AI, Sovereignty, and Resiliency

AI, Sovereignty, and Resiliency

What CIOs Must Prioritize Now

Overview

The Middle East is navigating a period of significant geopolitical and economic change. For technology leaders in Saudi Arabia, the priority is not only to manage risk, but also to sustain innovation, resilience, and long-term transformation in a complex environment.

The current crisis is introducing new variables into the global technology economy. IDC’s latest outlook indicates that IT spending in the Middle East and Africa is expected to grow by around 5% in 2026, with a downside scenario of 3–4% growth should geopolitical pressures persist.

At the same time, the regional picture is unlikely to be uniform.

Gulf markets such as Saudi Arabia are expected to show greater near-term resilience than more import-dependent economies, giving CIOs in the Kingdom a different challenge: how to maintain momentum on strategic priorities while preparing for a more uncertain external environment.

Join us

The IDC Middle East Virtual Roadshow – KSA Edition to explore how these forces are reshaping CIO priorities in the Kingdom and what they mean for technology investment, AI adoption, digital sovereignty, and enterprise resilience in the months ahead.

Key Imperatives

Resilience First

Ensuring enterprise operations remain uninterrupted through stronger infrastructure, disaster recovery, and business continuity strategies.

Digital Sovereignty

Strengthening control over data, infrastructure, and digital ecosystems to support strategic autonomy in the Middle East.

AI Acceleration

Sustaining AI innovation and scaling intelligent capabilities even as organizations navigate crisis.

Cloud Continuity

Designing resilient cloud architectures that support multi-region availability, operational stability, and sovereign requirements.

Cyber Protection

Safeguarding digital infrastructure, data, and enterprise operations against evolving cyber threats and disruptions.

Smart Investment

Balancing cost pressures while prioritizing strategic technology investments that drive long-term innovation and resilience.

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Agenda

AI, Sovereignty, and Resiliency

One Day Event

11:00 am

Welcome Address

11:05 am

IDC Keynote: The CIO Agenda Reset: What’s Changing for Technology Leaders in the GCC

Attendees will gain insights into new priorities around resilience, data sovereignty, multi-cloud strategies, and talent transformation as CIOs navigate an increasingly AI-first, regulation-driven, and fast-growing digital economy.

Harish Dunakhe

Harish Dunakhe

Senior Research Director, Software & Cloud (META), IDC

11:20 am

Anchored in Intelligence: AI, Data Sovereignty & Resilience in Shifting Economies

The rules of the digital economy are being rewritten. As Gulf economies navigate an era of unprecedented change, the ability to harness AI while maintaining control over data and digital infrastructure has never been more critical. AI is the new currency of power — and for organizations across the region, harnessing the value whilst maintaining sovereignty and resilience is no longer optional; they are strategic imperatives.

Join ServiceNow as we examine the strategies, technologies and practices needed to build intelligent, sovereign and resilient foundations — ones that withstand disruption and drive sustainable long-term growth.

Ask Questions and stand a chance to win exciting e-gift vouchers.

Tolga Tutel

Tolga Tutel

Field CTO, Middle East & Africa, ServiceNow

Shakeel Baig

Shakeel Baig

Specialized Solutions Sales Leader, Saudi Arabia, ServiceNow

11:35 am

The Strategic Imperatives of Digital Sovereignty in the AI-Native Enterprise

As enterprises become increasingly AI-native, digital sovereignty is emerging as a critical strategic imperative rather than a compliance checkbox. This session examines how organizations can maintain control over data, models, and infrastructure while leveraging the scale and innovation of global AI ecosystems. It will explore key considerations such as data governance, model transparency, cloud sovereignty, and supply chain resilience, and how these factors influence architecture and vendor choices. Attendees will gain practical insights into building AI-driven enterprises that balance sovereignty, trust, and competitive advantage in a rapidly evolving digital landscape.

Ask Questions and stand a chance to win exciting e-gift vouchers.

Mohammed A Alreedi

Mohammed A Alreedi

CTO, IBM

11:50 am

Secure information Management for AI, by OpenText

Control your enterprise information to drive trusted, scalable results with AI.

In an AI-first world, success depends on secure, connected, high-quality, and well-governed data. OpenText helps organizations unlock AI’s full potential by unifying data sets across systems such as ERPs, CRMs, supply chains, content management and more, ensuring accuracy with zero hallucination and making sure AI is used in context, all of this in a compliant and secure ways. From ingestion and curation to search, summarization, and protection, we deliver secure information management that fuels smarter automation and scales to make your enterprise ready for the evolving demands of AI.

Ask Questions and stand a chance to win exciting e-gift vouchers.

Marc Merheb

Marc Merheb

Director Solutions Consulting, Middle East Region, OpenText

12:05 pm

AI + Connectivity: Navigating Governance, Risk, and Resiliency in the Generative Era

As enterprises race to adopt AI, CIOs are caught between the demand for rapid innovation and the need to maintain sovereignty and security. The current state of AI has introduced unprecedented risks, from sensitive code leaks and prompt injection attacks to sophisticated AI-driven phishing.

In this session, we will explore how the AI + Connectivity approach allows the next generation of enterprise to embrace AI safely.

Ask Questions and stand a chance to win exciting e-gift vouchers.

Samer Hasan

Samer Hasan

Senior Solutions Engineer, Strategic, Cloudflare

12:20 pm

Strategies for Infrastructure Resilience in the Saudi Arabia with the Cloud

As Saudi Arabia rapidly advances toward the ambitious goals of Vision 2030, organizations face the dual challenge of accelerating digital transformation while safeguarding against disruptions. This presentation explores how enterprises in the Kingdom can leverage Google Cloud to build highly resilient, compliant, and secure cloud infrastructures. By utilizing Google Cloud’s local infrastructure and advanced cloud-native tools, businesses can ensure operational continuity, protect sensitive data, and scale confidently in a dynamic economic landscape.

Ask Questions and stand a chance to win exciting e-gift vouchers.

Quentin Gaumer

Quentin Gaumer

Cybersecurity and Compliance specialist, Middle East, Turkey and Africa, Google Cloud

Sultan Altukhaim

Sultan Altukhaim

Head of Security and Compliance Cloud CISO, KSA, Google Cloud

12:35 pm

Governance, Protection and Resiliency in the era of AI

This session highlights the challenges of managing a rapidly expanding global datasphere, expected to reach 175 zettabytes by 2025. With most data unstructured and recently created, organizations face growing complexity, data sprawl, and security risks, even as AI unlocks valuable insights.

He introduces two frameworks. The 5-Step Value Pyramid helps organizations move from data storage to value creation: identifying useful data, migrating from legacy systems, optimizing storage, automating workflows, and leveraging AI for insights. The 3-2-1-0 Resiliency Standard strengthens data protection by ensuring multiple copies across different media, including one air-gapped, with zero recovery errors.

The presentation concludes by emphasizing Iron Mountain’s integrated approach to physical and digital data management, combining sustainable data centers and advanced restoration capabilities to support AI readiness while ensuring strong governance and long-term data protection.

Ask Questions and stand a chance to win exciting e-gift vouchers.

Cliff Madru

Cliff Madru

Vice President, Digital Solutions, Iron Mountain

12:50 pm

From Risk to Resilience in the AI Era

The role of the CISO is expanding faster than ever. AI adoption is accelerating, regulatory pressure is intensifying, and boards expect clearer answers on risk, resilience, and return on security investment. At the same time, CISOs face growing personal accountability while still being expected to enable innovation rather than slow it down.

In this executive level session let us unpack the key findings from The CISO Report 2026: From Risk to Resilience in the AI Era and explore what they mean for security leaders.

Ask Questions and stand a chance to win exciting e-gift vouchers.

Tom Gamali

Tom Gamali

Field CTO & Strategic Advisor, MEA-TRC, Splunk

1:05 pm

Gold Tracks (Parallel Sessions)

Join the tracks to participate in the session kickoff raffle.

Ask Questions and stand a chance to win exciting e-gift vouchers.

Track A: Data, Trust, and Sovereignty in the Age of AI

1:05 pm – 1:15 pm

The Sovereign Intelligence: Fueling Regional Innovation via Logical Data Management

Alexey Sidorov, PhD

Alexey Sidorov, PhD

Chief Data Evangelist and Data Management Director, Denodo

1:15 pm – 1:25 pm

Trusted & Sovereign AI in Action — From Insight to Responsible Execution

Faye Murray

Faye Murray

Field Chief Data Officer (EMEA), Dataiku

Track B: Future-Ready Security for a Resilient Digital Enterprise

1:05 pm – 1:15 pm

Preemptive Security in an AI World

Tareq Momani

Tareq Momani

Head of Systems Engineering, Middle East, Infoblox

1:15 pm – 1:25 pm

Securing the AI Future: Identity to Protect Sovereign Data

Rob Greenman

Rob Greenman

Principal Sales Engineer, Ping Identity

1:25 pm

Close of Event

Speakers

Shakeel Baig

Shakeel Baig

Specialized Solutions Sales Leader, Saudi Arabia

ServiceNow

Read Bio

Tolga Tutel

Tolga Tutel

Field CTO, Middle East & Africa

ServiceNow

Read Bio

Mohammed A Alreedi

Mohammed A Alreedi

CTO

IBM

Read Bio

Marc Merheb

Marc Merheb

Director Solutions Consulting, Middle East Region

OpenText

Read Bio

Samer Hasan

Samer Hasan

Senior Solutions Engineer, Strategic

Cloudflare

Read Bio

Alexey Sidorov, PhD

Alexey Sidorov, PhD

Chief Data Evangelist and Data Management Director

Denodo

Read Bio

Tom Gamali

Tom Gamali

Field CTO & Strategic Advisor, MEA-TRC

Splunk

Read Bio

Tareq Momani

Tareq Momani

Head of Systems Engineering, Middle East

Infoblox

Read Bio

Cliff Madru

Cliff Madru

Vice President, Digital Solutions

Iron Mountain

Read Bio

Faye Murray

Faye Murray

Field Chief Data Officer (EMEA)

Dataiku

Read Bio

Quentin Gaumer

Quentin Gaumer

Cybersecurity and Compliance specialist, Middle East, Turkey and Africa

Google Cloud

Read Bio

Rob Greenman

Rob Greenman

Principal Sales Engineer

Ping Identity

Read Bio

Sultan Altukhaim

Sultan Altukhaim

Head of Security and Compliance Cloud CISO, KSA

Google Cloud

Read Bio

Knowledge Hub

Rethinking Digital Sovereignty in a Disrupted World

For years, digital transformation was measured by speed, scale, and efficiency. Today, resilience is emerging as a defining metric. As digital infrastructure becomes part of a nation’s critical fabric, disruptions no longer remain confined to IT — they impact economies, public services, and trust itself.

Hande Akdede Erbay
| IBM MEA
Head of Data & AI
Learn More

Partners

Be Part of it!

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IDC Kuwait Advisory Council 2026

IDC Kuwait Advisory Council 2026

Yousef Al Mazeedi

Yousef Al Mazeedi

ICT Director

Capital Markets Authority (Kuwait)

Read bio

Mai B. AlOwaish

Mai B. AlOwaish

Chief Executive Officer

Kuwait Credit Information Network Company (CINET)

Read bio

Essa Haidar

Essa Haidar

Chief Technology Officer

Ooredoo (Kuwait)

Read bio

Dr. Dari Alhuwail

Dr. Dari Alhuwail

PhD, FAMIA, FIAHSI. Associate Professor, Department of Information Sciences

College of Life Sciences at Kuwait University

Read bio

Barrak Al Matar

Barrak Al Matar

Chief Information Officer

Burgan Bank

Read bio

Rami Al-Haddad

Rami Al-Haddad

Group Chief Information Officer

Menzies Aviation

Read bio

The 2027 Imperative:

The 2027 Imperative:

Modernization for Business Growth, Transformation & Continuity

Sponsored By

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Overview

Organizations today are navigating a more demanding technology environment where maintaining
operational resilience while continuing to innovate has become a top priority for CIOs.
Ensuring the continuity of mission-critical enterprise systems is no longer just an IT objective. It is a business imperative. Enterprises are therefore rethinking the role of core enterprise applications. With SAP ECC support ending in 2027, organizations face a pivotal moment: whether to continue relying on legacy systems or modernize their SAP environments to support greater agility, reliability, and long-term business continuity. Migrating SAP systems to the cloud is increasingly being viewed as a strategic step toward strengthening resilience, improving disaster recovery capabilities, and ensuring
uninterrupted business operations.

 

IDC research reveals that more than 77% of organizations in Saudi Arabia consider themselves
digital businesses, where value creation is closely tied to digital technologies across processes,
products, services, and customer experiences. However, many enterprises still face challenges
navigating the complexity of SAP modernization, cloud migration, and integrating advanced cloud native capabilities into their enterprise environments. Modernizing SAP environments is therefore not only about enabling innovation. It is also about building resilient digital foundations that can support continuous operations, safeguard critical data, and respond quickly to disruption.

 

Join this exclusive virtual roundtable to hear from IDC and AWS experts on market insights, real-world experiences, and practical strategies for modernizing SAP in the cloud while strengthening enterprise resilience. This session will also provide an opportunity to exchange perspectives with peers and explore how organizations across the region are preparing their mission-critical SAP environments for a more resilient, cloud-enabled future.

Agenda

The 2027 Imperative:

One Day Event

11:00 am

Welcome Address

Uzair Mujtaba

Uzair Mujtaba

Senior Research Manager, IDC

11:05 am

Scaling Cloud, AI, and Sovereign Readiness in Saudi Arabia

Saudi organizations are scaling cloud and AI investments, but execution gaps persist. This session examines what must change before 2027 across modernization, skills, sovereignty, and operating models to convert infrastructure growth into measurable business resilience and outcomes.

Uzair Mujtaba

Uzair Mujtaba

Senior Research Manager, IDC

11:15 am

AWS for SAP RISE & Beyond

Asif Mujawar

Asif Mujawar

MENAT Specialist SA Leader, AWS

11:25 am

The Power of Choice: Navigating Innovation with Confidence

Riccardo Giorgi

Riccardo Giorgi

Director – RISE with SAP advisory EMEA, SAP

11:32 am

Transform to Compete: Unlocking Growth, Speed, and Continuity with SAP Cloud

Reda Diab

Reda Diab

Director and Head of SAP Transformation Services, IBM Consulting

11:40 am

Open Discussion: From ECC to Cloud: Navigating SAP Modernization Complexities

Uzair Mujtaba

Uzair Mujtaba

Senior Research Manager, IDC

Asif Mujawar

Asif Mujawar

MENAT Specialist SA Leader, AWS

Reda Diab

Reda Diab

Director and Head of SAP Transformation Services, IBM Consulting

Riccardo Giorgi

Riccardo Giorgi

Director – RISE with SAP advisory EMEA, SAP

12:00 pm

Summary & Closing Remarks

Speakers

Uzair Mujtaba

Uzair Mujtaba

Senior Research Manager

IDC

Read bio

Asif Mujawar

Asif Mujawar

MENAT Specialist SA Leader

AWS

Read bio

Reda Diab

Reda Diab

Director and Head of SAP Transformation Services

IBM Consulting

Read bio

Riccardo Giorgi

Riccardo Giorgi

Director – RISE with SAP advisory EMEA

SAP

Read bio

Be Part of it!

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Network Intelligence, AI and Open APIs: Reducing Fraud and Enabling New Digital Products in BFSI

Network Intelligence, AI and Open APIs: Reducing Fraud and Enabling New Digital Products in BFSI

Network Intelligence, AI and Open APIs

Reducing Fraud and Enabling New Digital Products in BFSI

Hosted By

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Digital banking crime in South Africa is rising at an unprecedented rate. According to SABRIC, digital banking crime increased by 86% in 2024. Financial institutions are under growing pressure to reduce fraud without adding customer friction.

 

Organisations are increasingly turning to telco network intelligence to strengthen onboarding, authentication, and payment decisioning. Capabilities such as SIM Swap Status, Number Verification, Device Binding, Location Consistency, Roaming Status, IP-SIM Correlation, and Device Change Frequency provide real-time signals that help detect and prevent fraud.

 

These capabilities are now being standardised and exposed through the GSMA Open Gateway initiative. South African mobile operators are implementing Number Verification and SIM Swap APIs, enabling banks and insurers to integrate trusted network intelligence directly into their fraud prevention strategies.

 

Join us for this executive roundtable discussion, hosted by MTN Business in association with IDC, to explore how financial institutions can reduce account takeover (ATO), lower false positives, improve onboarding conversion, and enable safer digital products by combining AI with Open APIs.

Agenda

Network Intelligence, AI and Open APIs: Reducing Fraud and Enabling New Digital Products in BFSI

One Day Event

8:00 am

Registration & Networking Breakfast

9:30 am

Welcome Address

Jonathan Tullett

Jonathan Tullett

Associate Research Director, IDC

Tumi Sekhukhune-Chamayou

Tumi Sekhukhune-Chamayou

Chief Enterprise Business Officer, MTN SA

9:35 am

IDC Keynote: Transforming Cybersecurity to Deal with Modern Threats

Jonathan Tullett

Jonathan Tullett

Associate Research Director, IDC

9:50 am

Fortifying Security and Compliance: AI in Fraud Detection

Hemu Choonilal

Hemu Choonilal

Chartered CIO, Senior Manager – Enterprise Architect, MTN

10:20 am

Roundtable Open Discussion

10:50 am

Networking

Speakers

Jonathan Tullett

Jonathan Tullett

Associate Research Director

IDC

Read bio

Hemu Choonilal

Hemu Choonilal

Chartered CIO, Senior Manager – Enterprise Architect

MTN

Read bio

Tumi Sekhukhune-Chamayou

Tumi Sekhukhune-Chamayou

Chief Enterprise Business Officer

MTN SA

Read bio

Partner

Venue

Johannesburg Marriott Hotel Melrose Arch

Meeting Room 1

42 The High St, Melrose, Johannesburg

Be Part of it!

Register Now

IDC and Unifyapps Roundtable

IDC and Unifyapps Roundtable

Leading in the Age of AI-Native Organizations

From AI Ambition to Execution

Sponsored By

Logo

AI investment across the Middle East is entering a decisive growth phase. IDC projects that regional AI spending in META will reach $25.9 billion by 2029, expanding at a 42% CAGR, driven by national and enterprise commitments to building AI-powered digital economies.

 

As AI strategies mature, conversations are moving beyond proofs of concept toward proof of value, embedding AI into mission-critical environments. However, the path to scale remains complex. IDC research indicates that, on average, only two out of nine AI use cases successfully progress from initial idea to measurable impact.

 

As Qatar works toward its vision to be a global leader in AI, the focus is increasingly on operationalizing AI responsibly, securely, and at scale.

 

Hosted by UnifyApps in collaboration with IDC, Leading in the Age of AI-Native Enterprises, is a closed-door executive roundtable convening senior leaders from government and enterprise organizations to examine how AI is advancing from experimentation to real-world execution.

Structured as a peer-led, discussion-first forum, the session emphasizes practical insights, shared experiences, and execution realities prioritizing meaningful dialogue over theory or product-centric narratives.

 

Key Discussion Themes:

How Leadership decisions evolve as AI scales across mission-critical environments

Operating models that enable enterprise-wide AI execution

Architectural foundations for secure, scalable AI deployment

Governance frameworks aligned to public-sector and large-enterprise constraints

Agenda

IDC and Unifyapps Roundtable

One Day Event

9:30 am

Registrations & Welcome

10:00 am

UnifyApps Welcome Address

Abdullah Abu-Hakmeh

Abdullah Abu-Hakmeh

Country Manager, Qatar, UnifyApps

10:05 am

Welcome & IDC Keynote – From Experimentation to Business Value: Navigating the Great AI Shift

Harish Dunakhe

Harish Dunakhe

Senior Research Director, Software & Cloud (META), IDC

10:25 am

From AI Pilots to AI-Native Organizations: Unifying Data, Governance & Actionability

Abdullah Abu-Hakmeh

Abdullah Abu-Hakmeh

Country Manager, Qatar, UnifyApps

10:50 am

Beyond AI Pilots: The Architecture That Scales

Haneen Shanableh

Haneen Shanableh

Senior Solutions Architect, UnifyApps

11:15 am

Coffee Break

11:30 am

Panel Discussion – From AI Ambition to Execution: What It Really Takes to Run AI at Scale

Harish Dunakhe

Harish Dunakhe

Senior Research Director, Software & Cloud (META), IDC

Fatma Al Sowaidi

Fatma Al Sowaidi

IT Director, Qatar Financial Centre Regulatory Authority (QFCRA)

Alibek Tnaliyev

Alibek Tnaliyev

SVP at Qatar Insurance Group, Head of QIC Digital Hub

Bashar Yaieesh

Bashar Yaieesh

ISV Leader – Middle East, North Africa and Turkey, Google Cloud

Haneen Shanableh

Haneen Shanableh

Senior Solutions Architect, UnifyApps

12:15 pm

Closing Remarks

Abdullah Abu-Hakmeh

Abdullah Abu-Hakmeh

Country Manager, Qatar, UnifyApps

12:20 pm

Networking Lunch

Speakers

Fatma Al Sowaidi

Fatma Al Sowaidi

IT Director

Qatar Financial Centre Regulatory Authority (QFCRA)

Read bio

Alibek Tnaliyev

Alibek Tnaliyev

SVP at Qatar Insurance Group

Head of QIC Digital Hub

Read bio

Abdullah Abu-Hakmeh

Abdullah Abu-Hakmeh

Country Manager, Qatar

UnifyApps

Read bio

Haneen Shanableh

Haneen Shanableh

Senior Solutions Architect

UnifyApps

Read bio

Bashar Yaieesh

Bashar Yaieesh

ISV Leader – Middle East, North Africa and Turkey

Google Cloud

Read bio

Harish Dunakhe

Harish Dunakhe

Senior Research Director, Software & Cloud (META)

IDC

Read bio

Venue

The St. Regis Doha

Be Part of it!

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Advisory Council Egypt 26

IDC Egypt Advisory Council 2026

Kamal Khafagy

Kamal Khafagy

Chief Information Technology Officer (CITO)

GB Corp

Read bio

Ismail Farid

Ismail Farid

Chief Technology & Information Officer

Ebank

Read bio

Saied El Menshawy

Saied El Menshawy

Group Technology Director

Talaat Moustafa Group

Read bio

Eng. Mohamed Fathy

Eng. Mohamed Fathy

Group Chief Information Officer

EFG Holding

Read bio

Dr. Mohamed Salem

Dr. Mohamed Salem

Chief Information Officer

Juhayna

Read bio

Dr. Amr Alashkar

Dr. Amr Alashkar

Chief Information Officer

Cleopatra Hospitals Group

Read bio

Micheal Mounir

Micheal Mounir

Group Director, AI, IT and Digital

Eva Pharma

Read bio

Rafik ElRaheb

Rafik ElRaheb

Chief Information Officer

Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank (ADIB)

Read bio

Eng. Waleed Al-Assuti

Eng. Waleed Al-Assuti

Chief Information Officer

Banque Misr

Read bio

Knowledge Hub- Shilpi Handa

IDC Spotlight

Shilpi Handa,
Associate Research Director (META)
IDC
IDC Spotlight

Future Trends and Outlook for Cybersecurity in the META Region

The cybersecurity landscape in the Middle East, Türkiye, and Africa (META) is undergoing a structural shift, propelled by accelerated digital transformation, pervasive AI adoption, and a regulatory environment that is both expanding and fragmenting. IDC forecasts that regional cybersecurity spending will surpass $12.5 billion in 2026 (up 14% year on year), with software and identity security outpacing other segments. The region is evolving from a consumer of cyber innovation to a producer, prioritizing sovereign trust, AI security, and cyber-physical resilience as strategic imperatives.

 

Agentic AI is moving rapidly from pilot to production, enabling real-time detection, mitigation, and self-healing across IT, OT, and cloud. While 85% of META organizations report having an AI strategy, fewer than 20% have implemented dedicated AI security frameworks — highlighting a critical gap as CISOs elevate AI governance, model security, and adversarial defense. Identity has become the fulcrum of cyber maturity, with GenAI and deepfake-driven fraud now the top threat vector, driving adoption of ITDR, IGaaS, and behavioral analytics, often integrated with national ID systems.

 

Cyber-physical risk is escalating: over 45% of organizations report increased incidents, and while 70% have integrated IT/OT, less than a quarter have dedicated OT security. Investments are accelerating in OT-MDR, protocol-native AI firewalls, and digital twins, underpinned by critical infrastructure mandates. The region is also shifting from fragmented, best-of-breed tools to platform-centric architectures that unify telemetry and automate response, driven by operational resilience and regulatory alignment rather than vendor lock-in.

 

CISOs must prioritize platform integration, agentic AI with explainability, robust identity and fraud defense, and cyber-physical security. Operationalizing sovereign trust and modernizing for hybrid/cloud-native environments are essential, as is closing workforce gaps through AI augmentation and upskilling. These actions are foundational for sustaining cyber resilience and regulatory compliance in META’s rapidly evolving threat and compliance landscape.

Knowledge Hub

Knowledge Hub

IDC Spotlight: Future Trends and Outlook for Cybersecurity in the META Region

The cybersecurity landscape in the Middle East, Türkiye, and Africa (META) is undergoing a structural shift, propelled by accelerated digital transformation, pervasive AI adoption, and a regulatory environment that is both expanding and fragmenting.

Shilpi Handa
| IDC
Associate Research Director (META)
Read More

Partner Spotlight: Operationalizing Cybersecurity Through Outcome-Based Delivery

Cybersecurity becomes truly effective when it operates like a business capability, not a collection of tools and one-off projects. “Operationalizing” cybersecurity means building a repeatable way to deliver protection, detection, response, and recovery—consistently, measurably, and at scale.

Notis Iliopoulos
| Obrela
EVP of MRC
Read More

Partner Spotlight: The Patch Gap Is Now an AI Problem

AI is accelerating vulnerability discovery faster than teams can respond- turning visibility into risk when action lags behind insight. The edge now belongs to organizations that validate, prioritize, and remediate in real time- closing the gap before threats become impact.

Tarek Kuzbari
| Picus Security
Vice President EMEA
Read More

Knowledge Hub

Knowledge Hub

IDC Spotlight: Future Trends and Outlook for Cybersecurity in the META Region

The cybersecurity landscape in the Middle East, Türkiye, and Africa (META) is undergoing a structural shift, propelled by accelerated digital transformation, pervasive AI adoption, and a regulatory environment that is both expanding and fragmenting.

Shilpi Handa
| IDC
Associate Research Director (META)
Read More

Partner Spotlight: Operationalizing Cybersecurity Through Outcome-Based Delivery

Cybersecurity becomes truly effective when it operates like a business capability, not a collection of tools and one-off projects. “Operationalizing” cybersecurity means building a repeatable way to deliver protection, detection, response, and recovery—consistently, measurably, and at scale.

Notis Iliopoulos
| Obrela
EVP of MRC
Read More

Partner Spotlight: The Patch Gap Is Now an AI Problem

AI is accelerating vulnerability discovery faster than teams can respond- turning visibility into risk when action lags behind insight. The edge now belongs to organizations that validate, prioritize, and remediate in real time- closing the gap before threats become impact.

Tarek Kuzbari
| Picus Security
Vice President EMEA
Read More

Partner Spotlight: When the Threat Landscape Gets Loud, Go Back to Basics

CISOs have never had an easy job, but right now the pressure is particularly acute. Regional tensions, service disruptions, and shifting working patterns are stress-testing business continuity in real time, and cybercriminals are moving fast to exploit chaos.

Mortada Ayad
| Delinea
VP- META
Read More

Partner Spotlight: Vision 2030 and the Evolution of Saudi Cybersecurity

In less than ten years, Saudi Arabia has built one of the most complete sets of cybersecurity regulations in the world. The NCA now has rules for essential controls, critical systems, cloud, telework, operational technology, and data protection. SAMA, CST, and SDAIA add their own requirements. As a result, most organizations must now follow several frameworks at the same time.

Georgy Ovanesyan
| Axidian
CEO
Read More

Partner Spotlight: Reimagining Mobile App Security in the AI Age

The strategic focus must shift from reactive detection to autonomous, real-time prevention. Securing the modern enterprise requires an AI-augmented defense architecture that is as adaptive and dynamic as the adversarial patterns it encounters.

Pushkar Singh
| Protectt.AI
Country Head – MEA
Read More

Partner Spotlight: Fortifying Defenses Against AI-Powered Cyber Threats

We are entering an era where attackers can deploy autonomous AI agents capable of conducting reconnaissance, crafting personalized phishing campaigns, identifying vulnerabilities, and adapting their tactics in real time.

Bahi Hour
| Xage Security
Sr. Regional Director of Solution Engineering
Read More

Partner Spotlight: Human Risk: The X-Factor in Cybersecurity

The evolution of technology in the cyber security industry goes decades back. The technology graduated from anti-virus to firewall, from IPS to HIPS, from Log Management to Next Generation SIEM, from EDR to XDR, but the core question remains unanswered “Is my organization safe despite having the world’s best technology in place”? And it will remain unanswered till we address the “People” part, till we address the human risk.

Syed Abid Ali
| Phishrod
Chief Commercial Officer & Co-Founder
Read More

Knowledge Hub- Shilpi Handa

IDC Spotlight

Shilpi Handa,
Associate Research Director (META)
IDC
IDC Spotlight

Future Trends and Outlook for Cybersecurity in the META Region

The cybersecurity landscape in the Middle East, Türkiye, and Africa (META) is undergoing a structural shift, propelled by accelerated digital transformation, pervasive AI adoption, and a regulatory environment that is both expanding and fragmenting. IDC forecasts that regional cybersecurity spending will surpass $12.5 billion in 2026 (up 14% year on year), with software and identity security outpacing other segments. The region is evolving from a consumer of cyber innovation to a producer, prioritizing sovereign trust, AI security, and cyber-physical resilience as strategic imperatives.

 

Agentic AI is moving rapidly from pilot to production, enabling real-time detection, mitigation, and self-healing across IT, OT, and cloud. While 85% of META organizations report having an AI strategy, fewer than 20% have implemented dedicated AI security frameworks — highlighting a critical gap as CISOs elevate AI governance, model security, and adversarial defense. Identity has become the fulcrum of cyber maturity, with GenAI and deepfake-driven fraud now the top threat vector, driving adoption of ITDR, IGaaS, and behavioral analytics, often integrated with national ID systems.

 

Cyber-physical risk is escalating: over 45% of organizations report increased incidents, and while 70% have integrated IT/OT, less than a quarter have dedicated OT security. Investments are accelerating in OT-MDR, protocol-native AI firewalls, and digital twins, underpinned by critical infrastructure mandates. The region is also shifting from fragmented, best-of-breed tools to platform-centric architectures that unify telemetry and automate response, driven by operational resilience and regulatory alignment rather than vendor lock-in.

 

CISOs must prioritize platform integration, agentic AI with explainability, robust identity and fraud defense, and cyber-physical security. Operationalizing sovereign trust and modernizing for hybrid/cloud-native environments are essential, as is closing workforce gaps through AI augmentation and upskilling. These actions are foundational for sustaining cyber resilience and regulatory compliance in META’s rapidly evolving threat and compliance landscape.