Reem Asaad talks about Cisco’s presence in LEAP 2023 and its offering in KSA

An interview with Reem Asaad, Vice President in Middle East and Africa, Cisco, an American multinational technology company that designs, manufactures, and sells networking equipment and other high-technology services and products, discussing the company’s presence in LEAP 2023 and new technology being showcased

Techx: Leap 2022 was a great success for the tech industry, what are your expectations from Leap 2023 and what’s on showcase this year?

Asaad: During LEAP’s inaugural edition, industry leaders such as Cisco demonstrated technology’s potential to transform nations, industries, and communities. Driven by the Saudi Data and AI Authority (SDAIA), with support from the Saudi Arabia Ministry of Communications and Information Technology (MCIT), LEAP 2022 proved to be a tremendous success.

This year, we are looking forward to returning and expect to see themes such as digital agility, security, and sustainability top-of-mind for IT decision-makers across the Kingdom.

At LEAP 2023, Cisco will showcase its latest solutions designed to accelerate public and private customers’ agendas for a digital and green future, while taking business innovation and customer experience to new heights.

Visitors at LEAP will experience these technological trends that we have identified through the following pillars:

• Future of Work, which will remain hybrid and will enable more equitable inclusive experiences.

• Security Resilience, which will evolve to include anomaly detection, zero trust frameworks and behaviour patterns through the use of AI and machine learning.

• Simplifying and Automating Infrastructure, which will witness networks become more experience-centric with increasing capabilities to predict potential issues and provide problem-solving options.

• Accelerating the Cloud Experience, which will see a noticeable shift in how companies leverage multi-cloud architectures.

• Internet for the Future, which will be built to maximize operational agility and future-proof infrastructure.

• Sustainability and Journey to Net Zero, which will see 

Net Zero will drive common standards to meet sustainability goals with advancements in Power Over Ethernet (PoE) design and hardware to transform data centres for a more sustainable future.

Techx: With USD $6.4bn investments announced by the Kingdom in 2022, in areas of future technologies & towards becoming the largest digitalized economy in MENA, how can Cisco contribute towards KSA in this strategy?    

Asaad: Over the years, Cisco has continued to play an important role in progressing digital agendas in the Kingdom and the wider MENA region. In the coming period, our goal is to further strengthen our role as a key contributor to Saudi Arabia’s innovation journey.

Our initiatives include the Country Digital Acceleration (CDA) program, a long-term partnership with country leadership to make an innovative change in the country across key industries, and Cisco’s Networking Academy, which has been active in the Kingdom since 2000, with more than 274,500 participants. With one-third of the students being girls and women, Saudi Arabia registers one of the highest female participation rates in the program globally.

As digitization continues to become a reality, we are constantly working with national leadership, industry, and academia to unlock the full potential of a digitized economy in Saudi Arabia.

Techx: Tell us about your stand on Saudi’s Vision 2030 – a goal of digital transformation across public & private sector industries. Which industries do you see as potential in KSA and how can Cisco enable them in achieving this?

Asaad: Leading by example, the Kingdom has excelled with very high performance in its public sector transformation, while also supporting the needs of the private sector to drive collective growth. We commend the country’s Vision 2030 agenda, which continues to prove a success throughout its various realization programs.

As digital and green agendas become increasingly intertwined, we are pleased to see that sustainability is at the heart of this vision. As Saudi Arabia aims to reach net zero by 2060, technology will play a fundamental role in making this a reality. Digital innovations are critical to enabling real-time reporting, providing insights, and increasing operation excellence across industries.

At the World Economic Forum in Davos, Saudi Arabia also presented its priorities to ensure energy security, and growth in non-oil sectors such as tourism and e-sports, the success of which largely depends on investments in secure and seamless digital infrastructure.

For more than 25 years, Cisco has played an instrumental role in transforming industries such as healthcare, education, and more across the Kingdom. As Saudi Arabia eyes new ambitions and evolves its priorities to meet changing demands, we look forward to delivering continued support – helping to develop and futureproof the local digital economy.

Techx: Tell us about Cisco’s strategy on business innovation and customer experience, what can we expect from Cisco in 2023?  

Asaad: We recognize that complexity is one of the biggest challenges IT decision-makers face today. Our aim is to help our customers get the most out of their investments with simplified solutions that seamlessly meet business needs, provide visibility to solve challenges and help organizations to reach new heights.

We are empowering our customers to accelerate their digital agility with analytics-driven, expert guidance, as they modernize and evolve their IT environments.

Within our ongoing interactions with customers and industry analysis, Cisco has identified some of the key trends that will help our partners develop and act on their priorities in 2023. These trends include sustainability and responsible AI, quantum cryptography, and the use of the Internet of Things (IoT) to make makes supply chains more resilient, among others.

Whilst we realize that adhering to these trends may be complex and multifaceted, what’s certain is that technology continues to play a pivotal role in driving secure digital agendas for governments and enterprises alike. At Cisco, we are committed to helping our customers navigate these journeys – embracing and extracting the greatest value possible from their technology investments.

Techx: How is Cisco securing enterprises against cybersecurity threats and what solutions do you offer for ensuring seamless connectivity?   

Asaad: As critical infrastructures become increasingly digitized – secure, resilient, and reliable networks are integral to successful operations for all organizations.

Cisco’s Security Outcomes Report surveyed security and IT professionals on the state of their operations and thoughts regarding security resilience. In Saudi Arabia, 54% of respondents reported that cyberattacks had caused system or network outages for their organizations. The adoption of zero trust, secure access service edge (SASE) did, however, result in significant increases in resilient outcomes in the Kingdom.

To address security needs, Cisco has built an integrated security architecture that enables our customers to see a threat once and block it everywhere – from the network to the endpoint, to the cloud.

We will continue to view security as foundational with our wide breadth of products and services – adopting and advocating a zero-trust approach. Having visibility across network endpoints, we are uniquely positioned to securely connect people and devices everywhere, to applications and data anywhere.

At Cisco, we also view people and processes to be just as important as technology in breaking the cycle of cybercrime and our presence at LEAP 2023 will help raise cybersecurity awareness of how we can all play our role in keeping people, networks, and businesses safe.