The opening day of GISEC Global 2026 placed artificial intelligence at the centre of discussions on cybercrime, national resilience and critical infrastructure protection, as international experts examined the shifting geopolitical forces behind the sector.
On the Main Stage, Dr Mohamed Al Kuwaiti, Head of the UAE Cybersecurity Council, addressed AI-enabled threats to critical infrastructure during a session on cybersecurity and the new global order. He linked national and economic security directly to cyber resilience, telling delegates: “Cybersecurity culture is the responsibility of everybody. Our first line of defence is still the community.”
Emmy-nominated actor Michael Kelly delivered a keynote on deepfakes, describing how AI-generated content is eroding identity, consent and trust as a person’s voice and likeness become part of their digital footprint. Drawing on lessons from Hollywood, he called for stronger identity verification and content authentication, saying: “Your voice and your likeness are your identity. No one should be able to use them without your knowledge and consent.”
Exhibitors echoed these concerns on the show floor. Ayman Hammoudeh of Cohesity said AI has introduced a new class of risk alongside its productivity gains, noting that the same AI agents driving business processes can also disrupt operations and compromise data, and stressed the need to protect and recover AI systems from the ground up.
Sessions on oil and gas resilience and critical infrastructure protection examined how compromised operational technology, sensors and digital twins can turn cyber incidents into physical and safety risks. Khaled Al-Taneji of ENOC Group argued organisations should weigh cyber risk by its business, operational and safety consequences rather than treating it purely as an IT-versus-OT issue, and highlighted the importance of manual fallback options during incidents.
The CyberSecurity Congress and DESC’s Government Stage explored international cooperation and sovereign digital capabilities. Amer Sharaf of the Dubai Electronic Security Center outlined the emirate’s approach to AI-era resilience, citing trusted digital identity and the “human firewall,” and said: “Safety is not only in the physical world, but also in the digital world.”
An invitation-only leadership roundtable brought together senior security officials from Visa, Schneider Electric and Under Armour alongside Dr Al Kuwaiti to discuss protecting the global digital economy.
GISEC Global 2026 continues at Dubai Exhibition Centre, Expo City Dubai, until 18 September, with upcoming sessions on AI security, cloud security and digital forensics.
