Cybersecurity incidents are escalating in complexity and frequency while many organizations continue to operate with lean IT and security teams. The 2025 (ISC) Cybersecurity Workforce Study reports a global shortfall of 4.8 million professionals, with 67 % of organizations saying they lack adequate staff. At the same time, IBM’s 2024 Cost of a Data Breach report places the average breach cost at US $4.88 million.
Against this backdrop, under-resourced teams struggle to keep pace with the volume of alerts, the skill depth required for effective response and the speed at which attackers move.
How AI-Guided EDR Workflows Transform Incident Response
One promising answer lies in AI-guided Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR) workflows that automate and streamline the most time-consuming phases of cyber triage. Rather than simply generating more alerts, these solutions use machine learning to prioritize incidents by severity and context. They embed playbooks and guided remediation steps so that even less experienced staff can carry out containment and recovery correctly. Pre-built workflows encode expert knowledge, cutting mean time to detect and respond while reducing false positives.
Context-Rich Visibility and Automation
Effective AI-guided EDR also offers rich visualization of attack paths, indicators of compromise and endpoint telemetry. This gives small teams actionable context rather than raw data. Coupled with automated actions such as isolating hosts, quarantining malicious files and enforcing policy controls, organizations can shrink dwell time, limit lateral movement and free up scarce staff for complex investigations.
Selecting the Right EDR Solution
Selecting the right tool is critical. Under-resourced teams should focus on solutions that provide clear guided workflows, automation, unified dashboards and flexible deployment to match their environment. This approach not only lowers total cost of ownership but also builds internal capability over time by embedding training and knowledge into the platform itself.
Kaspersky Next EDR Optimum – A Practical Example
A strong example of such an approach is Kaspersky Next EDR Optimum. Designed for businesses needing advanced detection and response without a large security staff, it combines powerful endpoint protection with streamlined EDR capabilities. It helps smaller teams enhance incident response and expertise without major time investment.
The solution can be deployed in the cloud to reduce costs or on-premises for greater control.
Key Features
- Machine-learning-based threat detection
- Intuitive alert cards that guide analysts through root-cause identification, host isolation and file blocking
- IoC import/export for uncovering hidden threats
- Enterprise-grade controls over cloud usage and attack surface reduction
- Built-in vulnerability, patch and encryption management
- Embedded cybersecurity training to empower IT staff
- Building Proactive Defence
In conclusion, by adopting AI-guided EDR workflows such as those in Kaspersky Next EDR Optimum, organizations can move from firefighting to proactive defence. Alerts that matter are surfaced faster, threats are contained sooner and reliance on rare expertise diminishes. The result is better protection at lower operational cost which is a critical advantage in an era where cyber attacks are rising and skilled defenders are scarce.