GISEC Global will return to Dubai from September 16 to 18 with its 15th edition expanding 20% year-on-year, bringing together more than 25,000 cybersecurity professionals as AI, digital sovereignty, quantum security and critical infrastructure protection move higher on government and enterprise agendas.
The 2026 edition will take place at the Dubai Exhibition Centre at Expo City Dubai under the theme “Cyber First: The New Digital Order.”
Organised by inD, a joint venture between Dubai World Trade Centre and Informa, the event is hosted and endorsed by the UAE Cyber Security Council, Dubai Electronic Security Center (DESC), Ministry of Interior and Dubai Police.
More than 750 cybersecurity brands to participate
GISEC Global 2026 is expected to bring together more than 25,000 cybersecurity professionals, over 750 exhibiting brands and more than 350 speakers.
Participants are expected from more than 180 countries.
The 20% year-on-year expansion reflects growing demand for cybersecurity technologies and collaboration as organisations contend with increasingly complex threats across cloud infrastructure, AI systems, operational technology and critical national infrastructure.
Exhibitors will include AWS, Google Cloud, Huawei, EDGE, CPX Holding, CyberKnight and Spire Solutions, alongside hundreds of other cybersecurity and technology companies.
Cyber First puts security at leadership level
A major addition for 2026 is the Cyber First strategic theme, which positions cybersecurity as an economic, government and leadership issue rather than primarily a technical responsibility.
The new Cyber First Leadership Summit will bring together government ministers, national cybersecurity authorities, chief information security officers and technology executives.
Discussions will examine issues including the geopolitical impact of AI, digital sovereignty, nation-state cyber threats and the resilience of digital economies.
Confirmed speakers include UAE Cyber Security Council Head Dr Mohamed Al Kuwaiti, Visa SVP and CISO Subra Kumaraswamy, Under Armour Global CISO Alex Attumalil and Aikido Security Co-founder and COO Roeland Delrue.
Al Kuwaiti said advances in AI, geopolitical instability and rapidly evolving digital technologies are reshaping the cybersecurity environment and increasing the importance of international cooperation.
Quantum security receives dedicated focus
Quantum computing and its implications for existing security architectures will receive increased attention at this year’s event.
The Quantum Security Summit, hosted by the UAE Cyber Security Council and Technology Innovation Institute, will focus on preparing governments and organisations for the transition toward post-quantum security.
GISEC Global will also introduce the Global Quantum Drill, evolving the event’s previous Global Cyber Drill into a quantum-readiness exercise.
The initiative is intended to test preparedness for security challenges associated with the emergence of quantum computing.
National defence and critical infrastructure added to agenda
A new National Defence & Sovereign Cyber Track will examine cybersecurity from a national security perspective.
Other conference stages will address operational technology security, critical infrastructure protection, cyber diplomacy, ethical hacking, AI-powered cyber defence, cloud security and workforce development.
The expanded agenda reflects the widening attack surface created as physical infrastructure, enterprise IT, cloud platforms and AI systems become increasingly interconnected.
This is particularly significant for governments and operators of energy, transport, telecommunications and other essential infrastructure, where cyber incidents can have consequences beyond data loss or conventional IT disruption.
Dubai expands cyber skills initiatives
DESC will also use GISEC Global 2026 to continue several cybersecurity capability-building programmes.
The second editions of the Dubai Cyber Challenge, Government Edition, and the School of Cyber Defense will take place as part of the event.
The School of Cyber Defense gives university students across the UAE opportunities to develop and demonstrate cybersecurity skills, while the government-focused initiative targets professionals responsible for protecting public-sector systems.
DESC CEO Yousuf Hamad Al Shaibani said the programmes form part of wider efforts to strengthen cyber capabilities across different levels of Dubai’s digital ecosystem.
AI reshapes both cyber defence and threats
Artificial intelligence will feature prominently throughout the event as security organisations examine its growing role on both sides of the cybersecurity equation.
AI can support faster threat detection, automated response and analysis of large volumes of security data. At the same time, increasingly capable AI tools can introduce new vulnerabilities and potentially increase the sophistication and scalability of cyber threats.
The event will therefore examine AI-enabled defence alongside broader questions around governance, infrastructure resilience and securing AI-powered systems themselves.
GISEC aligns with wider UAE digital strategy
GISEC Global is also positioned as part of the UAE’s broader effort to strengthen its role in global cybersecurity cooperation.
The event supports initiatives including the Dubai Cyber Security Strategy, Dubai Economic Agenda D33, the Digital Economy Strategy and We the UAE 2031.
As the UAE expands its digital economy, AI infrastructure and connected public services, cyber resilience is becoming increasingly important to maintaining trust in those systems.
Why this matters
GISEC Global’s 20% expansion reflects a broader shift in cybersecurity from an IT function into an issue of national resilience and economic competitiveness.
The combination of AI, cloud adoption, geopolitical tensions, critical infrastructure digitisation and the emerging quantum threat is forcing governments and businesses to rethink how they approach security.
The addition of dedicated sovereign cyber, national defence and quantum security programmes is particularly notable. These areas demonstrate how cybersecurity discussions are moving beyond protecting individual organisations toward protecting entire digital economies and technology ecosystems.
Editor’s note
The defining theme of GISEC Global 2026 is the widening definition of cybersecurity itself.
AI security, post-quantum readiness, sovereign infrastructure and operational technology protection are no longer separate conversations. They increasingly intersect as governments digitise essential services and enterprises connect more critical operations to cloud and AI platforms.
For the UAE, hosting an event of this scale also reinforces its ambition to become a global meeting point for cybersecurity policy, investment and technology. The more important measure, however, will be whether discussions and exercises at GISEC translate into stronger operational resilience, international cooperation and practical security capabilities across the region.
