Elias Tsapsidis, General Manager for ESET Middle East, Greece, Cyprus & Malta, explains that ESET is using LEAP 2026 to showcase its AI‑driven PROTECT Platform, advancing unified prevention, detection and response, expanding cloud and OT security, and strengthening Saudi organisations against emerging and AI‑enabled threats.
How is ESET using LEAP 2026 to showcase its latest advancements in AI‑powered threat prevention, detection, and response for modern enterprise environments?
At LEAP 2026, we are demonstrating how modern enterprise security can move from fragmented technologies toward a unified prevention, detection and response model. The ESET PROTECT Platform combines AI-native endpoint protection, XDR, threat hunting, incident response and managed services, giving customers a consistent view across increasingly distributed environments.
A major theme this year is extending that model beyond conventional endpoints. ESET Cloud Workload Protection now brings public-cloud virtual machines into the platform, while new incident investigation capabilities provide richer context around attack paths and affected identities. We are also showing how ESET AI Advisor and AI-generated behavioural reporting can help analysts understand complex detections faster. The result is technology that does more of the heavy analytical work while allowing security teams to retain control over the final response.
With cyberattacks intensifying across the Kingdom, what emerging threats is ESET seeing in 2026, and how is the company helping Saudi organisations stay ahead?
In 2026, we are seeing attackers improve the scale and effectiveness of techniques that are already proven to work. ESET’s H1 2026 threat research shows a sharp increase in social-engineering techniques such as ClickFix, alongside record levels of QR code phishing, continued ransomware evolution, and the growing misuse of artificial intelligence by malicious actors.
AI is also introducing an entirely new attack surface. ESET has analysed hundreds of thousands of AI skills, modular components that enable AI agents to interact with tools and external systems, and has identified thousands of malicious examples. This demonstrates that organisations increasingly need to protect not only conventional endpoints and cloud environments, but also the AI technologies being introduced into everyday business processes.
At the same time, targeted espionage remains a concern across the wider Gulf. ESET Research’s latest APT Activity Report found China-aligned threat actors active in the Gulf states, with intelligence interests in maritime, energy, and political developments. The report does not attribute this activity specifically to Saudi Arabia, but it illustrates the strategic threat environment facing organisations operating across the region.
For Saudi organisations, the response has to be multilayered. By combining AI-powered prevention, XDR, threat intelligence, and automated detection and response within the ESET PROTECT Platform, we aim to give security teams greater visibility and the ability to identify, investigate, and contain threats before they escalate into larger incidents.
Industrial and critical‑infrastructure environments are facing more targeted attacks. How is ESET strengthening OT security to protect manufacturing, energy, and essential services?
OT security requires a different mindset from conventional enterprise IT because availability and safety can be more important than the ability to patch or replace systems quickly. ESET is addressing that through ESET PRIVATE Industrial Security, together with air-gapped solutions, tailored threat intelligence, managed security and custom architectures for complex industrial environments. ESET PRIVATE is specifically designed for organisations whose requirements extend beyond standard deployments, including critical infrastructure and public-sector environments.
We also recognise that many factories and infrastructure environments contain legacy technology that cannot simply be modernised overnight. ESET supports hybrid and air-gapped environments, with MDR and ESET Inspect extending visibility to supported systems within OT networks, including Windows-based devices, while tailored update mechanisms can support environments with restricted internet connectivity.
This is particularly relevant in Saudi Arabia, where NCA’s OTCC establishes minimum cybersecurity requirements for industrial control and operational-technology systems.
As cyber‑physical systems become more interconnected, what capabilities is ESET introducing to secure sensors, devices, and operational environments against blended attacks?
The key issue with cyber-physical systems is the integration of previously isolated operational environments with the wider IT ecosystem. An attacker may enter through email, an endpoint, a cloud identity, a remote-access pathway or a removable device and then move toward operational systems. Protecting that environment therefore requires controls across the entire attack path.
ESET’s approach is not to assume that every industrial sensor or PLC can run a conventional security agent. Instead, we focus on protecting the systems around them: supported OT endpoints and servers, the IT/OT boundary, data transfer paths, remote access points, and the security operations layer. ESET PRIVATE Industrial Security adds tailored architectures for IT/OT environments, while ESET’s air-gapped solutions, high-speed scanning, threat intelligence and managed security capabilities can be adapted to restricted or highly sensitive networks.
Where supported, ESET endpoint and server technologies also provide network attack protection that can identify and block exploit-related and malicious network traffic.
How is ESET leveraging AI‑native technologies within the ESET PROTECT Platform to improve detection accuracy, reduce response time, and support autonomous security operations?
AI is being applied at several different stages of the security lifecycle. At the prevention layer, technologies such as ESET LiveGuard Advanced use multiple AI models, cloud sandboxing and behavioural analysis to assess ransomware, zero-day and previously unseen threats. In 2026, ESET added richer AI-generated reports and autonomous remediation to this workflow.
At the investigation layer, ESET AI Advisor uses XDR telemetry to help analysts understand what happened, which users or devices were affected, the likely attacker objective and appropriate remediation actions. ESET PROTECT 7.2 further introduced AI-driven recommended response actions directly inside incidents.
For customers using ESET PROTECT MDR, automation is combined with 24/7 human threat hunting and response; ESET reports an average detection-and-response time of about 6 minutes.
Our longer-term direction is supervised autonomy rather than removing human oversight. ESET’s new-generation AI SOC programme is explicitly being designed around highly automated security operations with human control retained.
How would you describe the current cybersecurity and OT security landscape in Saudi Arabia, and what trends are shaping customer priorities in 2026?
Saudi Arabia is moving from treating cybersecurity as a technology function to integrating it into national and operational resilience. The NCA reports that the Kingdom’s cybersecurity market reached SAR 15.2 billion, growing 14% year on year, while cybersecurity’s contribution to GDP reached approximately SAR 18.5 billion. Network security, endpoint security and management, security operations solutions, cybersecurity consulting, and data security are among the most in-demand categories.
The OT dimension is becoming equally important. As energy, manufacturing, transportation and other infrastructure become more connected, organisations have to manage IT/OT convergence without compromising uptime or safety. NCA’s dedicated Operational Technology Cybersecurity Controls reflect that priority, while the Essential, Critical Systems and Cloud Cybersecurity Controls demonstrate how broad the regulatory environment has become.
For customers, this is driving demand toward XDR, MDR, cloud visibility, secure AI adoption, stronger protection of legacy systems and more integrated security operations rather than isolated point solutions.
What are ESET’s growth plans for Saudi Arabia in the next 12- 18 months, and what kind of growth are you targeting during this period?
Saudi Arabia remains a strategic growth market for ESET Middle East. Over the next 12–18 months, our focus will be on strengthening our channel ecosystem and helping partners bring advanced cybersecurity capabilities to more organisations across the Kingdom. This includes expanded technical enablement, sales support and joint go-to-market initiatives for distributors and resellers.
We also expect continued demand for technologies that help organisations manage increasingly complex digital environments. ESET is continuing to develop the ESET PROTECT Platform across AI-native security, advanced XDR and next-generation threat detection, with the objective of improving visibility, simplifying security operations and accelerating incident response.
This regional strategy is supported by ESET’s wider investment in cybersecurity innovation. In 2026, ESET announced a €40 million global investment in AI-powered cybersecurity, including security-focused AI models, a layered AI security stack and next-generation AI-enabled security operations.
Our priority for Saudi Arabia is therefore sustainable expansion: strengthening partner capabilities, increasing engagement with customers and ensuring organisations in the Kingdom have access to ESET’s latest technologies as their cybersecurity requirements evolve.