The full panel discussion at the Future Investment Initiative in Riyadh converged on a sobering conclusion:
Cybersecurity has become a leadership, governance, and sovereignty issue — not a technical one.

🎧 Watch the full FII panel discussion
Across the conversation, three themes stood out.
1. The Nature of Cyber Conflict Has Changed
Strategically driven cyberattacks are no longer about ransom or disruption alone.They are about shaping behaviour, eroding trust, and weakening decision-making — often long before a crisis is visible.
2. Humans Are Now the Primary Attack Surface
The most effective attacks today exploit psychology, urgency, and authority — not zero-day vulnerabilities.This is why training, rehearsal, and scenario-based exercises matter more than ever.
3. Cyber Resilience Is Becoming a Valuation Issue
Investors, insurers, regulators, and acquirers are increasingly assessing organisations based on how well they understand and manage cyber risk at board level.
What Has Become Even Clearer
What has become even clearer in recent months is that:
- Artificial intelligence has accelerated both attack sophistication and defence requirements.
- Boards that cannot translate cyber risk into business risk are exposed.
- Sovereigns and companies that underinvest in human-centric resilience will pay a strategic price.
The Practical Takeaway
The final takeaway from the panel was deliberately practical.
If you want your organisation to think like a CISO,
you must stop treating cybersecurity as a function and start treating it as a leadership discipline.
This full video brings together the entire discussion from strategic cyber threats, to execution frameworks, to the role of people as the decisive factor in cyber resilience.
🎧 Watch the full FII panel discussion
Watch the complete FII panel discussion on YouTube for the full exchange and deeper context.
▶ Watch the Short Extracts
Short Extract 1: Humans as the Primary Attack Surface
This short video highlights how modern cyber operations exploit psychology, authority, and behaviour rather than technical vulnerabilities and why human-centric resilience is now the decisive factor in cyber defence.
Short Extract 2: Cybersecurity Is a Leadership Issue
This short video focuses on why cybersecurity has moved beyond IT and into the realm of leadership, governance, and strategic accountability — and why boards can no longer afford to treat it as a delegated function.
With Thanks to my fellow panel speakers:
Yasser Alswailem – CEO, sirar by stc
Philippe Keryer – SEVP Strategy, Research & Technology, Thales
Ameya Talwalkar – Founder & CEO, Cequence Security
Moderator: Xenia Wickett, Director, Wickett Advisory
And the FII Institute team for hosting an important and timely discussion.


