Ray Ellis is the leading authority on AI security within PMI. Based in the UK, he brings deep expertise in AI Governance, with a particular emphasis on securing AI deployment, leveraging AI for cybersecurity, and promoting responsible integration of artificial intelligence across enterprise environments. Ray’s insights into emerging threats and shifting regulatory landscapes make him a pivotal figure in shaping secure AI adoption at scale. He is also a published author, known for AI Governance Games, a thought-provoking exploration of innovative strategies for managing AI oversight. 𝗦𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗧𝗶𝘁𝗹𝗲: From no seatbelts to secure by design at AI speed 𝗦𝘆𝗻𝗼𝗽𝘀𝗶𝘀: From no seatbelts to secure by design at AI speed explores the urgent need for embedding security into AI systems from the ground up. Ray Ellis shares practical strategies and governance insights for building resilient, responsible AI architectures bridging the gap between innovation and protection in fast-moving enterprise environments.

Dr Melanie Garson is cyber and tech geopolitics policy specialist and public speaker who connects the dots between new and emerging tech and its potential impact on security, foreign policy, diplomacy and the world order. She is an Associate Professor in the Department of Political Science at UCL where she teaches her flagship course “From Cyberwarfare to Robots: The Future of Conflict in the Digital Age,” and Director of Research at ISTARI. She worked for four years as the Cyber Policy and Tech Geopolitics Lead at the Tony Blair Institute, and is also a lawyer and mediator. Melanie regularly provides commentary on geopolitics and tech in podcasts, webinars and at major media outlets including Bloomberg, BBC, Sky, CNBC, CNN, Fox News, France 24, and DeutscheWelle. 𝗦𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗧𝗶𝘁𝗹𝗲: Coltan, Cables and Constellations: The New Geopolitical Frontiers 𝗦𝘆𝗻𝗼𝗽𝘀𝗶𝘀: As we accelerate our adoption of new technologies in an uncertain and volatile world , the stack on which is built is increasingly exposed to geopolitical risk as expose companies to geopolitical risks at every level with global actors seeking dominance both vertically and horizonally. Whether opportunistic, state-backed, or hacktivist— malicious actors target corporate, government and scoietal weak points to destabilise companies and economies . Building long-term resilience means visualisng risk, identifying periods of heightened tension, and developing strategies to protect supply chains and critical operations from being on the frontier of next generation geopolitical competition.

He has worked at OPSWAT for over seven years, where he has been the technical lead for the business’s efforts to sell and deploy its MetaDefender product line across the EMEA region. George is experienced in delivering technical presentations, demonstrations, and webinars that help OPSWAT customers understand the full benefits of the MetaDefender product range. 𝗦𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗧𝗶𝘁𝗹𝗲: AI vs AI: Stopping Machine-Generated Malware with a Defense-in-Depth Pipeline 𝗦𝘆𝗻𝗼𝗽𝘀𝗶𝘀: AI is raising the stakes on both sides: adversaries now churn out polymorphic, sandbox-evasive malware while defenders scramble to detect earlier and faster. In this session, I’ll unpack a modern malware detection pipeline—content disarm and reconstruction, multi-engine scanning, dynamic/sandbox analysis, and zero-trust orchestration—and pinpoint where AI truly moves the needle.

𝗠𝗼𝗱𝗲𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗼𝗿: Independent advisor with more than 20 years of experience in cyber operations, crisis management, training and strategic advisory for local and international organizations. He was coaching, training and leading security professionals who became the new generation of CISOs or successful cyber entrepreneurs. Sergiu is supporting organizations from critical sectors to identify their cyber resilience maturity level, to define and execute their cyber strategy, as well as to become optimally ready to absorb the impact of upcoming cyber crises. Sergiu has multiple certifications in cyber security and privacy, a merit diploma from the IT Security Master of Science, and recently became PhD after researching artificial intelligence as an enabler for software resilience. He is also a formally authorized trainer and a passionate lecturer for cyber dreaming students.

Nicole Dove is an award-winning cybersecurity leader who leads a team of global BISOs at Riot Games, focused on securing games throughout their life cycles. Nicole hosts and produces the Urban Girl Corporate World and Women in Security & Privacy podcasts. She has a collection of cybersecurity-focused LinkedIn learning courses, is a 3x tech startup board member, has done voiceover work on 2 Grand Theft Auto titles and is writing her first book, Learning Cybersecurity. 𝗦𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗧𝗶𝘁𝗹𝗲: Business Information Security Officer: Your Cybersecurity Secret Weapon 𝗦𝘆𝗻𝗼𝗽𝘀𝗶𝘀: The Business Information Security Officer is an exciting, emerging role in the cybersecurity industry, but do business and tech leaders know how to leverage this function? In this session, participants will learn how to best position the BISO function to be an enabler of innovation and strategic propeller of success by ensuring alignment of business and tech initiatives.

Raj Samani is a computer security expert with more than 25 years’ experience building a stronger, more resilient cybersecurity community through organizational leadership and industry activism. As Senior Vice President and Chief Scientist at Rapid7, Raj is responsible for extending the scope and reach of Rapid7’s research initiatives to further inform and equip business and government leaders. Immediately prior to joining Rapid7, Raj was a senior executive at McAfee, where he served as McAfee Fellow and Chief Scientist after serving as VP and Chief Technical Officer in EMEA. Raj has assisted multiple law enforcement agencies in cybercrime cases, and is special advisor to the European Cybercrime Centre (EC3) in The Hague. Raj has been recognized for his contributions to the computer security industry through numerous awards, including the Infosecurity Europe hall of Fame, Peter Szor award, and Intel Achievement Award, among others. He also co-authored the book “Applied Cyber Security and the Smart Grid” as well as “CSA Guide to Cloud Computing,” and he has served as a technical editor for numerous other publications. In addition to speaking at myriad cybersecurity industry events, Raj is sought after for his commentary on breaking news such as major security breaches and emerging threats. His commentary has appeared in Forbes, The Wall Street Journal, Business Insider, The Daily Beast, and more. He can be found on X at @Raj_Samani 𝗦𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗧𝗶𝘁𝗹𝗲: Cybercrime 2.0: The Emerging Capabilities of organised Crime 𝗦𝘆𝗻𝗼𝗽𝘀𝗶𝘀: Over the past three years, the capabilities of cybercrime groups have significantly improved. This session explores the reasons behind their vast improvement. It focuses specifically on notorious criminal gangs by evaluating recent attacks and detailing the tools they used to infiltrate and extort victims worldwide.

PhD. Dan Tofan is an experienced cybersecurity expert with over 15 years of practice across leading private sector companies, EU institutions, national government agencies, and academia. He holds a PhD in Computer Science and several international certifications in cybersecurity and project management. Throughout his career, he has led numerous teams and projects in diverse organizations. Currently, he serves as Global Manager for Service Excellence in Cyber Security at Cegeka and was recently elected President of the ISC2 Romania Chapter. 𝗦𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗧𝗶𝘁𝗹𝗲: SOC of the Future: Balancing Automation, AI, and Human Ingenuity 𝗦𝘆𝗻𝗼𝗽𝘀𝗶𝘀: In a world where cyber threats evolve faster than ever, the Security Operations Center (SOC) must evolve too. This session takes you inside the anatomy of the modern SOC — its architecture, playbooks, and human dynamics – and explores how AI, automation, and orchestration are reshaping incident response. Through real-world stories and future-ready models, Dan Tofan gives you a glimpse into how the future of security operations might look like.