65% AI can do it |
| Create or implement security standards, policies, and procedures. AI drafts standards and procedures well; adoption needs human approval. | 60% AI helps |
| Communicate security status, updates, and actual or potential problems, using established protocols. AI drafts status updates and alerts; manager is responsible for and sends them. | 60% AI helps |
| Analyze and evaluate security operations to identify risks or opportunities for improvement through auditing, review, or assessment. AI reviews logs, documents and checklists; auditor validates findings. | 55% AI helps |
| Monitor security policies, programs or procedures to ensure compliance with internal security policies, or applicable government security requirements, policies, and directives. AI checks records against requirements; reviewer signs off on compliance. | 55% AI helps |
| Review financial reports to ensure efficiency and quality of security operations. AI analyzes spend and variance reports; manager interprets results. | 55% AI helps |
| Conduct threat or vulnerability analyses to determine probable frequency, criticality, consequence, or severity of natural or man-made disasters or criminal activity on the organization's profitability or delivery of products or services. AI aggregates threat data and models scenarios; analyst judges severity. | 50% AI helps |
| Develop budgets for security operations. AI drafts budget models from spend data; manager approves allocations. | 45% AI helps |
| Assess risks to mitigate potential consequences of incidents and develop a plan to respond to incidents. AI structures risk matrices; judging consequences stays human. | 45% AI helps |
Show the other 18 tasks
| Task | AI exposure |
|---|---|
| Develop, recommend, or manage security procedures for operations or processes, such as security call centers, access control, and reporting tools. AI drafts procedures and reporting workflows; staff run operations. | 45% AI helps |
| Train subordinate security professionals or other organization members in security rules and procedures. AI builds training content; live delivery and coaching stay human. | 45% AI helps |
| Develop, conduct, support, or assist in governmental reviews, internal corporate evaluations, or assessments of the overall effectiveness of facility and personnel security processes. AI assembles evidence and drafts assessments; onsite review stays human. | 45% AI helps |
| Develop or manage investigation programs, including collection and preservation of video and notes of surveillance processes or investigative interviews. AI can transcribe and tag video; chain of custody needs humans. | 40% AI helps |
| Purchase security-related supplies, equipment, or technology. AI compares vendors and drafts requisitions; purchase approval is human. | 40% AI helps |
| Direct or participate in emergency management and contingency planning. AI drafts contingency plans; leadership and exercises stay human. | 35% AI helps |
| Develop, implement, manage, or evaluate policies and methods to protect personnel against harassment, threats, or violence. AI drafts policy and training; threat assessment needs human judgement. | 35% AI helps |
| Identify, investigate, or resolve security breaches. AI assists log analysis; investigation and resolution need human judgement. | 30% AI helps |
| Plan security for special and high-risk events. AI helps build plans and checklists; on-site planning is human. | 30% AI helps |
| Attend meetings, professional seminars, or conferences to keep abreast of changes in executive legislative directives or new technologies impacting security operations. AI summarizes papers and updates; attending events remains human. | 30% AI helps |
| Monitor and ensure a sound, ethical environment. Culture and ethics oversight relies on human presence and judgement. | 20% Needs a person |
| Supervise or provide leadership to subordinate security professionals, performing activities such as hiring, investigating applicants' backgrounds, training, assigning work, evaluating performance, or disciplining. Hiring, discipline and evaluation need human accountability; AI helps paperwork. | 18% Needs a person |
| Plan, direct, or coordinate security activities to safeguard company employees, guests, or others on company property. Mostly live coordination of staff and activity on site. | 15% Needs a person |
| Coordinate security operations or activities with public law enforcement, fire and other agencies. Live coordination and relationships with external agencies stay human. | 15% Needs a person |
| Support efforts to reduce substance abuse or other illegal activities in the workplace. Testing, intervention and enforcement need in-person human handling. | 12% Needs a person |
| Conduct physical examinations of property to ensure compliance with security policies and regulations. Physically inspecting premises requires being present on site. | 10% Needs a person |
| Develop, arrange for, perform, or assess executive protection activities to reduce security risks. Protective details need physical presence and live judgement. | 10% Needs a person |
| Respond to medical emergencies, bomb threats, fire alarms, or intrusion alarms, following emergency response procedures. Physical, time-critical response to alarms and emergencies on site. | 5% Needs a person |
How security managers compare
All occupations (923)
Management (56)
Pay and outlook in the US
- Median pay
- $106,660 a year, May 2025
- Projected change in jobs
- +4.6% from 2024 to 2034
Skills to build
- Hold the ASIS Certified Protection Professional credential
- Review AI-drafted incident reports in Microsoft Word before filing
- Build investigation briefing slides in Microsoft PowerPoint
- Run compliance checks against records in SAP software
- Hold physical premises inspections and alarm response on site
Safer roles nearby
5 related occupations with lower scores.
Questions about security managers and AI
Will AI replace security managers?
Partly. About 4 in 10 working hours go to tasks AI can already do, led by writing security documents and preparing investigation reports. The manager still reviews every draft, is responsible for what gets sent, and runs the live response on site.
Which security manager tasks is AI taking over?
Document drafting goes first. Writing security documents scores 75 on exposure, covering incident reports, proposals and strategic initiatives, because AI drafts and summarizes them well. Preparing investigation reports and slides scores 65, since AI drafts the findings and a person reviews the final version.
Which security manager tasks stay human?
Physical response and on-site presence stay with people. Responding to alarms and emergencies scores 5, and physical examinations of property score 10, because both need a person on site making live decisions. Coordinating with police and fire agencies scores 15 because those relationships run in person.
How can security managers stay valuable?
Move your hours toward on-site work and agency relationships, then let AI draft the paperwork. Draft standards in Microsoft Word with AI, but approve and take responsibility for each one yourself. Check every AI-drafted compliance finding against SAP or Oracle PeopleSoft records before it goes out.
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