The Automation Gap
Security teams believe they are patching vulnerabilities faster than ever. On paper, remediation timelines look strong. In practice, exploited vulnerabilities often remain unpatched for weeks or months, creating a dangerous illusion of control.
At the same time, AI is compressing the window for effective response. Attackers can discover, validate, and exploit exposures faster than most organizations can even verify them. The result is widening asymmetry: adversaries operate at machine speed, while defenders remain constrained by manual validation, fragmented tooling, and reactive workflows.
This extract explores why that gap exists and what it takes to close it.
What you’ll find in The Automation Gap:
- The patching speed illusion
Why the majority of security teams report fast remediation timelines, yet exploited vulnerabilities in the real world often persist for weeks. - How AI shifts the balance of power
Why automation now favors attackers by default and why defenders must rethink validation, not just detection. - Why more tools don’t equal better outcomes
Most organizations already use scanners, manual penetration testing, and red teams yet continuous exploitability validation remains rare. - What automation-first security actually looks like
How continuous, production-safe attack simulation changes prioritization, eliminates false urgency, and focuses teams on what is truly exploitable.






