Key Takeaways
- The 2026 Cybersecurity Excellence Awards Community Choice winners were selected by 79,455 community votes, underscoring broad industry engagement.
- AI security emerged as a top‑voted category, expanding from a single award in 2024 to ten distinct categories in 2026 that cover access, data protection, detection, response, and more.
- Survey research from Cybersecurity Insiders shows that the same areas receiving the most votes—security operations, exposure management, and AI‑related controls—are also top priorities for enterprises seeking to detect and respond to threats at speed and scale.
- Ongoing research will examine how AI is reshaping security domains, where defenses lag, and what actions organizations are taking to close those gaps.
- The Cybersecurity Excellence Awards combine expert jury evaluation with Community Choice recognition to honor both demonstrated achievement and community support.
- Cybersecurity Insiders, the awards’ presenter, serves over 600,000 cybersecurity professionals worldwide through research, analysis, guides, webinars, and independent solution reviews.
Overview of the 2026 Community Choice Awards
The Cybersecurity Excellence Awards announced the winners of its 2026 Community Choice Award during Black Hat USA week, a timing that highlights the growing relevance of AI risk in the cybersecurity conversation. Unlike the jury‑determined awards, the Community Choice recognition is based entirely on votes cast by the global cybersecurity community. This year, a total of 79,455 votes were recorded, reflecting strong participation from practitioners, leaders, and vendors alike. The award serves as a complementary measure to the expert jury awards, capturing the visible support and popularity nominees have earned across the wider ecosystem.
Voting Trends and the Rise of AI Security
AI security stood out as one of the highest‑voted award categories in the 2026 season. Notably, what began as a single AI‑focused award in 2024 has blossomed into ten separate categories for 2026. These new categories address AI’s expanding role across multiple security functions, including identity and access management, data protection, threat detection, incident response, and more. The diversification signals that vendors are increasingly specializing in niche AI‑driven solutions, and the community is rewarding those innovations with its votes. The trend mirrors broader market movements where AI is no longer a peripheral technology but a core component of modern security stacks.
Founder’s Comments on Community Engagement
Holger Schulze, founder and CEO of Cybersecurity Insiders, congratulated the winners and expressed gratitude to all nominees and voters. He noted that the strongest voting support clustered around three pillars: security operations, exposure management, and AI security. Schulze emphasized that the expansion of AI security categories reflects how AI is permeating every facet of enterprise defense—from safeguarding data and applications to securing identities and workflows. His remarks underline the awards’ dual purpose: recognizing technical excellence while also gauging where the community’s attention and confidence lie.
Survey Findings Align with Community Votes
Parallel to the awards process, Cybersecurity Insiders conducted its annual survey research, which revealed that the same domains attracting the most community votes also rank as top organizational priorities. Respondents highlighted the need to expand operational capacity to detect and respond to threats at the speed and scale posed by modern adversaries. They also stressed the importance of reducing exploitable risk before attackers can act and establishing robust controls as AI touches more enterprise data, applications, identities, and workflows. This alignment between community sentiment and survey data reinforces the credibility of the awards as a barometer of industry trends.
Future Research Directions
Building on these insights, Cybersecurity Insiders plans to deepen its examination of how AI is reshaping various security domains. Upcoming research will investigate where enterprise defenses are falling behind in the face of AI‑enhanced threats, and it will document the strategies organizations are adopting to close those gaps. Topics will likely include AI‑driven threat hunting, automated response playbooks, model‑explainability for security tools, and governance frameworks for AI‑generated data. By publishing these findings, Cybersecurity Insiders aims to equip security leaders with actionable intelligence for informed decision‑making.
About the Cybersecurity Excellence Awards
For more than a decade, the Cybersecurity Excellence Awards have honored companies, products, and professionals that advance the state of cybersecurity. The program blends expert jury evaluation with Community Choice recognition, offering two distinct lenses through which achievement can be measured. While the jury awards focus on technical merit, innovation, and impact as judged by seasoned experts, the Community Choice awards capture the breadth of support and endorsement from the practitioner community. Together, they provide a comprehensive view of excellence in the field.
About Cybersecurity Insiders
Cybersecurity Insiders is an independent research and media platform that serves a global audience of over 600,000 cybersecurity professionals, including CISOs, security directors, and technical leaders. Through original research reports, industry analysis, CISO‑focused guides, webinars, and unbiased solution reviews, the organization helps security leaders understand emerging risks, evaluate shifting priorities, and make strategic decisions grounded in data. Its independence ensures that the insights presented are free from vendor bias, fostering trust among its readership.
Contact and Community Engagement
For inquiries, comments, or further information, readers can reach Holger Schulze, Founder and CEO of Cybersecurity Insiders, at [email protected]. The organization also invites professionals to join its LinkedIn group, “Information Security Community,” where ongoing discussions about threats, technologies, and best practices take place. Engaging with this community offers a direct avenue to stay informed, share experiences, and contribute to the collective knowledge that drives the cybersecurity industry forward.