AI reshapes the cybersecurity battlefield

■ How would you describe the current cybersecurity landscape in the UAE and the wider region? What are the biggest concerns for organisations today?

The United Arab Emirates and wider Middle East are experiencing rapid digital transformation, with organisations operating increasingly complex hybrid IT environments. Simultaneously, ransomware, identity-based attacks, supply-chain vulnerabilities, and AI-powered cybercrime are becoming more sophisticated. For businesses, the challenge is no longer simply deploying security tools, but maintaining visibility and resilience across cloud, on-premises infrastructure, endpoints, identities, and applications.

■ With threats such as ransomware, identity attacks, and AI-powered cybercrime on the rise, where do you see the biggest gaps in enterprise cybersecurity?

The digital identity is now the primary perimeter of defence, not just one control among many. Human, privileged, machine, and application identities span hybrid, multi-cloud, and unmanaged environments that directory-bound tools cannot fully reach. Organisations therefore need directory-independent visibility and control, ensuring access is governed consistently across their entire environment.

AI is also compressing the ransomware timeline by helping attackers identify vulnerable endpoints and move laterally faster. Genuine resilience requires a layered approach combining endpoint protection, identity governance, AI-assisted detection, and tested recovery capabilities.

■ How are AI and automation helping security teams manage emerging threats?

AI is a force multiplier on both sides. Attackers use it to create convincing phishing campaigns, evasive malware, and automated reconnaissance. Organisations, meanwhile, can use AI to correlate signals across environments and accelerate detection and response through tools such as Zia Agents.

However, ungoverned AI adoption creates new risks. Organisations must understand what data their AI tools access and where that data moves to avoid creating additional blind spots.

■ What are ManageEngine’s priorities at GISEC Global 2026?

This year, AI-powered automation is the key focus for ManageEngine at GISEC Global 2026. ManageEngine will showcase Zia Agents, its proprietary agentic AI platform, to demonstrate how IT and security operations can be transformed and made more efficient. Organizations can deploy Zia Agents across ManageEngine’s digital enterprise management suite, where they operate within a secure, privacy-compliant framework, orchestrating and executing tasks end-to-end. On the security front, Zia Agents automate access reviews, alert correlation, investigations, EDR triage, and device diagnostics. This reduces manual effort and enables security teams to focus on critical decisions.