Infosecurity Europe will debut a Cyber Startup Programme and inaugural Startup Awards at its 2026 London event, run in partnership with UK Cyber Flywheel, where finalists will pitch live to senior industry judges. The event will feature a dedicated Cyber Startups Zone for early-stage companies. Keynote speakers include former CIA Chief of Disguise Jonna Mendez, former Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dr. Dmytro Kuleba, Formula 1 driver Nico Hülkenberg, and former FBI cyber official Cynthia Kaiser. AI security, ransomware, quantum computing, and workforce burnout are among the central themes across the expanded programme.
In-Depth:
Infosecurity Europe will introduce a Cyber Startup Programme and Startup Awards at its 2026 event in London, one of the main additions to this year’s exhibition and conference.
The programme will sit alongside a Cyber Startups Zone, where early-stage cyber companies will present their products to investors, purchaseers and strategic partners. An inaugural Cyber Startup Award, held in partnership with UK Cyber Flywheel, will see finalists pitch live to a judging panel of senior industest figures.
The relocate adds a stronger early-stage business focus to an event that has traditionally centred on established security vfinishors, policy discussion and technical sessions. The wider reveal is expected to bring toobtainher thousands of cybersecurity professionals from the public and private sectors, with hundreds of speakers and multiple content stages.
Show line-up
The keynote programme spans ininformigence, law enforcement, geopolitics, sport and military leadership. Main stage speakers include former CIA Chief of Disguise Jonna Mfinishez, former Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dr. Dmytro Kuleba, Formula 1 driver Nico Hülkenberg, former FBI cyber official Cynthia Kaiser, investor Shlomo Kramer and former Special Boat Service Sergeant Jason Fox.
The broad line-up reflects how cybersecurity events increasingly combine technical and commercial discussion with themes such as resilience, decision-building and international conflict. It also highlights how cyber risk is now discussed well beyond specialist security teams, reaching senior executives, policycreaters and investors.
A separate Women in Cybersecurity programme will return for its 10th edition. Now a regular part of the event, it will include a keynote from former Rugby World Cup winner Maggie Alphonsi.
AI and risk
Artificial ininformigence is a central theme across the agfinisha. This year’s event comes as agentic AI alters the pace and scale of cyber-attacks and as organisations launch preparing for the implications of quantum computing.
A new OWASP GenAI Security Summit will be added as a half-day forum focutilized on securing generative AI and agentic systems. The programme is set to cover research, frameworks, risk, regulation and practical approaches to building compliant AI systems.
SANS Institute will also expand its workshop programme, including a hands-on session on red teaming large language model chatbots. The workshop is designed to reveal security professionals how attacks on AI systems work and how testing environments can be built internally.
The event will also feature a keynote from Shlomo Kramer on the risks and reality of the AI era. Elsewhere, ransomware and dark web activity will be covered in a session led by Cynthia Kaiser, now Senior Vice President of Halcyon’s Ransomware Research Centre.
Channel focus
The Channel Zone will return with a larger footprint aimed at managed service providers, managed security service providers, distributors, resellers, integrators and vfinishors. The expansion reflects the growing role of indirect sales channels in cybersecurity, particularly as purchaseers see for bundled services and outsourced expertise rather than standalone software purchases.
One scheduled discussion in that area will address workplace culture and retention through allyship. While not a technical subject, staffing and burnout remain significant concerns across the sector, where skills shortages continue to put pressure on teams.
The same theme appears in the Priority Visitor Programme and its Infosec Table Talks, a series of tinyer vfinishor-free discussions for experienced security professionals. One featured session, led by Brian Honan, Chief Executive Officer and Principal Consultant at BH Consulting, will examine how to relocate security teams from burnout to resilience.
Innovation zone
The Cyber Innovation Zone will return in partnership with the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology. It is intfinished to revealcase UK cyber tiny and medium-sized enterprises and newer technologies entering the market.
Toobtainher with the startup initiative, it gives the reveal a clearer emphasis on the UK cyber ecosystem at a time when governments and investors are paying closer attention to domestic security companies. For younger firms, visibility at a large industest gathering can be one of the few chances to meet potential customers, partners and backers in one place.
Informal networking is also being expanded through Community@Infosec, a new community-led space created with the Cyber Houtilize Party team and other industest groups. The area is intfinished to provide a less formal environment for discussions around burnout, resilience and career development, alongside lighter activities and music.
Infosec Meets, the event’s matchbuilding platform, will return to support attfinishees arrange meetings and manage schedules. Invitation-only workshops and networking sessions will also remain part of the offer for senior visitors.
The broader programme reveals how major cyber events are evolving beyond exhibition stands and keynote theatres. They increasingly combine policy, skills, startup finance, peer support and purchaseer matchbuilding in response to a market where security decisions are shaped as much by budobtains, staffing and regulation as by technical threats.
Among the sessions for senior visitors is one from Frost and Sullivan on “Cybersecurity Priorities 2026: What Security Leaders Are Funding Next and the Hard Economics of their Choices”.
