14 May 2026
133 Houndsditch, London, United Kingdom
IT Security Summit
Securing an AI-Powered Business
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Navigating the new frontier of trust, compliance and innovation
The IDC European IT Security Summit is the definitive event for business, security, and tech leaders to explore how to embed trust, governance, and resilience at the core of digital transformation.
Europe is at a strategic inflection point. According to IDC’s latest research, security spending in Europe is forecast to reach nearly $60 billion by 2028, growing at a compound annual growth rate of around 9.4% from 2025 to 2029. Organizations are responding to intensifying cyber threats, expanding regulatory frameworks such as the EU AI Act, NIS2, GDPR, and DORA, and a surge in stakeholder demand for digital trust and sovereignty. IDC also reports that software and cloud-native security solutions are expected to account for a majority of global security spend by 2028, as enterprises accelerate their adoption of integrated, analytics-driven protection.
Join IDC’s analysts and industry experts to explore how to build trusted digital ecosystems that deliver both innovation and assurance. Gain insights into Europe’s most dynamic security markets and verticals, and walk away with actionable frameworks to make security a strategic differentiator, not just a reactive cost.
Agenda
The IDC IT Security Summit, is the ultimate meeting point for business, security, and technology leaders looking to embed trust, governance, and resilience at the heart of their digital transformation strategies.
Join IDC analysts and industry experts to explore how to build trusted digital ecosystems that combine innovation with assurance. Gain insights into the UK’s most dynamic sectors — including finance, energy, manufacturing, and public services — and walk away with actionable frameworks to make security a strategic differentiator, not just a reactive cost.
IDC Analysts
Ralf Helkenberg
Research Manager, European Privacy & Data Security
IDC
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Ralf Helkenberg
Ralf Helkenberg is a research manager with the European security research team, responsible for leading IDC’s European Privacy and Data Security research practice. His core research coverage includes the impacts of data protection regulation, such as the GDPR on the technology sector, with key insight into market dynamics, vendor activities in privacy workflow management and data security (including data discovery, DLP, encryption), end-user trends and the future of digital trust.
Prior to IDC, he worked as a B2B marketer within a variety of industries, including IT Governance, Risk & Compliance where he built-up a product and marketing programme for GDPR compliance solutions.
Ralf holds a BA in European Business Administration from Middlesex University, London.
Mark Child
Associate Research Director, Security
IDC Europe
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Mark Child
2026 Prediction
By 2028, 40% of enterprises will use autonomous agent–powered cyber-risk quantification platforms to turn security metrics into financial exposure, guiding budgets, controls, and M&A risk assessments.
Main Themes
Regulation, Resilience and Value Creation
Regulatory compliance is no longer a back-office burden, it’s a strategic enabler. We will explore how organizations can embed regulatory mandates (data privacy, cybersecurity laws, emerging AI/tech rules) into core operations, turning requirements into levers for resilience, stakeholder trust, and business value. Keytopics include cyber-by-design, auditability, vendor accountability, and continuity in the face of disruption.
AI, Automation and Responsible Innovation
AI and intelligent agents are transforming how security is delivered, but with great power comes risk. We will explore pragmatically deploying AI: governance models, guardrails for misuse, prioritization of high-impact use cases, and aligning AI systems with trust, transparency, and accountability.
Operations, Analytics and Resilience Engineering
Detection, response, and recovery are now continuous cycles rather than discrete events. We’ll delve into advanced analytics, managed detection & response, orchestration, external threat visibility (supply chain, third parties), and resilience metrics to operationalize security effectiveness.
The Human Factor: Leadership and Culture
Technology alone doesn’t guarantee security. Leadership, culture, and skill development must align. We will focus on transforming teams, embedding security ownership across functions, and equipping leaders to speak the language of risk and trust to the board, CEOs, and business lines.
Incident and Trust Recovery
Breaches will happen, but what matters is how an organization responds. We will cover crisis communication, forensic response, regulatory handling, insurance, stakeholder trust restoration, and turning adversity into credibility.
Sector and Domain Security Challenges
Different industries and environments pose unique security demands. We will focus on securing critical infrastructure (energy, utilities), connected devices and IoT, healthcare, finance, and emerging environments like smart cities or industrial systems.
2026 Prediction
By 2028, AI agents will be triaging 80% of SOC alerts in the majority of SOCs worldwide.
Venue
133 Houndsditch
Located just minutes from Liverpool Street Station, Convene 133 Houndsditch is one of London’s most modern and versatile event venues—purpose-built to elevate conferences, exhibitions, training sessions, and large-scale meetings. Designed with the delegate experience at its core, the venue combines cutting-edge technology, sophisticated style, and exceptional hospitality to deliver seamless, impactful events.
Knowledge Hub
The NIS 2 directive – where are we now?
The deadline for the transposition of the EU’s second Network and Information Systems Security directive (NIS 2) came and went in October 2024 with only a handful of member states having completed the task.
European ICT spending implications of NATO’s 5% GDP spending target
At the 2025 NATO Summit in The Hague a few weeks ago, member states pledged to allocate 5% of their annual GDP to core defense requirements and defense- and security-related expenditures by 2035.
IAM 2025: The Rise of the Machines
Identity and access management (IAM), and by extension, identity security, is one of the most pervasive and impactful challenges facing all European organizations today, from an operational and risk management perspective.
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