Abstract
The rapid digitalization of public services has amplified the urgency of addressing cybersecurity threats that endanger trust, service continuity, and national security. Artificial intelligence (AI) offers transformative capabilities, such as predictive threat detection, automated compliance monitoring, and protection of critical infrastructures, that can strengthen public-sector cybersecurity governance. However, the integration of AI introduces new challenges, including algorithmic bias, opaque decision-making, regulatory misalignment, and adversarial misuse. This paper develops a theoretical framework that conceptualizes AI-driven cybersecurity governance as the interplay of technological, managerial, and governance dimensions, shaped by mediating factors (public trust, organizational capacity, risk management) and moderating factors (institutional maturity, legal frameworks, international cooperation). Opportunities and risks are analyzed to highlight the dual nature of AI as both resilience enabler and risk amplifier. The paper concludes that governments must balance innovation with accountability through ethical standards, oversight mechanisms, and multi-stakeholder collaboration, advancing both theory and practice in digital-era public administration.