Adaptiva's State of Patch Management Report 2026 Finds Huge Gaps in Autonomous Patching Maturity

Findings show autonomous patching adoption is accelerating as enterprises work to overcome manual processes and human bottlenecks, but maturity is still lagging

KIRKLAND, Wash., May 21, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Adaptiva, a global leader in autonomous endpoint management, today announced findings from The State of Patch Management Report 2026. Conducted in partnership with third-party research firm Demand Metric, more than 200 security and IT professionals were surveyed to assess how enterprises are evolving their patch management strategies in the face of accelerating cyber threats.

The findings show a clear inflection point: while adoption of automation, AI, and autonomous patching has increased significantly over the past year, most organizations have not yet reached the level of maturity required to reduce internal coordination friction, close visibility gaps, and execute consistently across the full patch lifecycle.

"Piecemeal automation is creating a false sense of security for enterprises," said Deepak Kumar, Founder and CEO of Adaptiva. "There's a significant difference between automating individual tasks and operating a truly autonomous patching system. At enterprise scale, that gap is where risk compounds because attackers are operating at machine speed. In the AI era, deploying fully autonomous patching systems is the only way to secure enterprises at speed and scale."

Key findings underscore how operational maturity varies widely:

• Exposure remains a concern despite faster patching: While 86% of organizations say vulnerability remediation is a critical part of their security strategy, 56% remain concerned they are still exposed to known vulnerabilities that have not yet been remediated in their environments.
• Patch deployment speed has improved significantly: Since 2023, the share of organizations deploying patches within six days has nearly quadrupled, rising from 15% to 59%.
• Autonomous adoption is widespread, but maturity remains uneven: While 44% of organizations report partially automated workflows, more than 60% still rely on manual processes in at least part of the patch lifecycle. Only 8% of organizations report fully autonomous execution today, though 21% expect to reach that level in the near term.
• Coordination and workflow friction are slowing progress: 74% of organizations cite coordinating vulnerability prioritization and remediation as their biggest security issue, reinforcing how disconnected workflows continue to slow patching maturity.
• Third-party patching remains the industry's biggest blind spot: 74% of IT and security professionals have experienced vulnerabilities in third-party applications, yet only 49% include third-party applications in their current patching process, leaving significant portions of the attack surface outside routine remediation workflows.
• Attack speed is accelerating the push toward deeper automation: 90% of organizations plan to expand automation in the next 12 months and automation is the top patch modernization investment priority for 76% of organizations in 2026.

Overall, the report highlights a widening gap between enterprises that are beginning to integrate automation across the patch lifecycle and those still constrained by fragmented workflows and inconsistent execution. While automation adoption continues to accelerate, most organizations remain unable to translate it into consistent, end-to-end operational maturity, limiting their ability to reduce risk at the pace required by today's threat landscape.

"Attackers are increasingly deploying AI tools, and operating at machine speed, which means organizations can no longer afford fragmented or reactive patching processes," said Kumar. "This report helps highlight where enterprises are making progress, where maturity gaps remain, and what it will take to operate securely at scale moving forward."

To download The State of Patch Management 2026 report or to schedule a demo, please visit Adaptiva.com.

About Adaptiva
Adaptiva, the autonomous endpoint management company, delivers the fastest way to patch and manage endpoints at scale. IT and security operations leaders trust the company's OneSite Platform and suite of endpoint management products to gain a hands-free, fully autonomous approach to speeding the continuous delivery of software, patches, and vulnerability remediations. Hundreds of today's largest global organizations rely on Adaptiva to increase operational efficiency, reduce risk, and maximize patching velocity across millions of endpoints. Adaptiva was named a Leader in the 2026 Gartner® Magic Quadrant™ for Endpoint Management Tools, recognized for both Completeness of Vision and Ability to Execute. Adaptiva is headquartered in Kirkland, Washington with offices in the UK and India. Learn more at adaptiva.com, and follow the company at LinkedIn, Facebook and X.

SOURCE Adaptiva