Artificial Intelligence is perhaps the most hyped technology of the 21st century, and it is now rapidly making its way into your workplace. In the last four years alone, the use of AI at an enterprise level has grown 270%. As the first wave of AI-based solutions is establishing markets, it has become obvious that businesses are deploying the AI technology mainly to replace the redundant human workforce and save costs in the long run. In the era of big data, digitization has enabled the conditions for AI applications to flourish and generate revenue. But one can only wonder how exactly AI helps businesses achieve that.

But rather than impeding the pace of innovation, these concerns are prompting many corporate security chiefs to accelerate the development of advanced capabilities, in a bid to turn the tables on attackers by better detecting the misuse of data and keeping it safe. "Artificial intelligence is a backbone of security initiatives," Camille François, chief innovation officer of social-media analytics firm Graphika Inc., said Tuesday at the WSJ Pro Cybersecurity Executive Forum in New York. Among other applications, AI is being used in cyberattack modeling, where smart tools identify security vulnerabilities in simulated breaches or hacks, Ms. François said. Separate subscription required for some articles. The strategy is to approach your own systems like a hacker, she added, allowing AI-powered apps to find areas that need stronger security features.

I think the most exciting thing about artificial intelligence (AI) is its unknown nature,