Dubai — IDC (International Data Corporation), the world’s premier source of technology intelligence, announced the UAE’s top 33 cybersecurity leaders during an award ceremony at the IDC CISO Roundtable in Dubai last week.
The prestigious IDC CISO Excellence Awards 2025 sought to recognize individuals and teams that have demonstrated outstanding leadership, innovation, and impact in cybersecurity. The award ceremony spotlighted achievements across various sectors, reflecting the UAE’s dynamic security landscape and commitment to excellence.
Winners of the IDC CISO Excellence Awards 2025 — UAE Edition
• Ahmed Al Zarouni – A Government Entity
• Ali Katkhada – Depa Group
• Anas Eltahir – Dubai Government Legal Affairs Department
• Anoop Kumar – Gulf News
• Anoop Raj – Al Habtoor Group
• Aslam Kherawala – Ilyas & Mustafa Galadari Group
• Chenthil Kumar – Red Sea International
• Denis Yakimov – Equiti Group
• Faraz Ghori – NMC Group
• Faisal Khan – Dubai World Trade Centre (DWTC)
• Feroz Patel – IMG Groups
• Georges De Moura – Edge Group
• Hani Bani Amer – Al Etihad Payments
• Hussain AlKhalsan – Zand Bank
• John Len – Al Dahra Holding
• Kashif Khan – Abu Dhabi National Insurance Company (ADNIC)
• Kiran Kumar – Quantum Wealth Holding (Alpheya) – backed by Bank of New York
• Mansoor Ali Khan – Mawarid Holding
• Mohamed Riyasudeen – Al Ain Ahlia Insurance Company
• Mohamed Sadawy – Bukhatir Group
• Mohammed Salem Matar Alshamsi – Emirates Health Services
• Mohit Duggar – Millennium Place Barsha Heights Hotel
• Nisha Rani – MMI ELR
• Parthasarathy Muthukrishnan – Deem Finance
• Sajith Pillai – Millennium Place Dubai Marina
• Santosh Kumar Pathak – Kings College Hospital Dubai
• Sarfaraz Muneer – Mubadala Investment Company
• Shafiullah Ismail – Mubadala Capital
• Sulthan Ibrahim – Ruya Bank
• Talal Albalas – Ministry of Culture
• Vikalp Shrivastava – Kerzner International
• Vishal Vaghela – Americana Restaurants
• Zaheer Shaikh – Al Maryah Community Bank (Mbank)
As the UAE emerges as a global leader in digital innovation, fueled by pioneering initiatives like the Dubai Blockchain Strategy and Abu Dhabi’s AI integration efforts, the need for advanced, proactive cybersecurity frameworks has become more urgent than ever before. The IDC CISO Roundtable, hosted at Dubai’s Jumeirah Mina Al Salam on June 19, 2025, provided a powerful platform for industry decision-makers to share insights, strategies, and actionable takeaways to meet these growing demands.
The day opened with a welcome address and keynote by Shilpi Handa, IDC’s associate research director for security and trust in the Middle East and Africa, who highlighted the strategic need for cybersecurity to evolve from reactive defense to integrated, outcome-driven security models. “The security playbook is being rewritten,” said Handa. “Organizations in the UAE are moving fast — platformizing defenses, embracing AI, and shifting toward proactive, outcome-based security. Today’s discussions weren’t just timely — they were necessary.”
The agenda featured a series of high-impact panel discussions that explored real-world strategies for tackling the most pressing challenges faced by CISOs today — from securing AI systems and managing regulatory compliance to overcoming the complexities of fragmented security tools and proving ROI to stakeholders.
Key discussion topics included “The AI Security Playbook,” which provided CISOs with actionable strategies to counter next-gen threats, “Securing AI in the Age of Innovation,” which addressed the challenges of governing generative and agentic AI, and “Outcome-Based Security,” a pragmatic conversation on balancing security budgets with business risk and compliance obligations.
The event wrapped up with a vibrant networking session and forward-looking discussions on the future of AI, trust, and enterprise resilience in an increasingly digital world.
For more information about this event, please contact Sheila Manek at smanek@idc.com or on +971 4 446 3154. Alternatively, you can visit the event’s website by clicking here.
About IDC
International Data Corporation (IDC) is the premier global provider of market intelligence, advisory services, and events for the information technology, telecommunications, and consumer technology markets. With more than 1,300 analysts worldwide, IDC offers global, regional, and local expertise on technology, IT benchmarking and sourcing, and industry opportunities and trends in over 110 countries. IDC’s analysis and insight helps IT professionals, business executives, and the investment community to make fact-based technology decisions and to achieve their key business objectives. Founded in 1964, IDC is the world’s leading tech media, data, and marketing services company. To learn more about IDC, please visit www.idc.com. Follow IDC on Twitter at @IDC and LinkedIn. Subscribe to the IDC Blog for industry news and insights.
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