Gartner, an IT market research firm, forecast on Sept. 1 that the AI security market will reach about $4.783 billion in 2027, up about 69 percent from 2026. It projected the market will expand to about $7.7 billion in 2028.

Gartner forecast that by 2029, attacks exploiting access control weaknesses and prompt injection will account for more than half of successful cyberattacks targeting AI agents. As companies face a growing need to identify, monitor and protect AI models to address AI-specific threats, adoption of advanced AI security solutions is also increasing.

The AI security market is divided into four main areas: AI application security, AI usage control, AI governance platforms and AI gateways. It includes various software and platforms that help companies use AI safely and responsibly and comply with related regulations.

AI application security is forecast to remain the largest area of spending in 2027, reaching about $851 million. AI usage control is expected to follow at about $749 million. In terms of growth, AI usage control is projected to lead at 73 percent, followed by AI gateways at 70.9 percent.

Competition in the AI security market is developing differently by segment. AI governance platforms and AI gateways are often built on existing enterprise governance, data and API management systems. As a result, major vendors are likely to maintain market leadership by adding AI functions or integrating specialised products. In contrast, startups are increasingly entering the AI application security and AI usage control segments, Gartner said.

Shailendra Upadhyay (샤일렌드라 우파디야이), a senior analyst at Gartner, said the market is growing rapidly as protecting AI systems, addressing new vulnerabilities and strengthening defences against advanced cyber threats have become urgent tasks for companies. He said the need is growing further as vulnerabilities in third-party and open-source software used in AI projects and supply-chain attacks are increasing. Without appropriate security and visibility controls, corporate AI initiatives face a high risk of failure, he said.

He also predicted that as the market grows, large cybersecurity companies will actively pursue mergers and acquisitions of startups to expand product portfolios. Competition among vendors seeking to secure market share will also intensify, he said.

He said adoption by companies will accelerate as defensive technologies such as AI runtime protection and dedicated gateways mature and their reliability increases. As companies expand their use of AI, new vulnerabilities based on autonomous AI are emerging that are difficult to detect with existing monitoring systems, he said. Demand for specialised AI security solutions will rise further as a result, he said.