AI Cybersecurity Skills You Need to Know | Insights From RSAC 2026

Why It Matters

AI proficiency is now a critical defense and competitive advantage; mastering it determines whether organizations can mitigate AI‑enhanced attacks and realize operational efficiencies.

Key Takeaways

• AI now core skill, top cybersecurity talent gap.
• CompTIA’s AI trifecta: protect AI, boost operations, enforce governance.
• Fine‑tuning language models yields superior, domain‑specific security outcomes.
• Threat actors exploit AI for multi‑channel social engineering attacks.
• New AI‑focused certifications and verification platforms validate real‑world skills.

Summary

RSAC 2026 underscored AI as the central focus of cybersecurity, with industry leaders declaring that AI expertise has moved from optional to essential for every security professional. The event highlighted a growing talent gap and introduced a practical framework—CompTIA’s AI trifecta—covering AI protection, operational efficiency, and governance.

Key insights included the importance of fine‑tuning large language models for niche security tasks, the rise of AI‑driven multi‑channel social‑engineering attacks, and the emergence of AI‑centric certification pathways. Speakers emphasized that both defenders and adversaries are leveraging generative AI to automate phishing, voice‑cloning, and rapid threat‑intelligence generation.

Notable remarks came from James Stanger (CompTIA), who defined the AI trifecta; Kitan Evans, who demonstrated hands‑on model fine‑tuning workshops; and Theo Nasser, who warned of omni‑channel AI attacks. The Infosc platform’s behavioral‑signal assessments and CompTIA’s new SE AI Plus certification were highlighted as concrete tools for upskilling and verification.

The implications are clear: organizations must prioritize AI governance, invest in practical training, and adopt certification models that validate real‑world capabilities. Failure to do so risks exposure to sophisticated AI‑powered threats and leaves security teams ill‑prepared for the evolving threat landscape.

Original Description

We just wrapped RSAC 2026 in San Francisco, and one thing was clear from every conversation on the expo floor: AI is no longer a nice-to-have skill for cybersecurity professionals — it's the top-cited skills gap for organizations right now. But what does that actually mean for you and your team?

In this video, we cut through the noise with perspectives from James Stanger of CompTIA, Keatron Evans of Cengage and Infosec (who taught a hands-on AI workshop right at the conference), and Theo Nasser of Right-Hand Cybersecurity. We also give you a brief look at Infosec SkillSight™, our upcoming skills verification platform, and walk through free AI training resources and new AI cybersecurity certifications — including CompTIA's SecAI+ and ISACA's AAISM — to help you start closing that skills gap today.

0:00 - Intro: AI takes over RSAC 2026

0:29 - AI skills gap

0:43 - The cybersecurity AI trifecta

1:14 - Fine-tuning AI models for cybersecurity

2:24 - How cybercriminals are using AI

3:45 - Introducing Infosec SkillSight™: AI-powered skills verification

4:28 - Free resources: Agentic AI, AI leadership and AI hacking

6:07 - New AI certifications

7:27- Wrap up

All the free AI training resources mentioned in the video are below:

– Agentic AI Workshop: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rufpv4tWS8w

– GenAI for Leaders Course: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WyZTOcFXFC0

– Hacking with AI Workshop: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sg6YKd4tIVg

– CompTIA SecAI+ webinar: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=puMPRYzaMQs

– ISACA AAISM webinar: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hj95VpIePCc

Infosec Boot Camp schedule (Use code "SAVE250" to save $250 on any boot camp starting before April 30, 2026): https://www.infosecinstitute.com/courses/schedule/?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=video&utm_campaign=RSAC+2026

About Infosec

Infosec Institute makes cybersecurity workforce readiness measurable. We help organizations build skills and verify performance across their entire workforce, providing leaders with clear visibility into who's ready to defend, where capability gaps exist and whether training investment is delivering results. By combining expert training with AI-powered verification, we give organizations confidence backed by data. 70% of the Fortune 500 have trusted Infosec for more than two decades. Learn more at infosecinstitute.com.