GISEC Global will open its 15th edition at Dubai Exhibition Centre, Expo City Dubai, from September 16 to 18 with a newly expanded “Cyber First: The New Digital Order” agenda built around AI, digital sovereignty and quantum preparedness.
The event is expected to bring together more than 25,000 cybersecurity professionals, over 750 exhibiting brands, 350-plus speakers and participants from 180 countries, according to the Emirates News Agency and organisers. It is being held in collaboration with the UAE Cyber Security Council, Dubai Electronic Security Center, the Ministry of Interior and Dubai Police.
The programme’s most distinctive addition is the Cyber First Leadership Summit, designed to convene ministers, national cyber authorities, chief information security officers and technology executives around the geopolitical and economic implications of AI-driven risk, digital sovereignty and resilient digital infrastructure.
GISEC is also introducing a National Defence and Sovereign Cyber Track, while its former Global Cyber Drill is being developed into a Global Quantum Drill focused on post-quantum readiness. The wider programme spans operational technology, critical infrastructure, cloud security, cyber diplomacy, ethical hacking and AI-enabled defence.
The move to Expo City gives the event a larger innovation-oriented setting as cybersecurity moves from a technical procurement category to a board-level concern for banks, logistics operators, energy companies, governments and fast-growing technology firms. The 2026 speaker roster includes leaders from the UAE government, DP World, Amazon Web Services, Visa, Schneider Electric and cybersecurity startups including Torq and Aikido Security.
The digital economy can only thrive if it is built on trust, resilience and secure innovation.
— Trixie LohMirmand, Executive Vice President, inD
For investors and founders, the commercial draw is the concentration of enterprise buyers, government decision-makers and security specialists in one venue. The event’s challenge is equally clear: translating the rhetoric around AI resilience and quantum security into deployable products, partnerships and governance standards. GISEC Global opens at Dubai Exhibition Centre on September 16.