AI isn’t closing the skills gap — it’s exposing the validation gap

The cybersecurity industry faces a 'validation gap' rather than a true skills gap, meaning the problem isn't that skilled people don't exist but that we can't verify who is actually ready for real-world security work. Traditional training like courses and certifications can't keep pace with rapidly evolving threats from AI and attacker tactics, so security professionals need continuous hands-on experience with their organization's actual systems and attack scenarios, not just theoretical knowledge.