Speakers

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. He is contracted to Global Fund.more

James Kwaan, CIO - GS&S, Lloyds Banking Group

James Kwaan has worked for a number of blue chip companies in Simulation, Energy and Financial Services. He is a former director of Information Security (CISO) and Global data protection officer. In his spare time he is a supporter of women into cybersecurity by starting the ISACA "SheLeadsTech" initiative in 2019. He is a recognised expert in Information Security... and in 2017 was awarded three prizes for his contribution: Malcolm Turner Memorial Prize for outstanding contribution to Risk Management and Information Security, Wayne K. Snipes prize for best European Chapter and Cyber Evangelist of the year at the Scottish Cyber Awards. James is currently working for Lloyds Banking Group.more

Federico Iaschi, Information Security Director, Starling Bank

Federico Iaschi is a multilingual Information Security Director at Starling Bank with over 20 years of experience across global private and public sectors. He specialises in cyber security resilience and observability, building robust practices to proactively identify and mitigate risks across diverse systems. A recognised speaker and author, Federico holds extensive... certifications including CISSP, CISM, and CCISO, underscoring his deep expertise in information security and risk. His strategic insights are vital for navigating the evolving landscape of financial services cybersecurity and resilience.
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Adam Avards, Principal for Cyber and Third Party Risk Policy, UK Finance

Adam Avards joined UK Finance in 2022 as Principal for Cyber and Third Party Risk Policy. He leads UK Finance’s engagement on the Critical Third Party regulatory pathway and chairs a number of industry forums and committees on Third Party Risk Management, Cyber Security and Cloud. Before joining UK Finance, Adam spent over 15 years within the UK’s Intelligence... Community, dealing with both physical and digital security, operations and policy.more

Matt Admas, Head of Security Enablement, Citi

Matt is the Head of Security Enablement at Citi, where he is responsible for enabling the secure adoption of disruptive technologies such as GenAI, DLT/Blockchain, and Quantum Cryptography. In this role, he also leads a team dedicated to identifying and developing use cases for leveraging these technologies to address cybersecurity challenges. Matt's expertise lies... in the intersection of disruptive technologies and cybersecurity, and he is committed to driving innovation and enhancing security practices in the financial services industry.more

Ali Shepherd, Director of Cyber & Operational Resilience (CISO), FCA

Ali Shepherd is the Director of Cyber & Operational Resilience (CISO) for the FCA, and is co-leading the FCA’s internal AI adoption. Ali has over twenty years of experience working in security and incident response, both inside government and in the private sector. This has included extensive experience of managing organisational responses to sophisticated cyber... intrusions by nation state and organised crime groups. Prior to joining the FCA, Ali was a Managing Director at Mandiant, heading up teams across EMEA providing advice and expertise on cyber security to governments and private sector companies, including major incident response services.more

Dhruv Bisani, Head of Adversarial Attack Simulations, Starling Bank

Dhruv is a leading cybersecurity professional with a key interest in leading & delivering Adversarial Attack (Red/Purple Team) simulations. He is currently the Head of Adversarial Attack Simulations at Starling Bank and formerly established and served as the Head of the Red Team at Resillion. Dhruv’s core focus has been on developing the red team (attack simulation)... capability at Resillion, while focusing on testing less common environments such as MacOS environments and zero-trust red team engagements. He has successfully delivered advanced attack simulations across a range of sectors including finance, healthcare, legal, and retail. Dhruv possesses extensive experience in executing projects under the UK CBEST/TBEST schemes. Dhruv’s role encompasses a wide array of responsibilities such as recruitment, training, overseeing sales/finances, as well as enhancing technical methodologies and processes. As part of his role, Dhruv has collaborated closely with C-suite executives and CISOs, providing strategic cybersecurity insights to help secure the organisation. more

Rob Flanders, Head of Threat and Incident Response, BAE Systems

Rob has 10 years’ experience in Cyber Security, covering Threat Intelligence, Incident Response, Security Architecture and Risk Management. Rob's experience is in Defence and UK Government, delivering technical security focussed capabilities including leading GBEST assessments on behalf of government departments and supporting development of Threat Intelligence... capability across the public sector. Rob now leads Major Cyber Incident Response and Strategic Threat Intelligence at BAE Systems.
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William Dixon, Associate Fellow, Royal United Services Institute and Senior Technology Cyber Fellow, The Ukraine Foundation

William Dixon is an Associate Fellow of the Royal United Services Institute, Senior Technology Cyber Fellow of the Ukraine Foundation and is 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

Henry Glynn, Cyber Security Solutions Specialist, Bytes

Henry Glynn is a seasoned Cyber Security Solutions Specialist at Bytes Software Services. With a strong focus on email resilience, endpoint, and identity security, Henry brings extensive expertise to his role, helping organisations safeguard their digital environments against a wide range of cyber threats.

James Fenton, Senior Regional Sales Manager UK, Contrast Security

James Fenton is Senior Regional Sales Manager UK at Contrast Security, with 20+ years in enterprise IT security sales. He specialises in application security, DevSecOps, and CI/CD integrations, helping organisations protect applications from modern threats. Previously at Synopsys, he led security adoption across EMEA. A frequent OWASP and ISSA contributor, James brings... deep expertise in bridging security and development.
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John Wood, Leader, Next-Gen Application Security, Contrast Security

John Wood, Leader, Next-Gen Application Security, at Contrast Security, has been a leading figure in Application Security since 2006. He played a pivotal role in establishing one of the first SAST vendors in the United Kingdom and Europe, contributing significantly to the evolution of the industry. With extensive experience across a range of Application Security projects—both... successful and challenging—John has developed a deep understanding of how development teams operate and has continually adapted to new methodologies, fostering innovative approaches to align security with evolving development practices. A graduate of Portsmouth University and Queensland University of Technology, he holds degrees in Economic History, Entrepreneurship, and Technology Management. Professional Claim: Revolutionising AppSec: Putting an end to the Drama, Comedy and Tragedy of Security Theatremore

Khetan Gajjar, EMEA CTO, Mimecast

Khetan Gajjar brings over 25 years of leadership and expertise in the ICT sector to his role as Field Chief Technology Officer for EMEA at Mimecast. He sets the long-term vision for cybersecurity in the region, focusing on innovative solutions and integrating customer needs into strategic business plans. Khetan’s career includes leading roles at... Meta, where he led the OpenWiFi Project Group, and executive positions at Vodacom, VAST Networks, and Internet Solutions. As a trusted advisor, he shapes strategies to secure businesses against evolving cyber threats.more

Matt Baird, Global Head of Customer Engineering, Cyberproof

Matt has over 30 years’ experience in IT working as a Network, Infrastructure, Solutions and SOC Architect in the Defence and Commercial sectors. He enjoys working with clients to realise their security requirements, with the ability to demystify complex solutions to non-technical audience. He has worked with many enterprise clients to shape their operating models... to ensure best defence against emerging threats.more

Rory Shannon, Global VP Engineering, Cyderes

Rory has spent most of his working career in Security Operations, having undertaken almost every role in the SOC over the years. Prior to that Rory worked in Scottish law enforcement, specialising in intelligence and surveillance roles. In his current role as Cyderes Vice President of Engineering, he is accountable for our technical go to market teams and our product... strategy, ensuring this is aligned with the needs of our customers. He has technical expertise and experience across a wide array of security domains and technologies including detection & response, governance and compliance, SIEM, EDR, Threat management and threat and vulnerability management. Passionate about delivering the best security outcomes aligned with a world class customer experience, Rory brings this ethos into the work he does with Cyderes. Prior to joining Cyderes, Rory lead the delivery of a managed service organisation in the UK, taking it from 6 colleagues (in a basement office) to a team of over 120 delivering enterprise grade services to some of the UKs largest organisations, taking the company through a management buyout in 2019.When not working on security innovation and customer experience, Rory can generally be found drinking craft beer, reading books about wizards and listening to angry music that he should really have grown out of.more

Peter Lane, Consultancy Director, CyroCyber

Peter Lane is a cyber security leader with 17+ years’ experience spanning defence and enterprise, now serving as Consultancy Director and a trusted advisor to leading Financial Services organisations. A former military professional, Peter blends strategic vision with technical depth, holding certifications including CISM, PCI QSA, and ISO 27001 Lead Auditor. He... helps clients integrate complex frameworks, such as PCI DSS, ISO 27001, SOC 2, CRA, and NIS2 into practical, resilient security strategies. Known for his client-first approach and sunny disposition, Peter works as an extension of internal teams, aligning security with business goals to drive lasting change. A recognised industry contributor, SC Awards winner, and CIISec member, Peter is leading the way for cyber leaders navigating today’s regulatory and threat landscape.
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Lino Gambella, CTO, Defenx

Lino Gambella is a Cybersecurity expert with over 20 years of experience. He is currently the CTO at Defenx. Lino has a long standing relationship with Akamai technologies, first as a client and subsequently as a partner. He has a vast knowledge of Akamai solutions and uses them to custom fit perimeters around businesses ensuring maximum security. Lino is an advocate... for the Zero Trust model and has helped many businesses adapt and implement this approach. He works closely with in-house technical teams to create an infrastructure that is reliable and secure.
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Dan Velez, Senior Advisor Insider Risk, Everfox

Supporting insider risk program development, improving Everfox mission-supporting technologies, and operationalising those solutions to drive the outcomes organisations demand. He brings over 16 years of experience in the Insider Risk and Insider Threat space at Raytheon, Amazon, Forcepoint, and Everfox.

Damian Acklam, Founder & CEO, Gradian

Damian Acklam brings over 25 years of industry experience across business development, customer engagement, corporate strategy, and business performance. As Founder and CEO, he has successfully built Gradian from a start-up to become one of the UK's most established and decorated cyber security partners, specialising in DLP, Zero Trust, Policy Management & Security... Testing Services. Under Damian's leadership, Gradian has earned the trust of global vendors and partners who rely on the company to drive customer value into their products through a combination of consultancy, professional services, and world-class support, winning multiple awards for their work within the industry. The company has developed an unrivalled level of knowledge and expertise, providing an innovative, service-led approach to solution delivery. Both his strategic vision and hands-on approach have positioned Gradian as a trusted partner for organisations seeking comprehensive cyber security solutions that deliver measurable business value.more

Raymond de Jong, EMEA Field CTO, Isovalent

Raymond de Jong is Field CTO for EMEA at Isovalent, the originators of the Cilium project, providing networking, observability, and security for cloud-native applications using eBPF. In this role, he is supporting and enabling customers and partners to be successful with Cilium in their mission-critical environments. Leveraging almost a decade of experience in Software... Defined Networking he is passionate about learning customer use-cases and designing solutions to meet their requirements. When not working, Raymond enjoys playing tennis, riding bikes, gaming, and music playing the guitar or piano.more

James Burchell, Manager of Sales Engineering, Mimecast

James Burchell is a cyber security professional currently serving as the Manager of Sales Engineering at CrowdStrike. With a strong background in both military and corporate cybersecurity, James has developed a multidisciplinary skill set that allows him to tackle complex IT security challenges effectively.

Rich Beckett, Product & Solution Strategy, EMEA, Netskope

Rich Beckett is focused on lighting up the business value of SASE to customers across EMEA. With experience in product management and product marketing across IT and cybersecurity, including roles in OSINT, email, and public cloud security, and now SASE, Rich knows the importance of data to organisations and how to bring the power of Netskope to life.

Simon Fisher, CISSP, Senior Cyber Security Consultant, Orange Cyberdefense

Simon is a senior consultant within the Security Advisory and Architecture Practice. With a total of 18 years of experience in GRC and Information Technology. Has spend the majority of his career working in the public sector or working with organisations mandated to follow government standards such NIS CAF, PSN, and NHS standards. Highly experience at working within... a structured project environment to tight deadlines. Certifications: CISSP, ISO 27001 LI, Managing Successful Programmes (MSP), Prince 2, SPRINT ( HMG- Business Process Engineering).more

Jake Boniface, Channel Sales Engineer, Rubrik

Ian Perry, Head of Sales Engineering, Searchlight Cyber

Ian Perry is Head of Sales Engineering at Searchlight Cyber. With more than two decades of experience in networks and cybersecurity, throughout his career Ian has fulfilled technical roles at major corporations from Solutions Architect, to Systems Engineer. As a consultant he worked with multinational organizations including Unilever, PWC, Alliance, Eircom 3 Mobile... and Vodafone, before taking on senior roles at cybersecurity companies including Symantec, Zscaler, and Air Eye. He joined Searchlight Cyber in 2025, where he leads a team of Sales Engineers that are responsible for understanding and meeting the technical requirements of prospective customers, to ensure that Searchlight’s solutions are enabling them to overcome their cybersecurity challenges.more