What industry trends and tech developments are you most looking forward to seeing/discussing at this year’s show?

At this year’s show, one thing I’m looking forward to discussing is how the industry can shift from a siloed defence strategy to a more collaborative, intelligence-led security strategy. At Sophos, we’ve seen adversaries continuing to evolve both in sophistication and scale, and they’re not stopping anytime soon. Instead of attacking organisations one by one, they are attacking multiple in one fell swoop, exploiting common vulnerabilities. As an industry, we need to keep pace and move towards a model of collective intelligence to combat them effectively. We’re all working towards the same goals after all.

What are some of the biggest challenges facing your industry in 2026?

The word on everyone’s lips is going to be AI, as it has been for the last few years. But, beyond the buzzwords, we can’t lose sight of the basics. Identity threats are growing seemingly by the day. Our latest Active Adversary Report shows 67% of incidents were rooted in identity-related attacks. Yet many organisations have yet to implement essential identity infrastructure such as Multi-Factor Authentication. Consistently, we’re seeing attacks exploiting known vulnerabilities that organisations have simply been too slow to patch. We might have leapt ahead with developments in detection and response capabilities, but basics like these remain as the lingering chinks in our industry’s armour. The biggest challenge we’ll face this year is to come together and address these gaps.

What excites you most about your industry right now?

For me, it’s that we’re now in a position to supplement strategy with technology. So much work goes into creating the latest technological advancements, but we’ve still seen real-world outcomes falling short because of a disconnect with strategy. Unfortunately, only 1 in 10,000 organisations globally employ a CISO. But by using developments in agentic AI and active threat intelligence, we have a chance to democratise cybersecurity strategy. For the first time, we can begin using cybersecurity technology not just to protect organisations, but to relieve their growing compliance and regulatory burdens. We can make strategy accessible to all so that organisations can get the most out of their cybersecurity tech stack.

Why is it important to bring industry professionals together at events like Tech Show London?

Events like these are vital to foster open discussion and collaboration between industry professionals. We live and breathe cybersecurity, and we know the issues and challenges facing our customers inside and out. But it’s by coming together like this that we can connect the dots, share insights, troubleshoot problems, and generate solutions. We might all be working for separate organisations, but we all share the same goal - we want to make our customers’ lives easier and safer. It’s easy to get lost in the nitty-gritty of the day-to-day, but events like this remind us why we’re doing what we’re doing.

What’s the best piece of advice you would give to newcomers joining the industry?

Join a good manager; someone that you like and who is going to invest the time helping develop you and your career. And enjoy yourself, it’s an amazing industry and an exciting time to be a part of it.