AI and Automation Are the Future of Cybersecurity – But Who Gets to Shape It in Kenya?

We are living in a time when the rapid pace of digital transformation, while unlocking immense opportunity, is also dramatically expanding the cyber threat surface. The digital age has become both a blessing and a battleground. And as Kenya races towards a digital-first economy, it’s clear that cybersecurity is no longer a peripheral issue—it is a core strategic imperative.

In Q2 2025 alone, Kenya experienced a staggering 840.9 million cyber threat events, a 27.2% increase from the previous quarter, according to the Communications Authority of Kenya and corroborated by SOC Radar’s Kenya Threat Landscape Report 2025. The top attack vectors? AI-powered phishing campaigns, ransomware-as-a-service, and highly targeted social engineering attacks. The targets? Government systems, financial institutions, healthcare providers, and worryingly, universities and public utilities, with outdated infrastructure and under-trained personnel.

This is no longer just about viruses or malicious spam. Cybercriminals are now leveraging generative AI to deceive, infiltrate, and automate at scale. Firewalls and passwords alone are insufficient in this era. We are entering a new paradigm—where AI and automation are not optional enhancements but foundational to our digital defence. But here’s the deeper question: Who controls these technologies, and are they fit for our local realities?

Let’s take Microsoft as a practical case study in what AI-enabled cybersecurity might look like when done at scale.

Today, Microsoft processes over 78 trillion cybersecurity signals daily. That level of signal processing is beyond the capacity of any human team. Through machine learning and automated threat analysis, anomalies can be flagged and threats contained in milliseconds. Their generative AI solution—Copilot for Security—offers security teams real-time suggestions, automated threat summaries, and incident response capabilities. Early metrics show marked improvements in speed and accuracy for both novice and seasoned professionals.

In regions like Kenya, where the cybersecurity talent shortage is acute, such tools could be transformative. According to Kenya’s Cyber Security Strategy 2025 – 2029, building a robust cybersecurity workforce is a top national priority. Yet, most universities still lack cybersecurity-specific degree programmes, and many SMEs operate without even basic threat monitoring.

In that context, tools like Copilot are not just useful—they could be game-changers. But they are not enough.

Africa—and Kenya in particular—needs cybersecurity ecosystems, not just cybersecurity vendors. This means building more than just a toolkit of software and services; it requires a holistic foundation that brings together skilled human capital (arguably our greatest asset), resilient infrastructure, such as secure and locally hosted data centres, and regulatory frameworks that are shaped by and for our unique context. It also calls for deeper collaboration on threat intelligence across industries and sectors, as well as a commitment to digital sovereignty and ethical governance of AI. Only then can we create a cybersecurity environment that’s not just reactive, but resilient, inclusive, and future-ready.

A cybersecurity ecosystem is a harmonious interplay of policy, people, platforms, and partnerships. And this is where the Kenyan and African context must lead the conversation.

“As we navigate Kenya’s unique cybersecurity landscape, local and sustainable innovation must lead the charge,” says Phyllis Migwi, Country General Manager of Microsoft Kenya. “Our progress must align with the complexity of challenges that define our nation’s digital resilience. Artificial intelligence offers transformative potential, but its true impact lies in engaging deeply with Kenya’s realities, prioritising solutions that address critical gaps while maintaining cultural relevance.”

The growing deployment of AI in cybersecurity must not mask our underlying weaknesses. These include outdated IT infrastructure in critical institutions, low public awareness (evidenced by high phishing success rates), fragmented policies and weak enforcement and over-reliance on imported solutions with little local customisation.

We cannot outsource our digital resilience.

There’s also an uncomfortable truth we need to talk about: AI-powered cybersecurity is never entirely neutral. The tools and systems we increasingly rely on are built elsewhere, shaped by priorities, perspectives, and even political undercurrents that may not fully align with our own. In Kenya, as we adopt these systems at scale, we must ask hard questions: Do they reflect our national values? Do they uphold our legal standards? Do they protect our data sovereignty, or merely accommodate it?

Our Data Protection Act (2019) was a good start, but implementation has been inconsistent. And as global cloud infrastructure continues to grow its footprint on Kenyan soil, we can no longer afford to operate on trust alone. What we need are clear and enforceable standards, meaningful user consent, and local oversight that keeps pace with the tech. This is not about saying no to external innovation—it’s about demanding a seat at the table where these innovations are shaped.

The encouraging part is that we’re beginning to see shifts in that direction. Kenya’s Cybersecurity Strategy 2025–2029 outlines plans for a National Cybersecurity Operations Centre, improved threat intelligence sharing, and deeper regional collaboration. These are meaningful signals. But to build long-term resilience, we have to go even further—by nurturing local cybersecurity startups, embedding cybersecurity into our education system, and pushing for continental regulatory alignment through mechanisms like the AU’s Malabo Convention.

One initiative that stands out here—both in ambition and relevance—is a new regional cybersecurity collaboration launched at the Global Conference on Cyber Capacity Building in Geneva. It includes Kenya’s own NC4 (National Computer and Cybercrime Coordination Committee) and is focused on something refreshingly practical: not just drafting frameworks, but actually simulating cyber incidents, testing national-level response capabilities, and co-developing toolkits that are designed for—and with—the countries involved.

What this shows is a recognition that true cyber resilience in Africa will come from partnerships grounded in shared context, not just technology transfers. When we combine global expertise with local insight, we can begin to shape systems that reflect who we are—and where we’re going. That’s the kind of cybersecurity future Kenya needs. One that’s not only secure, but sovereign. Not only digital, but distinctly African.

Cybersecurity is not just a technology issue. It’s a governance issue, a societal issue, and a national security issue.

“By collaborating with stakeholders across both public and private sectors, we can ensure AI-driven security tools are not only technologically robust but also ethically attuned and genuinely empowering for Kenyan society,” says Migwi.

There is no question that AI and automation are shaping the future of cybersecurity. But we must ask ourselves—whose vision of the future are we securing? And who gets to participate in shaping it? Kenya’s cybersecurity future must be authored by Kenyans—through policy, talent, partnerships, and yes, sometimes tough negotiations with global technology players. The cyber battleground is global, but the consequences are always local. We must act now—with urgency, integrity, and ambition—to ensure that as Kenya and the rest of Africa rises digitally, it does so securely.

Read Also: It Is Time To Make Artificial Intelligence Work For Us

Moses Kemibaro is the Founder & CEO of Dotsavvy, a leading Digital Transformation Agency in Kenya.