Join us as we kick off the Information & Cyber Security Leaders Summit 2025 with a warm welcome from our conference host. In this opening session, we’ll set the stage for the day’s discussions on cyber security leadership and strategy, offering a brief overview of the agenda and key themes.

You’ll gain insight into how today’s speakers will explore pressing challenges such as cyber risk management, board-level communication, and leading resilient teams. This session will outline the objectives of the summit and prepare attendees for a day of meaningful conversations and insights.

In today’s evolving threat landscape, a robust security-first culture is no longer optional—it’s critical to an organisation’s success. This panel brings together experienced CISOs and cyber security leaders to discuss the strategies required to embed security into every layer of an organisation. The conversation will focus on how to move beyond policy and compliance-driven approaches, creating a culture where every employee, from the boardroom to the frontlines, understands their role in safeguarding the organisation.

The panellists will explore practical steps leaders can take to champion security initiatives, overcome cultural resistance, and promote organisation-wide accountability. They’ll also address the challenges of maintaining a security-first mindset in a hybrid workforce, the impact of leadership in driving this cultural shift, and how to keep security at the forefront in a fast-paced business environment.

Attendees will gain insights into how security leaders can foster collaboration across departments, ensure effective communication, and create long-term behavioural change that reduces risks and supports business growth.

Key Takeaways:
• Leadership’s Role: How CISOs and executives can lead by example to instill a security-first mindset across all teams.
• Organisation-Wide Accountability: Strategies to promote ownership of security responsibilities at every level of the organisation.
• Overcoming Resistance: Practical steps to tackle cultural resistance and embed security as a core organisational value.
• Hybrid Workforce Considerations: Addressing the challenges of building and maintaining a security-first culture in remote and hybrid environments.
• Sustaining Long-Term Change: How to ensure continuous improvement and engagement with security initiatives, even as business priorities shift.

Cybersecurity is not just a technical function; it must be deeply intertwined with the overall business strategy to ensure resilience and growth. This session will focus on how CISOs and senior security leaders can build and implement cybersecurity strategies that align seamlessly with their organisation's long-term business objectives. The discussion will explore the critical role that cyber security plays in supporting business transformation, managing risk, and enabling innovation in a secure environment.

The session will delve into the challenges of balancing security with the need for operational efficiency, innovation, and customer trust. Experts will provide real-world examples of how forward-thinking organisations have developed security programs that not only protect against threats but also drive business value. Attendees will learn how to communicate effectively with the board, gaining buy-in for long-term cybersecurity investments, and how to position cyber resilience as a key competitive advantage.

By the end of this session, attendees will leave with actionable strategies for aligning cybersecurity efforts with overall business priorities and ensuring that security becomes a strategic enabler rather than a cost center.

Key Takeaways:
• Aligning Security with Business Strategy: How to ensure that cybersecurity initiatives support broader business goals and enable growth.
• Securing Buy-in from Leadership: Strategies for communicating the value of cybersecurity to the board and gaining executive-level support.
• Balancing Innovation with Security: Approaches to fostering innovation while maintaining robust cybersecurity protections.
• Risk Management as a Business Enabler: Using cybersecurity risk management to drive business value and resilience.
• Long-Term Strategic Planning: Building a sustainable, future-proof cybersecurity strategy that evolves alongside business needs.

In today’s rapidly evolving digital landscape, cybersecurity is no longer just a technical issue—it’s a core component of business strategy. This session will focus on how cybersecurity leaders can elevate security discussions to the boardroom level, positioning security not merely as a cost but as a business driver that supports innovation, growth, and competitive advantage.

Senior executives will share their insights on engaging the C-suite and boards of directors in meaningful security conversations, helping them understand the long-term business value of cyber resilience. The session will explore how to present cyber risks and opportunities in a way that resonates with top leadership, including how to link security investments to business outcomes such as customer trust, brand reputation, and regulatory compliance.

Attendees will learn practical strategies for framing cybersecurity as a key enabler of business success, securing leadership buy-in for critical initiatives, and making security a priority at the highest levels of the organisation.

Key Takeaways:
• Framing Security as a Business Enabler: How to position cybersecurity as a driver of business growth, innovation, and competitive advantage.
• Boardroom-Level Communication: Best practices for effectively engaging C-suite executives and boards on cybersecurity risks and strategies.
• Linking Cybersecurity to Business Outcomes: Demonstrating the business impact of security investments, from protecting brand reputation to ensuring regulatory compliance.
• Gaining Buy-In for Long-Term Initiatives: Strategies for securing executive support and long-term commitment to cybersecurity projects.
• Turning Cyber Risk into Opportunity: How to leverage cybersecurity to create opportunities for business growth and resilience in the digital economy.

In an era where cyber threats are growing in complexity, building a high-performance security team requires diverse perspectives and skills. This session will explore how neurodiversity—the inclusion of individuals with cognitive differences such as autism, ADHD, and dyslexia—can strengthen cybersecurity teams and enhance their performance. Neurodivergent individuals often bring unique problem-solving skills, attention to detail, and innovative thinking that are invaluable in identifying and mitigating complex threats.

The session will discuss the benefits of neurodiversity in security teams, focusing on how to create an inclusive environment that supports individuals with diverse cognitive abilities. Experts and security leaders will share practical strategies for recruiting, integrating, and retaining neurodivergent talent, ensuring that these individuals can thrive in their roles and contribute meaningfully to organisational goals.

Attendees will gain insights into how embracing neurodiversity not only builds stronger, more resilient teams but also drives innovation and creative problem-solving in cybersecurity.

As cyber threats become increasingly sophisticated, traditional security methods struggle to keep up. This session will focus on how artificial intelligence (AI) is transforming cyber defence by enabling faster detection of threats and more efficient incident response. AI-powered solutions can sift through vast amounts of data, identifying anomalies and threats in real-time, which helps security teams act quickly and prevent damage.

Attendees will learn how AI is being applied to areas such as threat intelligence, automated incident response, and anomaly detection, allowing security leaders to stay ahead of attackers. The session will feature insights from experts on the practical use cases of AI in cybersecurity operations, from identifying vulnerabilities to automating routine security tasks, freeing up human teams to focus on more complex threats.

The session will also explore the potential challenges of integrating AI into existing security frameworks and how to overcome barriers such as trust, accuracy, and scalability.

AI-Driven Threat Detection: How AI enhances the speed and accuracy of detecting advanced cyber threats in real time.

Key Takeaways
• Automated Incident Response: Leveraging AI to automate the initial stages of incident response, reducing response times and mitigating damage.
• Scalable Cyber Defence: How AI can help organisations scale their cybersecurity operations to match the complexity and volume of emerging threats.
• Overcoming Challenges of AI Integration: Strategies for implementing AI tools within existing security frameworks, addressing trust, accuracy, and scalability concerns.
• Future Trends in AI for Cybersecurity: A look at the evolving role of AI in improving defence strategies and predicting future threats.