Secure a strategic position for cyber security.
As we look towards 2026, security must cease being a cost centre, a tick-box exercise or a compliance excuse. The main question is not: “How secure are we?” but rather: “How well does security drive our business forward?” Aligning the three strategies of business, IT and cyber will provide a competitive edge, making the CISO invaluable to the organisation.
- Start with business outcomes: Align cyber objectives with revenue growth, customer trust, operational resilience and regulatory obligations. Establish risk appetite at the board level and translate it into measurable control objectives.
- Align with enterprise architecture: Ensure security patterns match the target-state IT and data architecture (including cloud, edge, AI pipelines). Reference architectures and guardrails are created to embed security by design.
- Risk-driven prioritisation: Apply a practical, threat-focused risk model (crown jewels, critical processes, third parties) to guide your investment and remediation efforts. Whenever possible, try to quantify the risk.
- Operationalise cyber security within the business: Transition from constantly being in “projects…
