GISEC Global 2025 gets underway in Dubai fuelling growth of the billion-dollar cybersecurity market

• The Dubai World Trade Centre becomes the centre of the cybersecurity universe until 8th May for the world’s third-largest cybersecurity event, and biggest in the MENA.
• The 14th edition, held under the theme ‘Securing an AI-Powered Future’, has attracted more than 450 CISOs and 750 businesses from over 160 countries.
• Kaspersky CEO and founder Eugene Kaspersky is among the top speakers to take to the stage on the opening day.

Dubai, United Arab Emirates, 6th May 2025: Leveraging AI to help build secure and resilient infrastructures and redefining the future of the cybersecurity industry were among the key topics explored at GISEC Global 2025 as the world’s third-largest cybersecurity event got underway today.

Held under the theme of ‘Securing an AI-Powered Future,’ the annual event has attracted more than 750 of the world’s foremost cybersecurity companies, 450 global CISOs and futurists and 25,0000 visitors from over 160 countries. 

With the global cybersecurity market anticipated to be worth $298.5 billion by 2028, according to Markets and Markets, the 14th edition’s opening day saw several panel discussions, workshops and roundtables take place, focusing on the power of AI and how it’s changing the cybersecurity landscape.

‘Industry must rise to meet the challenges of the fifth industrial revolution’

H.E. Dr Mohamed Al-Kuwaiti, Head of the UAE Cybersecurity Council, delivered a powerful speech on the importance of harnessing AI, navigating geopolitical tensions and securing the Digital Future.

He revealed an alarming statistic: the UAE is facing more than 200,000 daily cyberattacks, with government entities being the most targeted. Robust measures are being taken, he said, and with the advent of the fifth industrial revolution, cybersecurity must evolve to tackle the threats posed by AI tools. He highlighted human-data interfaces, autonomous systems and AI governance and digital ethics as key areas that the industry needs to rapidly review.

He said: “Cybersecurity has become an integral part of everything that we do, and the UAE is already moving towards becoming an AI-nation in cybersecurity. There are so many great pillars as part of our UAE National Cybersecurity Strategy that focus on governance, innovation, defence and protection – all of which remain vital for the future.” 

‘It’s businesses versus cybercriminals, but with the right strategy, the industry can win’

Renowned cybersecurity expert and entrepreneur, Eugene Kaspersky, CEO and founder of Kaspersky, was among the speakers to take to the stage. Addressing the audience, he described AI as a tool that is benefiting both cybercriminals and businesses, but emphasised that greater efforts need to be implemented by organisations to help build a safe AI-driven future.He said: “We are living in a world where it’s very much AI vs AI - defence against attack.”

“With that said, the world is interconnected through digitalisation and is part of every aspect of our everyday lives. Using AI will only take that to the next level and will make things faster and better. 

“However, unfortunately, we are facing issues with cybercrime, and that can stop us from using AI globally, but the good news is that cybersecurity companies are investing and working on immunity that will make future systems impeccable and secure, which can help us take the next stage.”

Attendees also gained a fascinating insight into Dubai’s ongoing commitment to protecting the emirate digitally at a time when it is accelerating its efforts to become a ‘smart’ city.

During his presentation, Faisal Abdulaziz, Director of the Cybersecurity Threat Center of Dubai Electronic Security Center (DESC), highlighted the work the organisation is doing to embed cybersecurity into every layer of Dubai’s digital transformation, safeguarding the city’s smart services, critical infrastructure and digital economy – with a key focus on talent development.

Another speaker to address the audience was Aarti Borkar, CVP of Security, Customers Success and Incident Response at Microsoft. She revealed that 80 per cent of leaders cited leakage of sensitive data as their main concern, while 88 per cent of organisations are concerned about indirect prompt injection attacks, emphasising the importance of secure and resilient infrastructure.“Success in AI is defined by your practical techniques and security must come above all else,” she said. 

“When it comes to building safe systems], you must plan the final stage as a perfect solution that you can use and then create milestones on how you get there. Then work on the thing that will hurt the most first, and then gradually the next element. Every day, you have to move towards the next step of being safe and staying compliant, so we can use AI safely and efficiently.”

The event has brought together some of the leading players in the industry, including Huawei, AWS, Microsoft, Google Cloud Security, CISCO, Deloitte, Kaspersky, Check Point, Cloudflare and Honeywell, alongside groundbreaking cybersecurity companies Spire Solutions, CPX, CyberKnight, LinkShadow, OPSWAT, Qualys, CrowdStrike and StrikeReady.

GISEC Global 2025, which is hosted by the UAE Cyber Security Council, supported by DESC, the UAE Ministry of Interior and Dubai Police, will continue on Wednesday with more engaging panel discussions and thought-provoking debates on AI’s pressing issues from weaponised large language models (LLMs) to next-gen AI-powered defences.