In our daily work at Scalors, we see a recurring pattern: cyber security is still often negotiated at the second or third management level. Budgets, prioritization, and risk assessments bypass the C-level. Until the worst case happens.

European companies have historically struggled to understand security as a genuine leadership responsibility. The false premise: "Security is a purely technical problem that IT has to solve." This exact mindset is ruthlessly exploited by modern, AI-powered attack networks. The ECB now makes unmistakably clear that this division of labor no longer holds. A cyberattack today has the same business-critical consequences as a devastating bad investment or a missed market opportunity.

For banks, the regulator may be the necessary trigger. For all other industries, rational insight should be enough: whoever only reacts on IT security loses.

Cyber resilience belongs at the very top of the board agenda. Not as an annoying item under "miscellaneous," but as an absolute prerequisite for any digital growth strategy. Whoever anticipates here protects not only their systems, but the foundation of every business model: the trust of customers and partners.

Delegation does not protect against responsibility. AI is fundamentally changing the rules of cybersecurity, and defense must be orchestrated at the strategic level.