Here is the smartest bet for an AI-era cybersec career

The cybersecurity industry is booming thanks to our increasingly digital, automated world. And while this does create a digital landscape that is predatory in nature, it also provides more avenues for techies looking to specialise in a particular field of study – while providing opportunities to do some good in our world.Cybersecurity specialists we spoke to say that artificial intelligence is speeding up both sides of this domain. Offence is quicker at finding weak points while defence is sharper at spotting trouble early. That is why careers are clustering around two complementary specialisms: red teams that think like attackers and blue teams that run the defence. “Red teams are cybersecurity professionals authorised to work on the offensive side, simulating real-world cyberattacks and helping test an organisation’s existing defences,” says Zubair Chowgale, sales engineering manager, for APMEA at Securonix.

“They document their findings and provide actionable recommendations to the blue team.” Blue teams, he adds, monitor the network, contain threats and respond.Inspira Enterprise’s managing director Chetan Jain describes how this plays out across people and technology. He says red teams gather information, run ethical attacks—including phishing campaigns and even tests of physical access—and try to move through a company as a real intruder would.

Blue teams, by contrast, spend their days hunting for suspicious signs in logs, investigating alerts and hardening systems so weak spots are removed. In plain words: one side safely breaks while the other side calmly fixes.The best programmes make both sides work together. “Purple team” drills, says Jain, “foster collaboration between red and blue teams,” with both sharing insights in real time, tuning detection rules and building new playbooks together.

His team found that continuous feedback loops enabled immediate learning and a shared understanding of where defences needed to improve. Think of it as lessons moving instantly from the attack to the fix.

AI’s impact

AI is the big accelerator. “AI has significantly shifted how red and blue teams operate,” says Pranay Manek, systems engineer manager at Barracuda Networks. Offensively, it speeds up creation of convincing phishing emails and early research; defensively, “we are fighting AI with AI,” including systems that examine links, documents, images and even QR codes together so patterns are spotted faster.

In other words, what that means is, instead of checking each clue in isolation, newer tools examine everything at once and connect the dots.Securonix’s Chowgale agrees AI is transformative but stresses on the value of judgment. “Effective outcomes still depend on human oversight.” He notes that AI has simplified building attack simulations for red teams, while blue teams can use AI features in their platforms to cut the time to detect and respond.

Tools help, but people decide.None of this is purely academic either. Vivek Srivastava, country manager for India & Saarc at Fortinet, points to NATO’s Locked Shields, the world’s largest live-fire cyber-defence exercise, where red teams emulate advanced tactics and blue teams defend under pressure. The benefit is tangible: organisations learn their true time to detect and respond, and where controls are weak. Fortinet’s own simulations have seen AI help blue teams detect lateral movement within minutes, shrinking the window in which intruders can lurk.

Skills that firms look for

Now to careers—and this is where demand is strongest. Chowgale suggests that aspiring offensive specialists start with OSCP (Offensive Security Certified Professional, a practical hacking exam) or CRT/ CRTP (Certified Red Team Operator/Professional, focused on fullchain attack simulations in corporate networks). He says red teamers should be hands-on with social engineering, basic scripting and opensource research—even exploring criminal forums for intelligence— so they can run realistic tests.

On the defensive track, he recommends learning SIEM (Security Information and Event Management) tools that collect and analyse logs, plus firewalls and intrusion-detection systems; useful certifications include GCIH (GIAC Certified Incident Handler, focused on running an incident) and CTH (Certified Threat Hunter, focused on finding hidden attackers).Manek’s hiring lens is similar. For reds, he looks for offensive skills like exploit development and reverse engineering, often backed by OSCP or CRTP (a practical certification on attacking Windows domains).

For blues, he wants evidence of threat hunting, log forensics and incident response, with credentials like GCIH or CISSP (Certified Information Systems Security Professional, a broad governance and security-architecture certification).

Just as important, he says, is fluency with real tools such as SIEMs and extended-detection platforms so candidates can translate theory into action.Sathish Murthy, field CTO at Rubrik, urges teams to design for a low Cyber Recovery Time Objective— the time it takes to get core systems back after an attack—and to protect vital data with immutability and air-gapping so clean copies can be restored quickly. As careers go, that advice translates into real value: whether you choose red or blue, pair your certificates with the ability to explain, in plain English, what happened, what it means and what must change before the next breach.