AI & Cyber Risk in Manufacturing: What Businesses Need to Know

Manufacturing is becoming more connected through ERP, cloud systems, EDI, suppliers and connected production environments. That creates huge opportunities for automation and efficiency – but it also creates more potential points of exposure.

Now AI is changing the picture again.

Attackers can use AI to make cyber threats more scalable and sophisticated. Manufacturers can also use AI to improve visibility, detect unusual activity and strengthen resilience.

So the question isn’t whether manufacturers should use AI. It’s how they can use it without creating unnecessary risk.

AI is changing the cyber threat

Cyber attacks are becoming increasingly sophisticated, and AI can help attackers scale activities such as ransomware and supply-chain attacks.

For manufacturers, this is particularly important because their systems are rarely isolated. ERP, suppliers, cloud platforms, EDI and production environments can all be connected.

A problem affecting one part of that network can potentially become a much wider operational issue.

Cyber risk isn’t just an IT problem

For a manufacturer, a cyber incident can affect much more than computers and data.

It could disrupt:

• Production
• Purchasing
• Inventory
• Orders
• Suppliers
• Deliveries
• Customer relationships

That makes cyber security a business continuity and supply chain issue, not something that should sit solely with IT.

Your ERP can be part of the solution

ERP is usually associated with productivity and operational efficiency, but a well-designed system can also help strengthen cyber resilience.

Centralised data, structured user roles and controlled access can give businesses greater visibility over their information and who can access it.

It can also reduce reliance on disconnected spreadsheets and shadow systems that create additional gaps and complexity.

Where AI can help

AI-enabled ERP can take this further.

Businesses can use AI to help with:

• Supply chain visibility: understanding what is happening across connected operations.
• Anomaly detection: identifying unusual activity or patterns that may need investigation.
• Data analysis: making sense of large volumes of operational information.
• Access control: supporting more intelligent approaches to managing system access.

AI therefore isn’t only part of the threat. It can also become part of the defence.

5 practical steps manufacturers can take

1. Map your connected systems
Understand what connects to your ERP, production environment, suppliers and third-party platforms.

2. Review user access
Know who has access to critical systems and whether they actually need it.

3. Identify shadow systems
Find out which important processes still depend on spreadsheets or disconnected applications.

4. Improve supply chain visibility
Understand which suppliers and third parties your operation depends on and what happens if their systems are compromised.

5. Plan for disruption
Don’t only ask how you will prevent an attack. Ask how quickly you could recover and continue operating if one happened.

These don’t necessarily require an enterprise-level budget. The focus should be on practical, proportionate improvements that reduce exposure and improve resilience.

The bigger picture

AI is creating a new manufacturing cyber challenge, but it also creates new opportunities.

The goal shouldn’t be to slow down digital transformation.

It should be to make sure that AI, ERP and connected systems are designed with security and resilience in mind from the beginning.

For manufacturers, digital transformation and cyber security are increasingly two sides of the same conversation.

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Want to explore this further?

Join Chris Woods, CEO of CyberQ Group, and Rohit Thakral, CEO of Target Integration, for:

Securing the Supply Chain: AI and Cyber Risk in Manufacturing

They’ll explore the AI-driven threat landscape, ransomware and supply-chain attacks, AI-enabled ERP, anomaly detection and practical approaches to building greater cyber resilience.

📅 16 September 2026
🕚 11:00 AM BST
💻 Live on Zoom + Q&A

Register for the webinar