UAE graduates first cybersecurity startup accelerator cohort
Ungoverned AI and deepfakes threaten UAE and Saudi organisations
CISO news
UAE graduates first cybersecurity startup accelerator cohort
he UAE Cybersecurity Council( CSC), in cooperation with Amazon Web Services( AWS), CrowdStrike, and e &,
T celebrated the successful completion of the first cohort of the AWS / CTIB Cybersecurity Startup Accelerator Programme. The event marked the first time that the initiative’ s leading commercial supporters have gathered in person since the programme’ s launch at GITEX Global in October 2025.
The multi-year government-backed initiative, a core component of the UAE Cybersecurity Technology Innovation Bureau( UAE CTIB) and the UAE National Cybersecurity Strategy, sets an ambitious goal to accelerate more than 500 cybersecurity startups. The programme provides selected founders with equity-free access to global technology expertise, regional capital networks, 1:1 mentorship, and market pathways to develop‘ Made in UAE’ cybersecurity innovations that address emerging global cyber concerns.
The inaugural six-week cohort which ran from 25 March to 4 May 2026, received 157 applications from more than five countries and selected 23 startups spanning Cloud Security, Application Security, Identity and Access Management, Generative AI for Cybersecurity, and Data Security. The programme delivered 23 curated sessions totalling more than 30 hours of content, including 15 business strategy sessions, six technical deep-dives, and two keynote sessions, with contributions from all delivery partners. More than 25 distinguished speakers and mentors participated, representing the highest levels of cybersecurity leadership globally.
The programme delivered substantial value to participating startups, access to e & for venture investment, AWS Marketplace listing and co-sell support, discounts on CrowdStrike Falcon Pro, investor pitch coaching, and go-to-market strategy advisory. In parallel, the initiative reinforced CyberE71’ s mission of building the next generation of cybersecurity and AI ventures by connecting startups with potential partners, investors, enterprise opportunities, and government-backed enablement platforms.
Ungoverned AI and deepfakes threaten UAE and Saudi organisations
K nowBe4 has launched its new research report, From Agentic Risk to Human Wins: Building a Culture of Security in the Era of Agentic AI. The findings reveal that autonomous
AI tools are expanding the corporate attack surface faster than organisations in the UAE and Saudi Arabia can implement governance and security controls.
With agentic AI now widely embedded in day-to-day work, 84 % of cybersecurity leaders in the UAE and Saudi Arabia report that AI agents are already taking actions within organisational workflows. However, around one in four organisations( 24 %) admit their use of AI is unapproved or ungoverned, creating an invisible layer of“ Shadow AI” handling sensitive data without oversight.
The report found that 88 % of employees believe deepfake voice and video content has become so realistic that it is difficult to know what to trust, while 52 % admit they could be deceived by a deepfake scam at work. More than half( 54 %) of cybersecurity leaders say everyday employee mistakes have had the greatest impact on cybersecurity over the past year, with 44 % of employees citing time pressures and workplace distractions as the main causes.
Dr Martin Kraemer, CISO Advisor at KnowBe4
“ Cybersecurity has entered a volatile phase where organisations are trying to secure a hybrid human and AI workforce that’ s changing more quickly than security leaders can keep up,” said Dr Martin Kraemer, CISO Advisor at KnowBe4.“ Leaving almost a quarter of your corporate AI usage ungoverned is a massive open invitation to threat actors.”
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