Tech News
Proofpoint’s 2024 Voice of the CISO Report: More Than Two-Thirds of CISOs in the UAE Feel Prepared for Targeted Cyber Attacks
89% of UAE CISOs are turning to AI-powered technology to protect against human error and block advanced human-centric cyber threats
Proofpoint, a leading cybersecurity and compliance company today released its annual Voice of the CISO report, which explores key challenges, expectations and priorities of chief information security officers (CISOs) worldwide.
The 2024 report draws attention to a notable trend: while fears of cyber attacks remain high, CISOs in the UAE demonstrate increasing confidence in their ability to defend against these threats, reflecting a significant shift in the cybersecurity landscape. Over two-thirds (70%) of surveyed CISOs in the UAE feel at risk of a material cyber attack over the next 12 months, compared to 75% the year before, and 44% in 2022. CISOs today clearly remain on high alert, but confidence among them is growing: just 34% feel unprepared to cope with a targeted cyber attack, showing a marked decrease over last year’s 57% and 47% in 2022.
Human error continues to be perceived as the Achilles’ heel of cybersecurity, with more than three-quarters (76%) of CISOs in the UAE identifying it as the most significant vulnerability. In a year of growing insider threats and people-driven data loss, more CISOs in the UAE than ever (83%) see human risk, in particular negligent employees as a key cybersecurity concern over the next two years. However, there’s growing optimism in the role of AI-powered solutions to mitigate human-centric risks, reflecting a strategic pivot towards technology-driven defenses.
The 2024 Voice of the CISO report examines global third-party survey responses from 1,600 CISOs from organizations of 1,000 employees or more across different industries. Throughout the course of Q1 2024, 100 CISOs were interviewed in each market across 16 countries: the U.S., Canada, the UK, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Sweden, the Netherlands, UAE, KSA, Australia, Japan, Singapore, South Korea, and Brazil.
The report offers a vital perspective on the state of cybersecurity from those at the forefront of protecting people and defending data. The report also stresses the importance of maintaining robust cybersecurity measures in the face of economic pressures and the critical role of human factors in organizational cyber readiness. The survey also measures the changes in alignment between security leaders and their boards of directors, exploring how their relationship impacts security priorities.
“As we navigate through the complexities of today’s cyber threat environment, it’s encouraging to see CISOs in the UAE gaining confidence in their strategies and tools,” commented Emile Abou Saleh, Senior Regional Director, Middle East, Turkey, and Africa at Proofpoint. “However, the ongoing challenges of employee turnover, pressure on resources, and the need for continuous board engagement remind us that vigilance and adaptation are key to our collective cyber resilience.”
Key global findings from Proofpoint’s 2024 Voice of the CISO report for the UAE include:
- Human error still tops cyber vulnerability threats but CISOs in the UAE turn to AI solutions to help. This year, we are seeing an uptick in the number of CISOs in the UAE who view human error as their organization’s biggest cyber vulnerability—76% in this year’s survey vs. 59% in 2023. However, 87% of CISOs believe that employees understand their role in protecting the organization. This confidence is higher than in previous years—56% in 2023 and 51% in 2022. This may be attributed to the 89% of UAE CISOs surveyed looking to deploy AI-powered capabilities to help protect against human error and advanced human-centered cyber threats.
- CISOs in the UAE continue to fear cyber-attacks but fewer feel unprepared, showing growing confidence in their security measures. In 2024, 70% of CISOs surveyed in the UAE feel at risk of experiencing a material cyber-attack in the next 12 months, compared to 75% in 2023 and 44% in 2022. However, just 34% feel their organization is unprepared to cope with a targeted cyber-attack, compared to 57% in 2023 and 47% in 2022.
- Generative AI tops CISOs security concerns in the UAE. In 2024, 49% of CISOs surveyed in the UAE believe that generative AI poses a security risk to their organization. The top three systems CISOs view as introducing risk to their organizations are: Microsoft 365 (50%), Perimeter network device (45%), Slack/Teams/Zoom/other collaboration tools (43%) and ChatGPT/other genAI (40%).
- Employee turnover is still a concern, yet CISOs in the UAE trust their defenses. In 2024, 45% of security leaders reported having to deal with a material loss of sensitive data in the past 12 months, and of those, 64% agreed that employees leaving the organization contributed to the loss. Despite those losses, 83% of CISOs believe they have adequate controls to protect their data.
- The majority of CISOs in the UAE have adopted DLP technology and invested more in security education. 51% of CISOs surveyed in the UAE, in 2024 have data loss prevention technology (DLP) in place compared to just 45% in 2023. More than half (55%) of CISOs surveyed invested in educating employees on data security best practices which is higher in 2024 compared to 2023 (41%).
- Cloud account compromise and ransomware top CISO concerns in the UAE. The biggest cybersecurity threats perceived by CISOs in 2024 are cloud account compromise (Microsoft 365 or G Suite or other) (44%), ransomware attacks (42%) and malware (42%). These top threats are different from last year in which CISOs perceived distributed email fraud, cloud account compromise (Microsoft 365, G Suite or other), malware and smishing/vishing as the biggest threats.
- Steady stance on ransom payments with increased reliance on cyber insurance in the UAE. In 2024, 64% (59% in 2023) of CISOs in the UAE believe their organization would pay to restore systems and prevent data release if attacked by ransomware in the next 12 months. 76% of CISOs said they would rely on cyber insurance claims to recover potential losses incurred, compared to 56% in 2023.
- The Board-CISO relationship has improved significantly in the UAE. In 2024, 80% of CISOs agree their board members see eye-to-eye with them on cybersecurity issues. This is a significant jump from 63% in 2023, and 47% in 2022.
- Pressures on CISOs in the UAE are unrelenting. In 2024, 69% of CISOs in the UAE admitted to burnout compared to 59% last year, while 87% feel they face excessive expectations, a steady increase from 59% last year and 38% in 2022. The sustainability of the ongoing expectations on CISOs continues to be tested—69% are concerned about personal liability (60% in 2023) and 74% (56% in 2023) would not join an organization that does not offer Directors & Officers (D&O) insurance coverage. In addition, 63% of CISOs agreed that the current economic downturn has hampered their ability to make business-critical investments, with 49% of them being asked to cut staff or delay backfills as well as reduce security budgets.
“While the cybersecurity landscape continues to evolve with increasing human-centric threats, the 2024 Voice of the CISO report highlights what appears to be a pivotal shift towards greater resilience, preparedness and confidence among global CISOs,” said Patrick Joyce, global resident CISO at Proofpoint. “This year’s findings underscore a collective move towards strategic defenses, including enhanced education, technological adoption, and an adaptive approach to emerging threats like generative AI.”
Tech News
The Executive Health Upgrade: Why Personalized Prevention Is the UAE’s Next Premium Category
How Prana AI + SindyXR Want to Make Personalized Health Routine in the UAE
By Integrator Web Editor

Most healthcare is built for emergencies. But the biggest risks to long-term health often develop quietly—sleep debt, metabolic drift, chronic stress, early cardiovascular strain. Prana AI and SindyXR are building a UAE-first model that treats health like a modern dashboard: establish your baseline, detect drift early, and guide course-correction through an AI “longevity OS” paired with concierge support.
The UAE is rapidly becoming a proving ground for next-generation, consumer-friendly health models that blend premium services with data-driven personalization. This article explores a shift underway in Dubai and the wider Emirates: moving from reactive, appointment-led care toward continuous, proactive “health operating systems.” Prana AI and SindyXR are among the emerging players aiming to productize prevention—making personal health measurable, understandable, and easier to follow through on.
“Most healthcare is built for emergencies. Personalized health is built for trajectory.” – Christopher M. Hill, Board Chair, President, and CEO of SindyXR
From Firefighting to Flight-Checking
Most of us treat health like a fire alarm: we respond when it’s loud enough to ignore. A symptom appears, we book an appointment, get a prescription or advice, and move on. That model isn’t “bad”—it’s just built for a different job.
Reactive healthcare is excellent at handling acute problems. But the biggest threats to long-term wellbeing often don’t arrive with sirens. They creep in quietly: chronic stress patterns, sleep erosion, metabolic instability, early cardiovascular risk, burnout. By the time something becomes obvious, the fix is harder, slower, and more expensive.
This is why “personalized health”—often described as preventive, longevity-focused, or precision wellness—is accelerating globally. The promise is simple and non-medical: know your baseline, track changes over time, and act early with clarity.
In the UAE, where performance, pace, global mobility, and high expectations are everyday realities, that promise is especially relevant. People want health experiences that match how they actually live: fast, discreet, premium, and practical—with minimal friction and real follow-through.
Personalized Health, Explained Without the White Coat
Personalized health doesn’t require a medical degree to understand. It’s a system that does four things well:
- Establishes your baseline — a clear snapshot of how your body is functioning today.
- Detects drift over time — what’s improving, what’s stuck, what’s slipping.
- Translates data into action — simple, tailored steps you can actually do.
- Keeps you consistent — so improvements don’t fade after a “good month.”
The goal isn’t perfection. It’s trajectory. You’re not trying to “win health.” You’re trying to reduce risk and increase resilience—month after month.
“Think of it as a health command center: baseline, drift detection, and guided course-correction.” – Charles Cavo, DO Co-founder, Pounds Transformation
Why the UAE Is Ready for This Category
Dubai and the wider UAE are fertile ground for this model for three reasons:
- High intent: Many professionals already invest in fitness, nutrition, mental performance, recovery, and longevity practices.
- High friction: Even motivated people struggle to stay consistent when travel, deadlines, and family responsibilities pile up.
- High expectations: Premium experience isn’t a “nice to have” in the UAE; it’s a baseline for adoption.
Most people don’t need more information. They need a system that makes follow-through easier than falling off track.
That’s the core thesis behind Prana AI + SindyXR: the real disruption isn’t “one more health test.” It’s a repeatable operating model around the person that converts insight into sustained action.
Prana AI + SindyXR: A Hybrid ‘Longevity Concierge’ Built for Busy Lives
The Prana AI + SindyXR approach can be understood as three layers working together—each solving a different part of the real-world problem.
Layer 1: Precision diagnostics (the baseline)
This is the “what’s happening inside my body?” layer—advanced diagnostics designed to establish a meaningful baseline across key health domains. Not just a basic annual check, but a deeper view intended to help identify risk patterns early and prioritize what matters now.
Crucially, the output has to be readable, not intimidating: scores, trends, and plain-language insights that allow non-medical professionals to understand what they should focus on—without getting buried in numbers.
Layer 2: Prana AI as the Personal Longevity OS (the daily system)
This is where personalization becomes real. Many wellness apps can nudge, but they often lack context—your baseline and your changes over time.
Prana AI’s role is to function like a health command center:
- Daily routines that fit real schedules (sleep, movement, recovery, nutrition prompts)
- Wearable integration where available (to track trends, not obsess over single readings)
- Progress tracking that emphasizes trajectory (what’s changing, what isn’t)
- Quarterly and annual comparisons to identify drift early
The design intent is simple: reduce decisions. When people are busy, friction kills follow-through. The “OS” needs to feel like a co-pilot—not a second job.
Layer 3: SindyXR concierge + expert ecosystem (the follow-through engine)
The uncomfortable truth about health is that many people already know what to do. The problem is friction:
- booking
- scheduling
- follow-up
- accountability
- decision fatigue
SindyXR’s concierge layer aims to handle the “life admin” of better health—connecting users to curated experts, creating structured sessions, enabling community learning (webinars and roundtables), and coordinating next steps so momentum doesn’t fade.
This is the difference between:
- “I should do something about this,” and
- “It’s scheduled, guided, and underway.”
“The innovation isn’t one more test—it’s the operating model around the person.” – Sumit Puri, CEO & Co-Founder, Prana AI
The Closed Loop Most Health Experiences Don’t Deliver
Here’s what separates a premium testing service from a real system: the loop.
Most offerings stop at “test + report.” Some add “test + report + generic advice.”
The Prana AI + SindyXR model is designed to deliver a full cycle:
In other words:
- you don’t just learn your numbers,
- you change the trajectory, and
- you prove it over time.
That loop is the true product: a repeatable “operating model” for personal health.
Who It’s For First: The Executive Longevity Circle
The initial positioning is clear: this is built for people who are time-poor, performance-driven, and outcome-focused—CXOs, founders, board-level leaders, and globally mobile professionals (often 45+).
It’s a pragmatic wedge. High-touch membership models can:
- protect quality while the system is refined,
- build trust through experience rather than marketing,
- generate credible outcomes stories (the only marketing that matters in health).
From there, the model can expand into broader segments and partnerships—especially in an environment like the UAE where premium experience and measurable outcomes are powerful adoption catalysts.
The Trust Test: No Magic Claims, Just Clear Guardrails
AI in health is powerful—and sensitive. Adoption depends on trust:
- What is informational vs diagnostic?
- How is data stored and consent managed?
- How are recommendations explained?
- Where does clinician oversight come in?
The healthiest framing is simple: AI doesn’t replace doctors. It reduces noise, spots patterns, and improves follow-through. It helps people act earlier, more consistently, and with fewer blind spots.
What Success Looks Like in the UAE
If Prana AI + SindyXR execute well, the UAE could become a flagship market for a new category: personalized preventive health that feels as seamless as concierge banking.
Success won’t be measured by how “advanced” the tech sounds. It will be measured by:
- consistent engagement over months (not weeks),
- measurable improvement in key markers,
- fewer health surprises,
- better energy, sleep, recovery, and resilience.
Because the future of health won’t be another appointment.
It will be a smarter system around you—quietly keeping you on course.
“The UAE is uniquely positioned to lead this shift: people here value time, discretion, and outcomes. Personalized health will win when it feels as seamless as concierge banking—and as measurable as a performance dashboard.” – Subrato Basu, Global Managing Partner, The Executive Board
Tech News
AL OSTAD PALLET FACTORY APPOINTS ZAYSTACK INTELLIZENCE TO ADVISE ON DIGITISATION AND AUTOMATION PROGRAMME
Process digitalisation programme set to create another industry benchmark for Dubai Industrial City-headquartered Al Ostad Pallet Factory

Al Ostad Pallet Factory, based in Dubai Industrial City, has appointed ZayStack Intellizence to deliver a groundbreaking programme to digitise and automate core business processes across sales, procurement, production, inventory, and delivery.
Under the agreement, ZayStack will support an initial three-month phase focused on “quick wins and foundations”, including current-state assessment, process mapping and advanced software and AI tool recommendations. The project will also see rollout of practical templates, dashboards and minimum viable automations, designed to improve visibility and accountability across operations.
The recently inked agreement is part of Al Ostad’s continuing evolution, ensuring it keeps delivering value to its ever-growing customer base, building on more than 25 years in business with strong investment in the technology-driven future of the logistics sector.
The engagement aims to help Al Ostad reduce manual, person-dependent workflows and move towards a more digitally enabled, data-driven operating model that supports long-term growth, improved decision-making, and stronger customer communication. The project will help employees understand how to use cutting-edge AI tools to increase productivity.
Alex George, Managing Director, Al Ostad Pallet Factory, said: “Al Ostad Pallet Factory has grown on the strength of operational know-how and a hands-on approach. Now, we need to ensure our team is AI prepared, and that we all understand how to make best use of AI across our business.
“This programme is about putting the right digital foundations in place so we can improve visibility, reduce friction in day-to-day workflows, and scale with confidence, all while continuing to deliver reliably for our customers.”
Alex is keen to implement cutting-edge technologies at his 8,000 square meter DIC manufacturing facility, and is intent on becoming “best in class” for logistics and packaging solutions, aiming for the number one position regionally.
“We’re on track,” Alex says with confidence. “It’s about being ready for the future – a future where technology, sustainability, and supply chain resilience define the leaders in manufacturing. We want to be at the forefront of that shift.”
Alex believes the new workflows Zaystack will deliver will create a new industry benchmark in the region.
Tarun Malik, Partner, ZayStack Intellizence LLP, said: “Manufacturing businesses don’t need ‘digital’ for its own sake, they need practical systems that improve speed, accuracy and accountability. We’ll be working closely with Al Ostad to identify critical workflows and establish the dashboards, templates and ‘intelligent’ automation foundations that support sustainable, long-term adoption.”
The programme also includes a review of document management and IT readiness (hardware and network), with training and change-management support to help teams adopt new ways of working.
Tech News
BOLT GAINS GROWTH MOMENTUM AS 1,823 NATIONAL TAXIS JOIN PLATFORM

Marking another milestone towards shaping the future of urban mobility in the UAE, Dubai Taxi Company (DTC), together with its strategic partner Bolt, has entered into a strategic alliance with National Taxi LLC to enhance the ride-hailing experience for residents and visitors across Dubai.
The partnership was formalised through the signing of an agreement between Mansoor Rahma Alfalasi, CEO of Dubai Taxi Company, and Toufic Mitri, Managing Director of National Taxi LLC, marking a significant milestone in Dubai’s journey toward smarter, more accessible, and customer-centric transport solutions.
Under the agreement, 1,823 National Taxi vehicles will be seamlessly integrated into the Bolt platform, significantly expanding fleet capacity and service coverage. The integration will increase availability, reduce waiting times, and enhance overall operational efficiency, delivering faster ETAs and a more reliable customer experience, particularly during peak periods. The expanded fleet also supports higher driver earnings through increased trip volumes, while reinforcing Bolt’s position as a trusted and growing e-hailing platform in Dubai.

Mansoor Rahma Alfalasi, CEO of Dubai Taxi Company, said: “At DTC, we are committed to building strategic partnerships that enhance customer experience while strengthening Dubai’s mobility ecosystem. Through this collaboration, and with the addition of National taxis to our existing fleet of over 10,000 taxis on the Bolt platform, we are expanding access to taxis and embedding them more deeply into the digital ride-hailing experience. This integration brings us closer to reaching 80 percent target set by Dubai Government of converting street hailing trips to e-hailing.”
“The growing demand for taxi services in Dubai is being driven by rapid digital transformation, sustained urbanisation, strong tourism growth, and ongoing fleet modernisation, key pillars of a thriving city’s economy. By aligning our services with these drivers, we are building a resilient, future-ready mobility network that supports economic growth, improves driver opportunities, and delivers seamless journeys for residents and visitors alike.”, he added.
“We are glad to have our fleet of 1823 taxis on one of the UAE’s leading e-hailing platforms, Bolt. This partnership represents a significant step forward in optimising fleet utilisation and enhancing operational efficiency. With the smart technology and real-time demand matching capabilities of the Bolt platform, we are able to reduce idle time, improve driver productivity, and deliver faster, more reliable service to customers. Beyond efficiency, this collaboration enables us to elevate service quality while supporting more sustainable mobility through better route optimisation and reduced unnecessary mileage.”, said Toufic Mitri, Managing Director of National Taxi LLC.
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