The investment will focus on using artificial intelligence (AI) to identify weaknesses, improve threat detection and help defenders respond more rapidly.

The move comes as part of a shift in emphasis towards identifying and addressing vulnerabilities more proactively, rather than relying solely on responding once an attack has already taken place.

There are three main funding committments, starting with a £70million investment into a National Exposure and Real-Time Vulnerability Centre, aimed at identifying weaknesses before attackers exploit them.

The new centre, which will be established at the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC), will use AI tools to identify cyber weak points across critical national infrastructure and the wider economy. Its intended role is to improve the UK's understanding of exposed systems and help reduce national risk.

£60million will be invested into a new National Cyber Shield, a programme which will develop AI agents capable of helping identify weaknesses and automate elements of cyber defence. Included will be a £25million AI and Cyber Security Challenge Fund to support UK innovators, alongside work to explore a regulatory sandbox for deploying these technologies.

The final element of is a £24million investment in stronger public sector defences. This will support efforts to strengthen technology across the public sector, including local authorities, hospitals and schools.

The new investment signals an intention to improve national visibility of cyber weaknesses and build capabilities to address them more quickly. The Budget does not yet set out detailed implementation timelines.

It also firmly addresses the role of AI in the future of cybersecurity, with agentic AI (systems designed to carry out tasks towards a defined goal with less human intervention) being utilised to help identify exposed systems, analyse threats and automate aspects of remediation.

The NCSC has described a vision in which AI tools help defenders discover vulnerabilities and respond at machine speed.

The new funding is an important step in creating practical improvements in cyber resilience. For security professionals, infrastructure operators and technology suppliers, the key questions that remain will be how the new capabilities are deployed and how effectively they reduce real-world cyber risk.

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