Danish companies lead the Nordics in using AI for IT security

Denmark ranks first in the Nordics for using AI in IT security. According to the OECD's Digital Economy and Society Outlook 2026, 9.4 percent of Danish companies with at least ten employees used AI for this purpose in 2025. The figure was 7.8 percent in Finland, 7.3 percent in Norway and 5.8 percent in Sweden, against an EU average of 3.9 percent, so Denmark is more than twice the EU level.

The biggest gap is inside Danish business. AI use for IT security is 6.8 percent among small companies, 17.7 percent among medium-sized ones and 34.5 percent among large ones, a difference of 27.7 percentage points between small and large. Large firms use more AI overall (74.5 percent against 37.5 percent for small firms, roughly a factor of two), but that does not explain the whole gap. IT-Branchen's calculation puts security use at about 18 percent of small AI users, 30 percent of medium-sized and 46 percent of large ones.

Denmark's lead also reflects broad AI adoption generally: 42 percent of Danish firms used at least one AI technology, compared with 37.8 percent in Finland, 35 percent in Sweden and 28.9 percent in Norway. Measured against total AI use, Denmark's security share is about 22 percent, slightly above Finland and clearly above Sweden but below Norway's roughly 25 percent. Danish AI users are therefore not clearly more likely than their neighbours to apply AI to security.

For Danish IT companies, the size gap is a market. Smaller firms have fewer internal resources and need security offered as a simple service that can be run with limited capacity. AI cannot replace basic security work. The Danish Agency for Social Security found that 40 percent of Danish SMEs lack a security level matching their risk profile, and 15 percent do not carry out both software updates and backups. That data is from 2023 and cannot be directly linked to the 2025 OECD figures. IT-Branchen says the opportunity lies in clear purposes, documented effect, secure data handling, basic controls and access to advice or operations, otherwise AI may widen the distance between well-protected firms and those lacking time and skills.

The OECD measures adoption, not tasks, intensity or security impact, so the figures show a lead in use, not a Danish security gain.