Cisco Engage Kenya Spotlights AI-Driven Cybersecurity
Cisco (NASDAQ: CSCO), the worldwide technology leader revolutionizing how organizations connect and protect in the AI era, brought together chief information security officers (CISOs), chief information officers (CIOs), chief technology officers (CTOs), and senior technical managers to examine how artificial intelligence is reshaping cybersecurity. Held under the theme “Navigating Security in the Age of AI,” the event focused on cutting-edge security innovations, AI risks, and the urgent need for enterprise readiness.
The forum was opened by Shain Rahim, Country Manager for Cisco Kenya, who outlined Cisco’s strategy and the growing gap between AI adoption and AI security. “The future of AI is already here,” she said. “Today, we will secure it.”
Abhishek Kumar, CISO Advisory – EMEA & USA, delivered a keynote on “Innovating with Security in the AI Era highlighted AI’s potential to improve healthcare, enhance customer experience, and increase productivity, while also warning of new risks such as disinformation, cyberattacks, deepfake fraud, and increased complexity in IT environments. “AI challenges you to deploy new technology faster than ever before,” Kumar said. “If companies don’t manage AI risks, they will face consequences.”
Babacar Wagne, Cisco’s Cybersecurity Engineering Leader for Africa and Turkey, presented the company’s AI security strategy, which includes four focus areas: infrastructure to support AI workloads, data and context to drive insights, software to unlock productivity, and services to accelerate value.
The forum also explored AI governance and the ethical implications of AI in cybersecurity, emphasizing the need for transparent and secure systems. Experts at the event called on organizations to embed security in AI initiatives, consolidate security tools, and invest in cross-functional AI risk management and skills development.
The event concluded with calls for enterprises to move beyond awareness and begin operationalizing AI security strategies, warning that unpreparedness will leave critical systems vulnerable in an increasingly AI-driven threat landscape.
