Enabling Cross-sectoral Innovation: Key Takeaways from the Cybersecurity Trends 2026 Event

Introduction

On January 28th, Devoteam hosted the event "Cybersecurity Trends 2026: Enabling Cross-Cutting Innovation" at its Lisbon office.

It was a morning dedicated to cybersecurity trends for 2026, focusing on their acceleration, driven by Artificial Intelligence, cloud computing, and digital transformation. It featured the participation of several experts, notably including Pedro Xavier Mendonça, Coordinator of the Development and Innovation Department at the National Cybersecurity Centre (Departamento de Desenvolvimento e Inovação do Centro Nacional de Cibersegurança). The session fostered discussion, networking, and knowledge sharing on the main challenges, priorities, and the importance of cybersecurity in promoting trust and digital resilience.

See the event recap below:

Key Takeaways

1. Cyber Trust as the Cornerstone of AI Governance and Digital Resilience

The opening session was led by Hugo Mestre, Executive Director & Head of Cyber ​​Trust at Devoteam Portugal. Hugo emphasised the strategic importance of cybersecurity as a factor in digital trust, AI governance, and organisational resilience.

According to Hugo, "AI is at the heart of the strategic agenda, being recognised by 94% of leaders as the main driver of change in organisations." In this context, cybersecurity plays a critical, inseparable role in business success, as it directly influences all strategic and operational decisions. This advancement exposes significant challenges, namely a skills gap affecting 85% of organisations.

2. The New Frontier of Attacks: From Generative AI to Geopolitical Risk

Next, Pedro Xavier Mendonça, the Coordinator of the Development and Innovation Department of the National Cybersecurity Centre (Departamento de Desenvolvimento e Inovação do Centro Nacional de Cibersegurança) presented the main conclusions of the CNCS's most recent "Risk and Conflict Report," warning of the increase in threats such as phishing, smishing, and the use of generative AI to enhance cyberattacks, in an increasingly challenging geopolitical context.

3. AI Chaos Management: Balancing Innovation with Institutional Rigour

During the session "AI Chaos Management", Rui Shantilal, VP of the Cybertrust team at Devoteam, addressed the challenges of managing AI in a context of increasing autonomy and unpredictability, reinforcing the importance of governance models and of integrating AI into organisations with the same rigour applied to talent management.

4. A Roadmap for Strategic Governance and Compliance

The topic of governance and compliance was explored in depth by Aurélio Maia, Consulting Services Director of the Cybertrust team at Devoteam. During the session"AI Governance and Compliance" he highlighted the implementation schedule of the AI ​​Act and the need for organisations to prepare to ensure compliance and strategic management of AI.

5. Merging Offensive AI with Human Insight for Maximum Impact

In the session "The Rise of the Autonomous Pentester", Bruno Morisson, Global Head of Offensive Security at Devoteam's Cybertrust team, presented a perspective on the evolution of penetration testing, highlighting the growing role of automation and offensive AI, and advocating for an integrated approach between technology and human insight to maximise value and effectiveness.

6. Cloud Security as the Non-Negotiable Requirement for Secure AI

The agenda also included the presentation "Cyber ​​Tech for Cloud Security", presented by Herman Duarte, Cybertrust Consultant at Devoteam. Herman highlighted the challenges of protecting multicloud environments and emphasised that there is no secure AI without a secure cloud infrastructure, reinforcing the importance of security strategies tailored to each organisation's specific needs.

Conclusion

The event "Cybersecurity Trends 2026: Enabling Cross-Cutting Innovation" reinforces Devoteam's position as an essential strategic partner in promoting digital trust in Portugal. Devoteam will remain committed to anticipating emerging risks, empowering the market, and, ultimately, strengthening the cyber resilience of organisations in the face of an increasingly complex and interdependent environment.