Companies are ramping up investment in artificial intelligence and predictive technologies to stay ahead of rising security threats such as civil unrest, political instability and fraud, marking a shift from reactive to preventive measures.
Security firm G4S Kenya says biggest jumps in spending in 2026 will be on AI-driven technology and infrastructure, as firms seek to predict threats rather than respond to breaches after they occur.
Corporate security chiefs are increasingly allocating more cash to connect AI-enabled systems with existing biometric access control, smart surveillance and analytics platforms, which can detect unusual movements, recognise potential intrusions and alert human security teams to looming threats in real time.
The findings are based on feedback from chief security officers at 58 large companies in Kenya, whose responses were included in the G4S World Security Report 2025.
‘It’s encouraging to see that the top priority is investment in new technology and infrastructure. This new technology includes AI, and AI involves understanding past incidents, past threats, and therefore predicting where threats and incidents are going to come,’ G4S Kenya chief executive Laurence Okelo told the Business Daily in an interview on November 12, following the release of the World Security Report last month.
‘All these require highly skilled security officers in order to leverage the technology to enhance risk management and security.’
Mr Okelo said that this technological shift is expected to help companies respond faster to incidents and reduce their dependence on traditional manpower-heavy patrols.
About 83 percent of firms surveyed in Kenya intend to increase spending on new technology, followed by physical security and personnel at 79 percent and risk assessments at 71 percent.
Nearly two-thirds of the respondents (66 percent) regard compliance with the Data Protection Act and the increasingly stringent global privacy standards, which have raised the stakes for companies deploying digital surveillance and access systems, as a priority investment area.
The technology shift signals a change in the corporate security approach, shifting the focus from heavy investment in deterrence and incident response systems which are deployed after a breach to AI-powered systems that anticipate and neutralise threats before they occur.
‘The risks that existed 12, 18 or 24 months ago are not the same as those we face today,’ Mr Okelo said. ‘Risk assessments are critical in helping organisations understand these changing vulnerabilities, whether they involve internal operations, external actors or supply chains.’
The findings of the report suggest that civil unrest is the top security concern for companies, cited by 45 percent of the respondents, followed by political instability (43 percent). Meanwhile, 41 percent of the security chiefs cited economic instability as a hazard – down from 52 percent last year, indicating slightly improved confidence in a stable economy.
Mr Okelo attributed the decline in economic risk perception to a more stable outlook and easing financial woes.
‘If you compare the protests in 2025 with those in 2024, both were serious and, unfortunately, resulted in loss of life and damage to property, but they were fewer and less intense this year. When you add that to falling inflation and interest rates, many anticipate a more favourable economic environment ahead,’ he said.