DynamicCISO Excellence Awards 2026

November 25, 2026 | 1:00 PM IST Onwards

Hosted by BankInfoSecurity

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Overview
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Agenda
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Past Speakers
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Overview
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Event Overview

The 12th edition of the DynamicCISO Excellence Awards, an ISMG initiative, will honor innovation and dedication of cybersecurity leaders.

The theme “Cybersecurity Leadership: CISOs’ Corporate Strategy and DNA” explores redefining security leadership, fortifying defenses and harnessing technologies such as artificial intelligence. Security leaders will delve into Web 4.0, automation, IoT integration with 5G, state-sponsored cyber warfare, automotive hacking prevention, mitigating social engineering attacks, and fraud prevention with multifactor authentication. Thought leaders will also share their insights on data protection, regulatory compliance and driving innovation in an evolving digital landscape.

The conference will culminate in a prestigious awards ceremony to acknowledge the indispensable role CISOs play in safeguarding our digital ecosystem. All nominations will be assessed objectively by a designated jury of subject matter experts.

The annual conference serves as a platform to share best practices, innovative solutions, and success stories within the cybersecurity community, and inspire future leaders.

Earn your CPE credits by attending the awards and conference. 

Why Participate?

excellence (2)

Celebrate Excellence

Join us in celebrating the extraordinary achievements of CISOs across diverse industries, highlighting their pivotal role in safeguarding digital ecosystems. 

networking 2

Networking Edge

Connect with cybersecurity experts and industry leaders to boost your career and business. 

educational 2

Educational Platform

Our conference is a knowledge-sharing hub, offering profound insights from cybersecurity thought leaders, helping you stay ahead of the curve. 

insights 2

Cutting-Edge Insights

Gain access to in-depth discussions on cutting-edge technologies, game-changing strategies, and progressive trends that are shaping the future of enterprise security. 

Baljit Singh

Cybersecurity Strategy Planning & Governance, Digital Nasional Berhad

Bithal Bhardwaj

CEO -GRAMAX GMR Group

Charmaine Valmonte

FVP & Chief Information Security Officer | Data Protection Officer Aboitiz Group

Dr. GK Goswami

Founding Director Uttar Pradesh State Institute of Forensic Science Lucknow India

Dr. Siva Subramanian

Cyber Security Advisor BxTx360

Dr. Yask

CISO IOCL

Durga Prasad Dube

Global CISO Reliance Industries Ltd

Felix Mohan

CEO CISO Cybersecurity

Jagannath PV

Global DPO LTIMindtree

Kalpesh Doshi

Group CISO HDFC Life

Mathan Babu

CTSO & DPO Vodafone Idea Limited.

Pravin Kumar

Chief Market Information Security Officer and Data Protection Officer National Payments Corporation Of India (NPCI)

Rajesh Thapar

CISO NSE

Rei Nikolai Magnaye

CISO Equicom Savings Bank

Reuben Athaide

Global Head Cyber Security Assessment and Testing (Interim) Standard Chartered

Srinivas Poosarla

Sr. VP and Group Chief Privacy Officer Infosys

Jury

Thought Leaders Leading Deep-Dive Discussions on Stage

Our impartial and esteemed jury panel consists of subject matter experts with deep knowledge and experience in the cybersecurity field. They ensure that the awards are assessed objectively, maintaining the highest standards of fairness and credibility.

Wall of Fame - Winners 2024

It was timely held and very relevant to the existing cyber security risk scenarios. It was very well organized and well participated. The key takeaways from the Summit will go a long way in strengthening the cyber security posture of all the attendees.
The conference reflected on the challenges around emerging threat landscape, evolving regulatory guidance, improving ROI from #cybersecurity investments, and building resilience on individual as well as enterprise level.
The most inspiring voice was none other than Lt. Gen. Deependra Singh Hooda (Deependra Hooda), who was G-O Commanding-in-Chief of the Indian army's Northern Command during the #surgicalstrike in Sep '2016. The insights he gave from the military #strategy and the analogies he drew between #cyberwarfare and military techniques, was truly inspirational. It is definitely worth imbibing for the cybersecurity fraternity. Indeed an amazing platform to network with eminent thought leaders, industry experts, mentors from the Government of India as well as veterans from the Indian armed forces.
It reflected on the challenges around emerging threat landscape, evolving regulatory guidance, improving ROI from #cybersecurity investments, and building resilience on individual as well as enterprise level. Indeed an amazing platform to network with eminent thought leaders, industry experts, mentors from the Government of India as well as veterans from the Indian armed forces.
I'm thankful for the ISMG DynamicCISO Excellence Award in Technology Innovation: Zero Trust. Your recognition inspires me to do better in cybersecurity. The event was great, with lots of valuable information for stronger cybersecurity.
The ISMG Summit was a great learning experience with well-organized sessions on important cybersecurity topics.
It was held at the right time, well-organized, and relevant to current cyber risks. We learned important things to make our cybersecurity better.
The summit was like a masterclass in cybersecurity, and I learned a lot.
The event was a great way to meet experts and veterans. Lt. Gen. Deependra Singh Hooda's insights on military strategy and its connection to cybersecurity were really inspiring.
Absolutely actionable takeaways coming in from the keynote speakers as well as panels of Sumit Gupta Rajeev Batra Rohit Rane Brijesh Singh Dr. Gaurav Gupta Dr.Deepak Kalambkar Mathan Babu Kasilingam Dr. Pavan Duggal and so on.

Advisors

Thought Leaders Leading Deep-Dive Discussions on Stage

The conference advisory committee provides guidance and advice on programs that will best resonate with ISMG’s audience. The programs are created to ensure that attendees can apply the insights and learnings to their daily work. The final decision on the topics, tone and themes of the event will be taken by the editorial advisory committee, which comprises ISMG editors and experts from various industries.

Abha Tiwari

Head of Legal & Data Protection Officer, Renault Group

Agnelo Dsouza

CISO, Kotak Mahindra Bank

Dr. Pawan K Sharma

Group CISO, Tata Motors Ltd.

Durga Prasad Dube (Conference Chair)

EVP & Global CISO, Reliance Industries Ltd.

Kalpesh B. Doshi

CISO, HDFC Life

Khushbu Jain

Partner, Ark Legal

Dr. Yask

CISO, Indian Oil Corporation Limited

Ramanand Jha

Vice President Risk Management & Cybersecurity, Havells India Ltd.

Keynote Speaker

Rei Nikolai Magnaye

CISO Equicom Savings Bank

Dhananjay Rokde

Chief Digital and Security Officer, Ceinsys

Lt. Gen M. Unnikrishnan Nair

National Cyber Security Coordinator (NCSC), PMO, Govt. of India

Lalit Trivedi

Head of Information Security (Global), FlexM

Mihirr P Thaker

Chief Information Security Officer, Allcargo Group

Samir Kumar Mishra

Director, Security Business, Cisco India & SAARC

Capt. Felix Mohan

Chief Executive Officer, CISO Cybersecurity

Pramod Kumar Dubey

Executive Director & CISO, GreenPoint Technology Services (I) Pvt Ltd

Jayant Gupta

Executive Director Information Systems, Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Ltd.

Saloni Vijay

Vice President & CISO, VOIS (Vodafone Intelligent Solutions), Vodafone Group

Past Speakers

Thought Leaders on Stage Leading Deep-Dive Discussions

Thought leaders in the cybersecurity industry share their experience on how the role of a CISO has become indispensable across organizations. They share unique strategies and techniques used for fortifying defenses and how they have redefined leadership in making the organization cyber-resilient against catastrophic attacks.

View Faculty

Highlight Topics

  • Enterprise Cybersecurity Roads Map for 2024
  • Building Resilience Against Ransomware Attack
  • Rethinking Cybersecurity for Banking
  • API Security: New Battleground for CISOs
  • New Methods of Authentication for Payments Security Risks

Agenda

Given the ever-evolving nature of cybersecurity, the agenda will be continually updated to feature the most timely and relevant sessions.

1:00 PM - 1:45 PM IST

Registration & Lunch

1:45 Pm - 2:00 Pm IST

Opening Comments

2:00 Pm - 2:20 Pm IST

Keynote: CISOs as Cyber Defenders: What It Takes to Master Cyber Readiness and Resilience

As cybercriminal activity accelerates in scale and sophistication, collaboration between government, the public sector and private enterprises is essential to effectively mitigate these threats. CISOs play a crucial role in advancing cyber readiness and building organizational resilience. But how are they shifting from response to resilience?

The session will cover:

  • CISOs’ approach to building cyber defenders across functions;
  • Redefining leadership in the face of adversity;
  • Developing proactive threat intelligence capabilities and cross-functional crisis response teams;
  • Strengthening stakeholder alignment through government frameworks.

Daniel Alessandrino

Detective, Special Frauds Squad, TFO USSS - NYFO

2:25 Pm - 2:40 Pm IST

Weaponization of Tech and AI: Are We Ready to Play the Defense?

In 2025, the challenge is no longer just detecting threats, it’s predicting and outmaneuvering machine-led attacks in real time. Enterprises need to embrace AI-driven strategies and proactive defense models. This includes advancing AI risk governance, fostering defense innovation, and enabling cross-border cooperation and ethical tech deployment.

The session will cover:   

  • How adversaries are using AI for offensive cybersecurity operations;
  • What defense capabilities and frameworks can counter AI-enabled threats; 
  • Where organizations should prioritize investments to prepare for future AI risks.

Steve Lenderman

Head of Fraud Prevention, isolved, CyberEdBoard Member

Nisan Bangiev

Director, Fraud Risk Officer, Valley Bank 

2:45 pm - 3:05 Pm IST

Rethinking Identity and Zero Trust: A New Approach to Security

The session will cover:

  • How identity is emerging as the new security perimeter;
  • Limitations of traditional zero trust implementations;
  • The role of decentralized identity in enterprise security.

Stephen Johnson

Vice President of Solutions Engineering, Entro Security

3:10 PM - 3:30 Pm IST

Spotlight: Building Transformative Leadership: Challenging the Security Status Quo

The session will cover: 

  • How CISOs can go beyond technical leadership to drive business transformation;
  • What practices define high-impact, forward-thinking security leadership;
  • How CISOs can cultivate influence across the C-suite and board.

Stephen Johnson

Vice President of Solutions Engineering, Entro Security

3:30 PM - 3:45 Pm IST

Panel: Have You Shifted Too Far Left? InfoSec vs. Engineering vs. Business

The current debate centers on whether the shift left strategy has truly bridged the silos between security and developers or if it has inadvertently left CISOs at the mercy of developers to code everything. The daunting task for CISOs is to maintain greater control without relying on developers and to enable them to focus on product development, minimize bottlenecks and drive business growth. This session debates the balance between development agility and security ownership.

The session will cover:

  • How organizations align DevSecOps with business goals;
  • How CISOs can strike the right balance between empowering developers and maintaining effective security control;
  • Are InfoSec teams becoming bottlenecks in innovation?

Stephen Johnson

Vice President of Solutions Engineering, Entro Security

3:45 pm - 4:00 pm IST

Networking Break

4:00 pm - 4:30 pm ist

Panel: Simplified DPDP Compliance: Is Enterprise Security Ready

While the Act aims to safeguard personal data through consent-centric frameworks and accountability measures, businesses face significant readiness challenges. For CISOs and cybersecurity leaders, the critical question is no longer whether to comply, but how to achieve simplified, sustainable compliance without disrupting business operations. The discussion will explore whether current enterprise security architectures are equipped to handle the Act’s stringent requirements—including mandatory breach notifications, consent management platforms, data localization mandates, and the appointment of Data Protection Officers (DPOs).

This session will discuss:

  • Navigating Cross-Border Data Transfers and Localization
  • The CISO-DPO Divide: Collaboration or Conflict?
  • Breach Readiness Beyond Compliance – From Prevention to Response

Amit Basu

Vice President, CIO & CISO, International Seaways

Hiral Mehta

Partner, Mayer Brown LLP

4:35 pm - 5:00 pm IST

Panel Discussion: Building an Effective AI Governance Structure: Are CISOs Tuned In?

One of the primary responsibilities for CISOs is to conduct a comprehensive inventory check of how AI is used across organization and for what purposes. Gauging risks, including ethical, regulatory and security, become paramount in working out a plan for responsible AI deployment. The key challenge lies in defining the essential components of the AI governance framework that promotes trustworthiness, transparency and compliance.

The session will cover:

  • Establishing the core components of an AI governance framework;
  • Building AI governance council as a cross-functional leadership initiative;
  • Operationalizing AI and making it compliant;
  • Assessing and mitigating risks arising from the use of AI across the business units.

Karen Boyer

SVP Financial Crimes, M&T Bank, CyberEdBoard Member

Hiral Mehta

Partner, Mayer Brown LLP

5:00 pm - 6:00 pm IST

Networking and High Tea

6:00 pm IST Onwards

Award Ceremony

Venue

The Westin Mumbai Garden City

Oberoi Garden City, International Business Park, Goregaon, Mumbai, Maharashtra

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