Agentic AI for Cyber Defense: Frameworks, Workflows, and Educational Pathways

The rapid emergence of agentic artificial intelligence (AI), autonomous systems capable of reasoning, planning, tool invocation, and adaptive decision-making, is fundamentally reshaping the cybersecurity landscape. Unlike traditional AI models that respond to single prompts, agentic systems operate across extended, multi-step workflows with minimal human intervention. Security operations centers (SOCs), threat detection pipelines, and incident response workflows are among the domains most directly impacted by this shift. This Research Topic addresses a critical and underexplored gap in the literature: while significant attention has been paid to the offensive threats posed by agentic AI systems, comparatively little research examines how agentic AI can be systematically deployed for cyber defense and how educational institutions can prepare students and practitioners to work alongside these systems effectively. The goal of this collection is to consolidate emerging research on agentic AI frameworks designed for defensive cybersecurity applications, including SOC automation, autonomous threat hunting, incident response, and vulnerability analysis, while simultaneously advancing scholarship on the workforce and educational dimensions of this transition. We aim to produce a coherent body of work that bridges technical innovation and human capacity building, offering both researchers and practitioners actionable frameworks grounded in empirical evidence. Contributions that address the dual-use nature of agentic AI, its simultaneous potential as both a defensive tool and an attack vector, are especially encouraged. This Research Topic welcomes original research articles, systematic reviews, perspective pieces, and case studies addressing the following themes: - Agentic AI architectures for SOC automation and threat detection - Multi-agent system security, including prompt injection defense, memory isolation, and tool misuse prevention - Generative AI foundations applied to cyber workflow automation - Human-AI teaming in security operations - Cybersecurity curriculum design for agentic AI literacy - CAE-designated institution perspectives on workforce preparation - Ethical and governance frameworks for autonomous cyber systems - Empirical evaluations of agentic AI performance in real or simulated security environments. Interdisciplinary submissions that connect computer science, education research, and cybersecurity policy are particularly welcome. Authors are encouraged to situate their contributions within the broader context of the global cybersecurity workforce shortage and the accelerating adoption of autonomous AI in enterprise security operations. Topic editors: Khushi Gupta, Cihan Varol Source: https://www.frontiersin.org/research-topics/80138/agentic-ai-for-cyber-defense-frameworks-workflows-and-educational-pathways