MSc Cyber AI

Queen's University Belfast

MSc Cyber AI sits at the meeting point of two of the fastest-moving fields in technology: artificial intelligence and cyber security. It is built for graduates who want to work on both sides of that intersection; using AI to defend systems, and securing AI systems themselves.

Organisations are deploying AI at enterprise scale, and in doing so are changing the threat landscape in both directions. AI is transforming how threats are detected, how signals are analysed at scale and how quickly incidents are contained. At the same time, AI systems introduce entirely new attack surfaces; adversarial inputs, data poisoning, model theft, prompt injection against autonomous agents, alongside new obligations around governance, robustness and trust. Employers are increasingly looking for people who understand both directions of that relationship, and there are very few of them.

The evidence of demand is clear. Job postings in the UK relating to AI qualifications grew by 33% between 2013 and 2024, and Lightcast projects further growth in the associated occupation groups to 2034, including cyber security professionals (+3.8%), IT professionals n.e.c. (+4.1%) and software development professionals (+4.5%). Lightcast's Global AI Skills Outlook finds that the frequency with which AI skills are requested by employers is rising in both technical and non-technical roles. Regionally, Northern Ireland aims to expand its cyber security workforce to 5,000 professionals by 2030, and AI is central to that ambition.