Speakers

Barbara Pires, Chief Information Security Officer, Booking Holdings Financial Services

With nearly 20 years of experience in cybersecurity, risk management, and information security, Barbara has built a reputation as a trusted leader and problem-solver. Starting her career in operations, she transitioned into cybersecurity, using her broad knowledge to bridge the gap between business needs and security. She has played a key role in implementing regulatory... frameworks, security frameworks, and security monitoring programs, helping many organisations achieve compliance and strengthen their cybersecurity posture. She has also led multiple companies through ISO certification and security compliance processes, making security more effective and manageable. She has participated in women’s leadership programs and trained in Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP), which she uses to help others develop confidence and leadership skills. She ensures cybersecurity risks are communicated honestly and clearly, even when the message is difficult. She is a mentor, an advocate for women, and a leader who is shaping the future of cybersecurity. Barbara has had a major impact on cybersecurity teams, regulatory compliance, and mentorship programs. She has successfully developed risk frameworks, streamlined compliance processes, and made security more accessible to businesses.more

Lalit Bhakuni, Senior Leader Cyber Defense, ABN AMRO Bank

Lalit Bhakuni is Senior Leader Cyber Defense at ABN AMRO Bank. He has nearly two decades of experience spanning financial services, telecommunications, manufacturing, and the automotive industry. Throughout his career, Lalit has progressed from hands-on cybersecurity and information security roles to leading global teams, strategic transformation programs, and enterprise-wide... cyber resilience initiatives. In his current role at ABN AMRO, he focuses on securing the bank’s global digital landscape, strengthening resilient capabilities, anticipating emerging threats, and protecting critical assets to reinforce trust. Previously, Lalit served as Vice President of Enterprise IT Security (IT/OT) at Volvo Group, where he led seven teams and helped advance the organisation’s global cybersecurity program across IT and operational technology. His work focused on strengthening enterprise cyber resilience, driving security transformation, and building scalable capabilities that protected critical business operations while enabling digital innovation. Lalit combines the mindset of a strategist and an entrepreneur, viewing cybersecurity not simply as a protective function, but as an enabler of resilience, innovation, and growth. Driven by curiosity, collaboration, and learning through doing, he is passionate about solving complex challenges at the intersection of technology, risk, and business. Since 2019, Lalit has also served as a Guest Lecturer at TIAS School for Business and Society, where he teaches Cybersecurity Operations & Analytics to Master’s-level audit students, connecting cybersecurity theory with real-world practice.more

William Dixon, Senior Associate Fellow, Royal United Services Institute, & Associate Fellow, GLOBSEC

William Dixon is Senior Associate Fellow of the Royal United Services Institute, and Associate Fellow at GLOBSEC — a world-leading defense and security think tank — and a featured contributor on Cyber for the World Economic Forum. He started his career at GCHQ working on international security issues, and held senior positions at Barclays and the World Economic... Forum where he was Head of Future Networks and Technology. He holds a Masters Degree from the War Studies of King's College London, and is regularly featured in media outlets.more

Herbert Leenstra, Security Architect, Rabobank

As Enterprise Security Architect at Rabobank, Herbert Leenstra plays a leading role in shaping the bank’s global security architecture. Since joining Rabobank in 2019, he has driven enterprise-wide security initiatives and strengthened the organization’s cyber resilience.Herbert is a member of the Security Management Team (MT) and Enterprise Architecture Board... (EAB), and chairs the Security Architecture Board (SAB), contributing to strategic decisions across security, technology, and innovation. His security architecture vision: Omnipresent security without hindrance for the user.Prior to Rabobank, Herbert held senior security architecture and consulting roles at KPN and CGI. With more than 20 years of experience, he is passionate about turning complex security challenges into practical, future-ready solutions that enable organizations to innovate securely.more

Walter Van Oostrum, CISO, Het CAK

Walter Van Oostrum is Chief Information Security Officer at Het CAK, a public service organization operating on behalf of the Dutch Ministry of Health, Welfare and Sport (VWS). Het CAK provides essential services to more than 1.5 million citizens and plays an important role in the administration and financing of healthcare and social support in the Netherlands.
Walter... previously served as Team Manager at the Ministry of the Interior’s Shared Service Center ICT and as Project Director at CGI Nederland. His career spans government, consulting, IT, and telecoms, with a focus on information security, cybersecurity governance, privacy (AVG/GDPR), ICT management, and large-scale transitions.more

Eleonora Petridou, CISO, RIPE NCC

Eleonora Petridou is Chief Information Security Officer at the RIPE NCC, where she leads information security, risk and compliance for critical Internet infrastructure. Previously, she was Business Information Security Officer at Booking.com, working in a fast-paced, global technology environment. With a background in ethical hacking, security testing and cyber crisis... management, she specialises in translating complex technical risks into clear business decisions. She has also served on the board of the Dutch Institute for Vulnerability Disclosure, advocating for pragmatic, transparent security that strengthens resilience and public trust.more

Alireza Saadiani, Chief Information Security Officer (CISO), Allego

Alireza Saadiani is the Chief Information Security Officer (CISO) at Allego, with more than 25 years of experience in information security, cybersecurity, and technology leadership. He is responsible for strengthening and advancing Allego's security posture across both Information Technology (IT) and Operational Technology (OT) environments, driving the organization's... security maturity and resilience.Alireza focuses on aligning security with business objectives, leading initiatives in areas such as cyber risk management, Zero Trust, cloud security, compliance, governance, and critical infrastructure protection. He is passionate about building practical and effective security programs that enable innovation while protecting digital assets, operational systems, and customer trust.more

Stevan Bias, Business Information Security Officer, Booking.com

Stevan is currently the Business Information Security Officer (BISO) of FinTech at Booking.com, leading the development of security strategy and guidance for their Financial Technology-focused business capabilities. At Booking.com over the last five years, Stevan has led multiple business units and fulfilled various cybersecurity roles, building on a wide array of... past experiences. Before Booking, Stevan was a senior advisor to the Joint Chiefs of Staff, where he enabled cyber risk driven decisions for ensuring that warfighter system for the United States Government didn't put our warfighters in harm's way. Another key area of focus Stevan fondly recalls, is his time with the Missile Defense Agency, where he led the assessment and testing of Ground to Air missile defense communications systems, ensuring foreign actors could not hinder the USA's ability to protect itself from ballistic missiles. Although Stevan lives abroad now, he is still proud of his roots in the US and his service as a United States Marine, where he first found his love for security and information technology.more

Manit Sahib, Ethical Hacker & Former Head of Penetration Testing & Red Teaming, Bank of England

Manit is an experienced offensive security expert who is certified by UK’s National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) as well as His Majesty’s CESG Check scheme (HMG CHECK). He has over ten years professional experience in both UK Government and private offensive security operations. Formerly, Manit was the Head of Penetration Testing & Red Teaming at the... Bank of England.more

Chris Dearden, Lead Sales Engineer, Delinea

Chris has been in IT for over 20 years with a career covering a broad spectrum from Operations to Architecture both in the Datacentre & the Cloud. Chris has spent the last 14 years working within the technical teams at a number of software vendors, including data protection, cloud native security & storage.

Jochen Raymaekers, Snr Principal Solutions Architect, Ping Identity

Michael Adjei, Director, Systems Engineering, EMEA, Illumio

...Michael has over 2 decades of experience. He is the Director of Systems Engineering where he is responsible for overseeing the go-to-market systems engineering team. Michael is an accomplished public speaker, regularly speaking at conferences and webinars. He holds a MSc in Network Systems Engineering and a BSc in physics in addition to several cyber industry certifications. more