NewsPublished 23 Sep 2026

Honeywell: OT Security Teams Embrace AI, but Autonomy Still Rare

Source SecurityWeek

Description

Honeywell's 2026 OT Cybersecurity Benchmark Report reveals a significant gap between industrial organizations' perceived maturity of their OT security programs and actual preparedness. While 88% of surveyed leaders consider their OT security mature, only 21% maintain a complete OT asset inventory. Integration and continuous monitoring of OT and IoT devices remain limited. AI is widely used to support OT security functions, but autonomous AI actions are rare, with only 23% using agentic AI for threat detection. The report emphasizes the need for human oversight and governance as AI automation advances in OT security.

Impact

The disconnect between perceived OT security maturity and actual asset visibility and monitoring capabilities increases operational risks, including prolonged downtime and high financial losses following OT cybersecurity incidents. Incident rates vary by sector, with energy, utilities, and maritime sectors experiencing the highest incident frequencies. The limited use of autonomous AI means most AI deployments currently assist human analysts rather than independently respond to threats, reducing potential risks from premature automation but also limiting rapid autonomous response capabilities.

Defensive guidance

No specific vulnerability patch or fix applies. Organizations should prioritize completing OT asset inventories and enhancing integration of OT into centralized security operations centers. As AI adoption grows, clear decision rights, human oversight, and thorough testing of AI-driven responses are essential to prevent operational risks. Honeywell advises well-governed AI automation to strengthen visibility and response without compromising uptime, equipment, or safety.

Summary

The report surveyed 603 industrial security leaders across critical infrastructure sectors globally, finding that despite high self-assessed maturity levels (88%), only a minority (21%) have complete OT asset inventories. OT integration into centralized security operations and continuous monitoring of IoT devices are also insufficient. AI tools are commonly used for threat detection (72%), continuous monitoring (68%), and asset inventory (59%), but autonomous AI use is limited (23%). The report highlights the operational risks of AI automation without proper governance, stressing the importance of human oversight to avoid unintended consequences affecting uptime, equipment, or safety.

References

securityweek.com/honeywell-ot-security-teams-embrace-ai-but-autonomy-still-rare/ (opens in a new tab)

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AI analysisMachine-generated, updated 23 Sep 2026, 12:17 UTC

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