Latest news with #organizations
Zawya
2 days ago
- Business
- Zawya
Cisco study reveals 96% of organizations in the UAE leverage AI for threat intelligence
Cisco Unveils UAE Findings from its Cybersecurity Readiness Index for 2025: Organizations in UAE are navigating the challenges posed by AI, particularly the risks associated with generative AI deployment. Cybersecurity complexity and skills shortages remain a challenge. While AI provides limitless opportunities, the industry needs to dramatically simplify how enterprises deploy, manage, and secure AI to keep pace with the evolving threat landscape. Dubai, UAE – According to Cisco's 2025 Cybersecurity Readiness Index, a total of 30% of organizations in UAE have achieved the 'Mature' or 'Progressive' levels of readiness required to effectively withstand today's cybersecurity threats. This represents an improvement from last year's Index, however further efforts are required to address cybersecurity preparedness as hyperconnectivity and AI introduce new complexities for security practitioners. AI is revolutionizing security and escalating threat levels, with 93% of organizations in the country having faced AI-related incidents last year. However, only 62% of respondents are confident their employees fully understand AI-related cybersecurity threats, and only 57% believe their teams fully grasp how malicious actors are using AI to execute sophisticated attacks. This awareness gap leaves organizations critically exposed. AI is compounding an already challenging threat landscape. In the last year, over half of organizations (55%) suffered cyberattacks, hindered by complex security frameworks with siloed point solutions. The top three types of cybersecurity incidents include malware (76%), phishing attacks (59%), and data breaches by malicious actors (47%). Ransomware attacks were mentioned by 39% of respondents. Fady Younes, Managing Director for Cybersecurity at Cisco Middle East, Africa, Türkiye, Romania and CIS, said: 'As AI reshapes our world, it brings an entirely new class of risks at an unprecedented scale, putting even more pressure on infrastructure and those who defend it.' He added: 'Our region's leadership in AI adoption is remarkable, paving the way for a dynamic future where innovative, AI-driven cybersecurity measures are critical for enhancing and protecting our digital landscape. Cisco is committed to support organizations in the region in enhancing their digital resilience by prioritizing AI solutions, streamlining security architecture, and addressing talent shortages. Today, preparedness is key to ensuring that businesses remain relevant and can thrive in the AI era.' The Index evaluates companies' readiness across five pillars – Identity Intelligence, Network Resilience, Machine Trustworthiness, Cloud Reinforcement, and AI Fortification – and encompasses 31 solutions and capabilities. Based on a double-blind survey of 8,000 private sector security and business leaders in 30 global markets, including 202 in the UAE, respondents detailed their deployment stages for each solution. Companies were then categorized into four readiness stages: Beginner, Formative, Progressive, and Mature. Findings Cybersecurity preparedness in the UAE remains alarmingly low, especially as 75% of respondents anticipate business disruptions from cyber incidents within the next 12 to 24 months. Further: AI's Expanding Role in Cybersecurity: An impressive 96% of organizations use AI to understand threats better, 93% for threat detection, and 77% for recovery, underscoring AI's vital role in strengthening cybersecurity strategies. Generative AI (GenAI) Deployment Risks: GenAI tools are widely adopted, with 45% of employees using approved third-party tools. However, 20% have unrestricted access to public GenAI, and 54% of IT teams are unaware of employee interactions with GenAI, underscoring major oversight challenges. Shadow AI Concerns: 33% of organizations lack confidence in detecting unregulated AI deployments, or shadow AI, posing significant cybersecurity and data privacy risks. Unmanaged Device Vulnerability: Within hybrid work models, 88% of organizations face increased security risks as employees access networks from unmanaged devices. This is exacerbated by using unapproved Gen AI tools. Investment Priorities Shift: While almost all (98%) organizations plan to upgrade their IT infrastructure in the next 12-24 months, only 9% allocate more than 20% of their IT budget to cybersecurity. This finding suggests an opportunity for enhanced investment in comprehensive defense strategies, as the pace of threats continues to rise. Complex Security Postures: Over four in five (81%) organizations report that their complex security infrastructures, dominated by the deployment of more than 10 point security solutions, are hampering their ability to respond to threats swiftly and effectively. Talent Shortage Impedes Progress: A staggering 87% of respondents identify the shortage of skilled cybersecurity professionals as a major challenge, with 57% reporting more than 10 positions to fill. To tackle today's cybersecurity challenges, organizations in the UAE must invest in AI-driven solutions, simplify security infrastructures, and enhance AI threat awareness. Prioritizing AI for threat detection, response, and recovery is essential, as is addressing talent shortages and mitigating risks from unmanaged devices and shadow AI. Additional Resources: Report Microsite Cybersecurity Readiness Assessment Tool About Cisco Cisco (NASDAQ: CSCO) is the worldwide technology leader that is revolutionizing the way organizations connect and protect in the AI era. For more than 40 years, Cisco has securely connected the world. With its industry leading AI-powered solutions and services, Cisco enables its customers, partners and communities to unlock innovation, enhance productivity and strengthen digital resilience. With purpose at its core, Cisco remains committed to creating a more connected and inclusive future for all. Discover more on the Cisco Newsroom.
Forbes
3 days ago
- Business
- Forbes
AI May Be Erasing Entry-Level Jobs
Purple ID card holder on black background with text Entry-level worker - refers to starting jobs ... More require little or no professional experience allow first jobbers just graduating to enter workforce There's a new report out on jobs this month, and it's not reassuring a lot of people who were worried about job displacement, especially for new graduates and less experienced workers. We know intuitively that that is a hard time to come of age as someone pondering a career. There are a lot of question marks around what AI is going to do to the job market. However, the wide-ranging report from Signalfire is showing us some early visions of what might come to pass in the years ahead. The scope of the study is impressive: it uses data from 650 million professionals, and 80 million organizations. There are breakout statistics for smaller groups of companies and workers, but the study in general relies on a pretty good survey of market data. One of the most sobering parts of the report is the idea that there's a generational shift taking place, and that it largely has to do with decreases in entry-level opportunities for new workers. For somebody just graduating from college, entry-level work is the name of the game. They can smooth the path with an internship or some kind of freelance position, but essentially, new career professionals have always faced that challenge of needing a job to get experience, and needing experience to get the job. However, what the study suggests is that this struggle has just gotten leaner and meaner – with a rise of 5.8% in unemployment for new college grads, and similar other harbingers of doom for Gen Z as a labor force. Other cited statistics include increases in certain law school admissions, with report writers theorizing that young professionals often put off job searches by attending law school when markets are tight. New graduate hires, the report shows, are down 50% from pre-pandemic levels. There's also the suggestion that non-technical job roles keep shrinking, and demand for high-tech positions (filled by experienced people) keeps growing, where senior people may be hired to fill junior positions. There's the question of whether college educations are keeping up with the skill sets employers are looking for. Fundamentally, the question that this asks is: if AI can do all of the go-fering, what happens to the go-fer jobs that have springboarded careers for decades? The study also analyzed where jobs are being created in the tech world. What they found is in increases in regional hubs like Miami and San Diego, lower hiring rates in parts of Texas, and continue dominance in San Francisco and New York where over 65% of the software engineers are located. The report explains it in this way, which to me seemed a little obtuse: 'More companies are embracing hub-and-spoke models, and tailoring compensation philosophies to ensure they secure the right talent mix across diverse locations.' The move toward larger hiring hubs makes sense in co-locating the talent with the infrastructure, and growing the economy of major cities, while emptying American small towns that weren't doing very well anyway. Economists and even public planners would presumably find it pretty easy to imagine how these trends will exacerbate the hollowing out of secondary or tertiary communities, and the building of massive metropolitan areas around hub cities. In other parts of the study, there's more analysis of how this could affect both workers and companies. I listen to an explication of the study from Nathaniel Whittemore at AI Daily Brief, where he went over a lot of the cultural aspects in play. He noted study suggestions that there may be other reasons for lower entry-level hiring, like higher interest rates and different company budget realities. But he also cited cultural business decisions, for example, in consulting and other areas, where some companies may just demand more from workers as a result of higher AI productivity. Whittemore cited engineers working for Amazon, where some of them have said that their job roles start to seem more like working in an Amazon warehouse, with the kinds of tight quotas and productivity mandates that you would associate with the word 'sweatshop'. 'I think that we're experiencing is an example of how challenging transitional periods can be,' he said, unpacking all of the uncertainties around how productivity gains will be handled. 'If you are a regular listener to this show, you'll know that I am net bullish on how all of this shakes out, I think that AI is going to bring massive disruption to the way that we work. ... I think that the market absorbs a huge amount of talent that would have otherwise been absorbed into these big companies in new and interesting ways. But that doesn't mean that it's not going to be extraordinarily painful along the way.' While companies, he notes, could train people better, they may just raise output goals, and be less forgiving of deadlines. Whittemore quotes a Harvard professor predicting a 'speed-up for knowledge workers,' which would represent the more partisan approach by employers – and unfortunately for new workers, that's not without precedent. There's a need, Whittemore suggests, for leadership, to determine whether there's a 'dehumanizing' or 're-humanizing' of human workers in the AI age. For that more targeted content from the report, here's an example, where in a study of the top 15 tech companies from 2019 to 2024, we see that there's almost a night and day difference on the chart lines between those with two or less years of experience, and others with more. It's scary for people who lack those first few years of career experience. In conclusion, I wanted to just post the last section of the report verbatim, because I think it speaks for itself: 'What it means for the road ahead: - For new grads: The training wheels are gone. With fewer entry-level roles, the path forward will rely on bootcamps, open-source, freelancing, and creative projects. It's not enough to just master the latest AI tools; learn to fix their flaws—debugging messy, machine-generated code may be your superpower. - For employers: AI might reduce the short-term need for junior hires, but skipping them entirely risks breaking the long-term talent pipeline. The industry's future depends on equipping the next generation with skills that grow alongside the evolving technology landscape.' So basically, doing too much in this area can hurt both the company, and the workers. Will we be able to find a solution that works for everybody? Anyway, this is a lot to take in for new hires or potential career professionals who are just graduating and entering the workforce. As Whittemore concedes, we are going to have to figure this out, and things could get messy before we end up with a solution for how to integrate AI changes into this aspect of our lives.
Forbes
3 days ago
- Business
- Forbes
Why Leaders Build Purpose-Driven Organizations That Invest In Community
Anyone who has worked under an uninspired or narrowly focused leader understands that true leadership transcends boardrooms, dashboards, and quarterly earnings. It is not confined to metrics or shareholder returns—it is a human endeavor that radiates outward, shaping the culture of organizations and the communities in which they operate. Holistic leaders recognize that the ultimate success of their enterprise is inextricably linked to the depth of purpose they help cultivate across every level of the organization. And this begins with a bold and often overlooked truth: people want to belong to something bigger than their job descriptions. According to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, eight out of ten small businesses actively find ways to give back to their communities. But the most transformative leaders do more than give—they design companies that integrate service, meaning, and community connection into the very architecture of their operations. In doing so, they unlock deeper employee engagement, trust, and long-term resilience—not as a bonus, but as a byproduct of building organizations that matter. Community investment is not charity—it is a declaration of values. It signals what a leader and an organization stand for. In an era increasingly defined by transparency and meaning, high-performing cultures are no longer sustained by incentives and KPIs alone. They are held together by a shared sense of identity and contribution. And when leaders prioritize community as a core element of strategy, they send a clear message: we're not just here to extract value—we're here to create it. 'Being involved in the community isn't just about building a brand,' explains Thomas J. Henry, founder of the forthcoming Thomas J. Henry Center for Philanthropy in Corpus Christi, Texas - a close-nit community my aunt lived in for many years. 'It's about being part of something greater than yourself and your business.' Indeed, trust—arguably the most valuable currency in leadership—is built not by rhetoric, but by visibility, humility, and consistent action. When leaders show up at local schools, mentor entrepreneurs, or help restore community spaces, their influence deepens. Over time, that influence becomes credibility—earned, not manufactured. People no longer just want jobs. They want meaning. They want to grow, to connect, and to see the impact of their effort beyond a task list. Holistic leaders understand this and intentionally create environments where employees can find purpose through multiple pathways—whether it's through mentorship programs, volunteering, innovation projects, or community partnerships that align with their personal values. 'When a leader models service-oriented behavior,' says Henry, 'it creates ripple effects. Employees start to see their own work as part of something bigger, more human, and more enduring than profit alone.' That sense of shared mission is a cultural force multiplier. It boosts morale, enhances retention, and fosters teams rooted in mutual respect and aspiration. Organizations that embed purpose into their fabric don't just keep talent—they elevate it. No business exists in a vacuum. The long-term sustainability of any organization is tightly woven into the health and resilience of its broader ecosystem. Better schools produce stronger talent. Safer neighborhoods enable more focused teams. Vibrant local economies create a stronger customer base. 'The reality is that powerful communities are not just alive and well—they're evolving,' note Jeffrey Bussgang and Jono Bacon in a recent HRB article. 'They may be organized differently, but they present profound opportunities for companies to engage, co-create, and lead.' Leaders who see the connection between community vitality and organizational health don't wait for crises to respond. They invest proactively, ensuring that their organizations grow in step with the world around them—not at its expense. Leadership is not about control—it's about coherence. The strongest leaders create alignment between what they say, what they do, and what they build. They don't just articulate values—they embody them. They don't just promote culture—they shape it, intentionally and consistently. 'Spending time in the community where your employees and customers live doesn't just drive goodwill,' writes BizJournals. 'It creates a feedback loop of trust, understanding, and loyalty—fueling both purpose and performance.' Moreover, when leaders engage deeply with their communities, they shift the very definition of success—from status to significance. They begin to lead not only with ambition but with compassion. Not only with a vision, but with stewardship. The greatest leaders of the modern era will not be remembered solely for their innovations or profits—but for how they elevated people. For how they built companies that were not just efficient but meaningful. For how they made the workplace a place of purpose, not just productivity. The question, then, is not whether to invest in your community—it's how to design your organization so that every employee, at every level, sees that investment as part of their own story. Because when individuals find purpose in their work, and that work connects meaningfully to the outside world, you don't just build a company. You build a legacy. And legacy, after all, is the most enduring form of leadership there is.
Forbes
4 days ago
- Business
- Forbes
Act On Data Faster: AI At The Edge
How AI at the edge helps you unlock the value of data with speed, scale and security. Data isn't just everywhere — it's everything. Yet many organizations struggle to harness its full potential. The answer? Edge AI. The edge is where data originates, decisions happen in real time, and innovation takes flight. Organizations with edge operations that embrace AI today will shape a smarter, more connected tomorrow by acting instantly on data where it's created. It is predicted that edge AI addressable revenue will reach $157 billion by 20301, so it should be no surprise that organizations in industries such as manufacturing, healthcare, retail and more are seeking ways to use AI at the edge to make better, faster, data-driven decisions. However, to fully leverage the potential of edge AI, it's critical to begin by aligning edge AI use cases with your strategic goals. So, where do you begin? Start by defining the problem edge AI can solve for your organization, such as improving operational efficiency, enhancing customer experiences or mitigating risk. This could involve leveraging enabling technologies like computer vision to achieve outcomes such as predictive maintenance, enhanced healthcare diagnostics, or personalized marketing. Once you've selected your use case, the next step is to determine the technology requirements and allocate resources and budget to your initiative. Finally, you'll want to work with one or more trusted partners to build a scalable foundation that is optimized for edge environments and can adapt to future demands and the continuous evolution of AI technologies. As you work to bring intelligence closer to the point of action, you're likely to encounter a range of complex challenges. When designing your AI foundation, be sure to include considerations such as: When it comes to AI success at the edge, three factors stand out: speed, scale, and security. Together, they form the foundation for unleashing AI's full potential. Speed: Accelerate action. Data generation is soaring, especially at the edge. It takes time to send data to core data centers and cloud environments, which can lead to a lag in processing real-time demands. Edge computing changes the game by processing data where it's created, eliminating latency and enabling decisions in milliseconds. Combined with AI, it has the potential to drive smarter operations and predictive insights, empowering industries to lead with agility and innovation, processing data where it's created unlocks truly real-time action – enabling 'agentic' responses vital for everything from mitigating risks in healthcare to optimizing energy grids or boosting manufacturing efficiency, reacting instantly rather than waiting for post-processing. This speed empowers industries to lead with agility and innovation. Scale: Meet growing data demands. Of course, edge AI success isn't just about speed — it's also about scaling to handle massive amounts of data. Traditional centralized IT models struggle with the complexity of distributed operations, but thoughtfully planned and flexible edge AI means deploying intelligent systems close to where actions happen. This approach leads to efficient, synchronized operations across locations, adapts to growth in real-time, and simplifies the process of replicating successful models throughout additional locations. By solving for scalability, you can unlock agility and thrive in dynamic markets. Security: Protecting data at the edge. Sensitive data demands uncompromising security, but the distributed nature of edge environments introduces vulnerabilities. Edge AI can enhance security by keeping sensitive data local, reducing reliance on centralized systems and minimizing exposure to cyber threats. This localized approach also simplifies regulatory compliance including regulations such as the general data protection regulation (GDPR) and aligns with data sovereignty standards. By integrating encryption and zero trust principles, your organization benefits from resilience and safeguards critical assets right where the data is generated and processed. Coordinating IT operations across data centers, clouds, factories, retail outlets, remote sites, and more can be overwhelming without the right tools. To simplify operations, your edge AI solution should provide centralized management and orchestration capabilities for consistency and efficiency across distributed environments. By automating processes and seamlessly integrating workloads, you can reduce complexity, save time, and focus on innovation. Crucially, these tools must also facilitate the secure, end-to-end management of continuously evolving AI models and software stacks, adapting to new requirements and updates efficiently across potentially vast, distributed environments. Successfully addressing edge AI challenges and deploying solutions that meet the key requirements of speed, scale, and security requires a thoughtful, strategic approach with tools and frameworks designed specifically for each unique edge environment. Dell is uniquely suited to help you optimize edge AI workloads and deliver faster insights. For example, the Dell AI Factory with NVIDIA speeds AI adoption by delivering integrated Dell and NVIDIA capabilities to accelerate your AI-powered use cases, streamline your data and workflows and enable you to design your own AI journey for repeatable, scalable outcomes. In a recent survey by TechTarget's Enterprise Strategy Group, 91% of organizations believe they would benefit from more consistency in edge application and infrastructure management.2 Dell NativeEdge brings the power of Dell AI Factory with NVIDIA to the edge by enabling organizations to securely scale their infrastructure and orchestrate AI applications across any location. Support for virtualized and containerized environments is seamless, while NativeEdge Blueprints automate the deployment of frameworks and applications for faster, more efficient AI innovations. Designed to simplify and accelerate the deployment and management of AI at the edge, this 'one-click' approach to deploying and maintaining distributed edge solutions significantly reduces manual effort, complexity, and risk, allowing organizations to quickly adapt to evolving AI technologies and maximize their ROI by getting AI operational faster. To learn more about how to power your purpose with edge AI, read the eBook: Accelerating the Future with Edge Computing and AI.
Forbes
4 days ago
- Business
- Forbes
The Connected Aftermarket: How Industrial Companies Can Make Services Smarter
In recent years, economic uncertainties have driven industrial companies to seek out new streams of revenue—ones that aren't subject to the vagaries of supply chains, extreme weather, and geopolitical matters. For many, that new stream has been aftermarket services. Providing services outside of the pressures involved in equipment production and sales is what makes aftermarket sales so attractive—and profitable. The average operating margin from aftermarket services globally is two to three times higher than the operating margin from new equipment sales. And with digital technologies and smart operations driving new opportunities—and demands—for customer service, now is a good time for industrial companies to explore or expand aftermarket services. Aftermarket sales can satisfy the expectation of customer-centricity. With the proliferation of smart technologies, customer experience and seamless interactions are table stakes for any business-to-consumer (B2C) enterprise—and that approach is increasingly extending itself to the business-to-business (B2B) market. And with good reason: 88% of customers say the experience a company provides is as important as the product itself. Even more compelling, customer-focused organizations report a 49% increase in sales or revenue, a 45% increase in profitability, and a 70% increase in customer loyalty and satisfaction. One of the ways to build out customer-centricity—and therefore, aftermarket services—is connectivity. That is, assets that are connected through digital technologies such as the Internet of Things (IoT) sensors, machine learning (ML), artificial intelligence (AI), and Generative AI (GenAI)—most of which manufacturers have already incorporated into their operations. But these technologies can take aftermarket services to new levels. According to a Deloitte Consulting LLP survey, 70% of companies that have implemented digital solutions improved their customer experience. Drawing on these technologies can enable industrial companies to develop a connected aftermarket—which can extend the value chain beyond the factory to the full lifecycle of the product. It can connect vast networks of assets, people, and materials to create an integrated system that is in a better position to offer good customer experience. Working like a B2C in a B2B environment is likely a new world for many industrial companies. They often don't have the data—due to legacy systems and siloed operations—to understand their customers and can lose track of a product once its sold. Industrial companies' linear mindset based on traditional production lines can make it hard to stand up aftermarket services—which don't necessarily fit into a predictable sequence. This also means there can be an overall lack of experience in building out customer-centric solutions. To deliver aftermarket services that offer the customer-centricity of a B2C and take advantage of today's connected and advanced technologies, industrial companies should consider the following actions: Digital technologies such as IoT, sensors, machine learning, and GenAI have fueled the proliferation of smart operations in manufacturing and continue to drive gains in productivity and efficiency. These technologies and the aftermarket service they enable can help industrial companies form a buffer — while offering an improved customer experience which could lead to loyalty.
