FEATURE: CIO PRIORITIES

CIOs are tasked with balancing the drive for rapid AI and datadriven innovation with the need to build resilience in an increasingly unpredictable business landscape. Experts commonly highlight the importance of prioritising proactive risk management and establishing a robust, AI-ready data foundation to navigate this challenge. We spoke to three industry leaders to gain their insights on this matter.

Hadi Jaafarawi, Regional VP – Middle East and Africa at Qualys

2025 has already proved to be one of the most volatile years for global business in recent memory. From intensifying trade disputes and new tariffs to escalating regional conflicts, the sheer unpredictability of today’ s operating environment is forcing business leaders to revisit their risk playbooks. In the Middle East especially, geopolitical shocks are being felt, not just at the boardroom level, but right across supply chains, investment flows and technology strategy.

While it may be tempting to hope for a return to stability, the more pragmatic view is this: volatility is here to stay. Risk is no longer a sporadic challenge, it’ s a defining feature of the modern business landscape. And in a world where the unknown is constantly knocking at the door, the real differentiator isn’ t how little risk you have, but how well you define and manage it.

That’ s why forward-thinking enterprises are now investing in capabilities that help to operationalise risk management. The most promising model emerging today is the Risk Operations Centre( ROC). This is not simply another dashboard or reporting function. It is a centralised function dedicated to tracking, contextualising, and continuously managing risk across the enterprise.

Proactive Risk Management Before the Breach

Since every business today involves digital applications or technology, cyber-risk is business risk. Despite this, it’ s important to recognise that the ROC is fundamentally different from a Security Operations Centre( SOC). Where a SOC is event-driven and technical – monitoring systems and reacting to threats in real time – the ROC offers a broader, more strategic view of risk, aligned to business priorities.

Instead of focusing solely on alerts and incidents, the ROC seeks to answer higher-order questions: What risks are most likely to impact our business? What is our overall exposure? What vulnerabilities are truly material to business operations? What are our options?

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