Infosecurity Europe adds AI summit amid cyber defence shift

Infosecurity Europe has expanded its 2026 conference programme with a stronger focus on artificial intelligence. New research commissioned by the event found that 64% of UK cybersecurity leaders see agentic AI as the technology likely to have the biggest effect on cyber defence over the next three years.

The survey of 396 cybersecurity professionals in the UK, France, Germany, Holland, Belgium and Denmark showed a clear lead for agentic AI over other technologies. Across Europe, 52% of respondents chose it as the most impactful emerging technology, ahead of cloud-native application protection at 16%, as well as quantum computing, non-human identity and zero-trust architecture.

UK respondents were the most likely to rank agentic AI first, followed by Germany at 57%. Denmark, Belgium and France each recorded 46%.

The programme changes include the debut of the OWASP GenAI Security Summit, a half-day event focused on securing generative and agentic AI systems. The summit will bring together project leaders, practitioners and regulatory experts to discuss research, frameworks and security practices for AI systems.

The move reflects a wider shift in the security market as AI becomes both a tool for defenders and a method for attackers. Security teams are using AI to automate detection and response, while attackers are using similar systems to scale campaigns, imitate human behaviour and identify vulnerabilities more quickly.

AI focus

Beyond the new summit, AI-related topics will run throughout the wider conference agenda. The programme includes keynote sessions, theatre discussions and training courses examining how organisations are adopting AI in cybersecurity and how security teams are testing the resilience of AI-based systems.

One workshop from SANS Institute will focus on red teaming large language model chatbots. The session will use hypothetical chatbots with different levels of difficulty to demonstrate attack techniques and explain how participants can build their own testing environments afterwards.

The Leaders Programme will also cover risks linked to AI in security operations. Another session for priority badge holders will feature Bar Kaduri, Head of Research at Capsule Security, speaking on threat hunting across the agentic AI attack surface.

In parallel, the AI & Cloud Security Theatre will cover deepfakes, AI-enabled phishing, automated manipulation and attacks targeting organisations' own generative AI systems and large language models. The exhibition floor is also expected to feature vendors demonstrating AI-based security products, underlining how widely the technology is being incorporated into cyber tools.

Research signal

The findings suggest security leaders increasingly expect AI to reshape both defence and risk management. While technologies such as quantum computing still draw attention, respondents appear more focused on tools already being deployed or tested in operational settings.

The event cited the emergence of more advanced AI systems capable of handling autonomous, multi-step tasks as one reason the issue is rising up the agenda. Such systems add complexity for organisations that must not only deploy AI safely but also defend against the malicious use of similar tools.

Scott Clinton, co-chair and co-founder of the OWASP GenAI Security Project, described that dual challenge in comments released alongside the programme update.

"AI is transforming cybersecurity at an unprecedented pace, creating both powerful new defences and entirely new attack surfaces. The OWASP GenAI Security Summit provides an opportunity to hear directly from those working in the space, bringing together global experts to share research, practical frameworks and real-world strategies for securing GenAI and agentic systems," said Clinton.

The survey results also indicate that views on emerging security technologies differ by market, with the UK and Germany showing greater concern about agentic AI than several neighbouring countries. That variation may reflect different rates of adoption, exposure or investment priorities among local organisations, although the research does not set out the reasons.

For organisers, the expanded AI presence in the programme reflects a shift in what attendees want to understand. The emphasis is not only on how AI can help security teams work faster, but also on how quickly it is changing the methods, scale and sophistication of cyber attacks.

AI now has a central place across sessions, workshops and the new summit as organisations weigh how to secure the systems they deploy and how to respond when attackers use the same technology against them.