Agenda

IT Security Summit

Agenda

IT Security Summit

One Day Event

8:30 am

Registration & Networking

First 100 delegates walk away with the Saudi National Team jersey, your badge of pride for FIFA World Cup 2026

9:00 am

IDC Welcome Address

Shilpi Handa

Shilpi Handa

Associate Research Director (META), IDC

9:05 am

IDC Keynote: Orchestrating Resilience Amid Transformation, Regulation, and Emerging Threats

META’s cybersecurity agenda is shaped by unprecedented digital acceleration, regulatory dynamism, and the proliferation of advanced threats across IT, OT, and cloud. As organizations embrace AI, platform-centric architectures, and hybrid environments, the attack surface expands and adversaries become more sophisticated—leveraging GenAI, identity compromise, and cyber-physical exploits. At the same time, regulatory mandates around data sovereignty and trust are intensifying. CISOs are challenged to orchestrate holistic defense strategies that unify technology, process, and people: integrating real-time detection, adaptive controls, and continuous compliance, while investing in workforce upskilling and AI augmentation. Achieving resilience in this environment demands a proactive, inclusive approach—balancing innovation, operational continuity, and regulatory alignment across the region’s diverse digital landscape.

Shilpi Handa

Shilpi Handa

Associate Research Director (META), IDC

9:20 am

Sovereign Security: Localizing Talent, Data, and Infrastructure

Middle East organizations are embedding digital sovereignty into their transformation strategies by localizing talent, infrastructure, and AI systems. Sovereign security platforms ensure sensitive data is stored and governed within national borders, reducing exposure to foreign jurisdiction and geopolitical risks. This approach is central to national security, public sector modernization, and technological independence.

9:40 am

AI-Powered Threat Detection and Response

Security service providers in the Middle East are integrating large language models and behavioral analytics to deliver real-time, AI-powered threat detection and response. These systems accelerate threat hunting, automate incident classification, and enable proactive defense against advanced cyber threats, transforming SOC operations and improving regulatory compliance.

Ayman Alissa

Ayman Alissa

Vice President, Cybersecurity Solutions, SBM

9:55 am

Zero Trust Security Models for Government and BFSI

Zero trust security is gaining traction in government and BFSI sectors, driven by regulatory mandates and the need for robust data protection. Middle East governments are updating privacy laws and deploying zero trust frameworks to ensure continuous verification, minimize attack surfaces, and comply with evolving regulations.

10:10 am

Cloud Security: Compliance, Visibility, and Resilience

Cloud security strategies in the region focus on regulatory compliance, data sovereignty, and operational resilience. Organizations are prioritizing local cloud regions, hybrid architectures, and sovereign controls to meet data residency requirements, reduce latency, and ensure visibility across distributed environments.

10:25 am

Operationalizing Cybersecurity Through Outcome-Based Delivery, Quantified Risk, and Resilience-First Prioritization

Cybersecurity leaders are increasingly challenged to demonstrate how security investment translates into measurable business outcomes. This session explores how organizations can operationalize cybersecurity through outcome-based delivery, quantified cyber risk, and resilience-first prioritization. Moving beyond fragmented tools and isolated initiatives, the discussion will focus on building security models aligned with operational continuity, faster recovery, and measurable risk reduction. Attendees will gain practical perspectives on prioritizing investments based on business impact and strengthening resilience through repeatable, outcome-driven cyber operations.

Notis Iliopoulos

Notis Iliopoulos

EVP of MRC, Obrela

10:35 am

Unlocking Your Unfair Advantage Against AI Adversaries

Attackers use AI to strike in minutes. To adapt, we must shift our perspective from manual reaction to automated mobilization. This session demonstrates how to utilize a ‘virtual crew’ of AI agents to ingest intelligence, build attack playbooks, simulate threats to find gaps, and mobilize fixes.

Tarek Kuzbari

Tarek Kuzbari

Vice President EMEA, Picus Security

10:45 am

Building Resilient, Intelligent Networks for the AI Era

AI workloads, autonomous agents, and machine-driven traffic are pushing enterprise networks beyond their breaking point. This session explores why legacy architectures are failing under distributed inference and intelligent adversaries, then shares five immutable principles for the next-generation network.

Saddam Alsad

Saddam Alsad

Senior Sales Manager, Saudi Arabia, Cloudflare

10:55 am

Tea/ Coffee & Networking Break

11:25 am

AI Resilience in the New Threat Landscape: Prompt Attacks and Business Risk

As organizations rapidly adopt Large Language Models (LLMs) and generative AI technologies, a new cybersecurity threat is emerging through prompt-based attacks and AI manipulation techniques. These threats can compromise AI behavior, expose sensitive information, disrupt business operations, and erode organizational trust. This session explores the evolving risks associated with prompt injection attacks, jailbreak techniques, and malicious AI interactions, while highlighting their impact on enterprise security and business continuity. The discussion will focus on how organizations can strengthen AI resilience through proactive detection, secure AI design, governance, and risk management strategies.

Attendees will gain practical insights into building resilient AI systems that can withstand emerging threats while enabling innovation, operational stability, and trusted adoption of generative AI technologies.

Bushra Alhetelah

Bushra Alhetelah

Detection and Intelligence Fusion Specialist, Cyberani

11:35 am

AI-Driven Threats: The Rise of Automated Attacks

How adversaries worldwide are using GenAI toscale and accelerate attacks, and how organizations are countering with AI-driven detection, response,and governance strategies

11:45 am

AI-Driven Security Automation and Orchestration

MDR platforms are enabling rapid, automated incident response, reducing manual intervention and improving operational efficiency. AI-driven orchestration integrates threat intelligence, behavioral analytics, and playbook automation for scalable security operations.

11:55 am

Platinum Tracks (Parallel Sessions)

11:55 AM Start of Session Raffle

Attend the Track, Ask Questions, Rate Sessions & Stand a Chance to win Raffle prizes.

Platinum Track A

12:00 pm – 12:15 pm

Data Privacy and Protection: Navigating New Regulations

Sultan Alanazi

Sultan Alanazi

Country Regional Director, Exabeam

12:15 pm – 12:30 pm

Managed Detection and Response (MDR): The Digital Control Plane

12:30 pm – 12:45 pm

AI-Driven Security Automation and Orchestration

Platinum Track B

12:00 pm – 12:15 pm

Cybersecurity Talent Development and Certification

12:15 pm – 12:30 pm

Supply Chain Security: Mitigating Third-Party Risks

12:30 pm – 12:45 pm

Incident Response and Digital Forensics

12:45 pm

Gold Tracks (Parallel Sessions)

Attend the Track, Ask Questions, Rate Sessions & Stand a Chance to win Raffle prizes.

Gold Track A

12:45 pm – 1:00 pm

Banking Sector Resilience: API Security and Open Banking

1:00 pm – 1:15 pm

GenAI Risks and Opportunities in Cybersecurity

1:15 pm – 1:30 pm

Security Awareness and Culture Building

1:30 pm – 2:00 pm

End User Panel Discussion: Secure AI in Action: Lessons from CISOs

Shilpi Handa

Shilpi Handa

Associate Research Director (META), IDC

Thamer Alrowidhan

Thamer Alrowidhan

Chief Information Security Officer, Confidential

Eng. Khalid Alfaheid

Eng. Khalid Alfaheid

Chief Information Security Officer, Confidential

Asma Alyemni

Asma Alyemni

Chief Information Security Officer, Technical and Vocational Training Corporation

Dr. Saleh Alharbi

Dr. Saleh Alharbi

Chief Information Security Officer (CISO), Shaqra University

Gold Track B

12:45 pm – 1:00 pm

The Identity Attack Frontier

Charbel Chekie

Charbel Chekie

Technical Sales Engineer, Delinea

1:00 pm – 1:15 pm

What All Saudi Compliance Frameworks Agree On

Georgy Ovanesyan

Georgy Ovanesyan

CEO, Axidian

1:15 pm – 1:30 pm

Cybersecurity Talent Development and Certification

1:30 pm – 2:00 pm

End User Panel Discussion: Identity Security: The New Battleground

Shahin Hashim

Shahin Hashim

Associate Research Director (META), IDC

2:00 pm

Mega Raffle Announcement

2:05 pm

Lunch & Networking

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