Cybersecurity in Europe currently is experiencing an unprecedented period of challenge and transformation, compelling governments, industries, businesses, and digital economy stakeholders to take a strategic pulse-check as threats grow and the economic impacts of cybercrime intensify. According to an IDC report, European cybersecurity spending is expected to raise at a steady pace to reach $84 billion by 2027.
With Europe on the front lines of a cybersecurity reset, the world’s foremost tech, digital defence and CISOs came together at GITEX EUROPE x Ai Everything 2025 to cover the urgent need to harmonise AI-enhanced detection with the evolving regulatory playbook across Europe.
Organised by Dubai World Trade Centre (DWTC), GITEX EUROPE x Ai Everything ran until 23rd May at Messe Berlin, continuing the momentum with strategic discussions and innovation launches across sectors, from AI to cyber, quantum to green tech, SMEs to startups and scaleups.
With preventing cyber crime dependent on combating phishing, banking malware, ransomware, and other sophisticated modes of attack via the latest next-generation technologies, an expert panel of world-renowned specialists examined AI’s crucial role in predicting breaches, automating responses, and enhancing defences.
Among them, Captain Daniel Prenzel, Deputy Branch Head Capability Planning & Architecture at Germany’s Federal Ministry of Defence, revealed how the human-AI model is a critical element.
“We will always have a human – engine or model. You cannot make everyone on the computer an AI specialist. It needs to be explainable, and you need to be able to trust the AI with what it is doing,” he said. “Availability of data and sharing of data between company remains an issue. If all industries come together and share their data, we will get much better results for all of them.”
According to IBM’s Cost of Data Breach 2024 report, the average global breach cost reached $4.88 million, with virtually every industry implicated. However, the repercussions are even more costly for finance, with the sector now spending $6.08 million dealing with data breaches – 22% higher than the global average.
The session, titled ‘The Next Six Months of Financial Cyber Threats: Are We Ready to Collaborate?’ brought together ethical hackers and security experts on improving security postures.
Kai Grunwitz, President of Kyndryl, said: “80% of the critical data of banks is still on the mainframe. That’s a threat, we need to invest in modernising the mainframe applications now, or sooner or later, we will have no idea how exposed we are.”
Meanwhile Dhruv Bisani, Head of Adversarial Attack Simulations, Starling Bank, highlighted one cyber aspect that needs more attention: “One topic that seems to be missing quite a lot is supply chain, or third-party attacks. I’ve seen a new wave of these attacks and we’re going to see a lot more, especially with AI.”
Danni Brooke, award-winning author and former undercover operative, said: “We need not be so technical, we need to strip it back, speak in less tech terms so that the average person understands what these threats actually mean.”
Another rapidly evolving technology frontier dominating the GITEX EUROPE x Ai Everything agenda alongside cybersecurity was AI. A recent European Parliament study expects labour market productivity will increase as high as 37% by 2035 through AI. Key to this scenario are the world’s tech enterprises currently driving cross-sector disruption through innovative AI-powered solutions, including AWS, IBM, Airbus, Cisco, CrowdStrike, Fortinet, Lenovo, ManageEngine, and NVIDIA.
Live from the Tech Talks stage, Nicholas Borsotto, Global Lead for AI Innovators, Lenovo Global Technology, revealed how the EU’s AI Act, the world’s first comprehensive legal AI regulation and innovation framework, can help build secure and scalable AI systems.
Speaking from a Lenovo perspective, Borsotto stated: “We fully support the EU AI Act’s mission, which aligns with Lenovo’s longstanding commitment to transparent, explainable, and privacy-centric AI – reflected in our AI Innovators program and Hybrid AI portfolio. Since 2022, we have operated a Responsible AI Committee and have been publicly sharing our positions on the topic. In 2025, we integrated Responsible AI into our Product Diversity Office, ensuring every new AI solution is evaluated through the lens of ethics, diversity, and inclusion from the outset.”
One of the world’s leading names in the tech frontier, Amazon Web Services (AWS) unveiled its Generative AI Adoption Index based on an in-depth survey and analysis on how leadership structures are evolving to meet new demands, as organisations in Germany embark on scaling AI across functions. The survey reported that 60% of companies have appointed a Chief AI Officer, while another 24% intend to do so by 2026. In addition, 93% are exploring Gen-AI tools, while 88% are running live experiments.
Elaborating on the unveiling of the new report and the Gen AI revolution sweeping Germany, Jonathan Weiss, Managing Director, Amazon Development Center Germany, shared: “While generative AI leads 2025 investment priorities in Germany, long-term success requires a combination of dedicated leadership, talent development, and cultural transformation. AWS combines enterprise-grade security standards with industry-leading AI capabilities and proven expertise to help customers convert AI potential into measurable business outcomes.
“This is particularly evident in our hybrid approach, combining internal competencies with external expertise, which is the key to successfully scaling AI initiatives – an approach that 47% of German companies plan to utilise in 2025.”
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