With regional enterprises accelerating digital transformation, cyber resilience has become non-negotiable. Bassam Rached, General Manager of Technology at Gulf Business Machines, discusses how GBM Shield is helping CIOs and CISOs strike the balance between regulatory compliance, operational agility, and AI-powered defence.
GBM has a long history in the region’s IT landscape. What gaps or customer pain points led to the development of GBM Shield?
At GBM, we’ve had the privilege of being at the forefront of the region’s IT evolution for decades, and that gives us a unique vantage point to understand the challenges that local enterprises face. Over the years, we noticed cybersecurity becoming not just a technology challenge but a business-critical priority for organizations. Customers were often overwhelmed by the sheer complexity of managing multiple tools, interpreting threat intelligence, and ensuring compliance with regional regulations.
What stood out was the growing gap between sophisticated, ever-evolving cyber threats and the readiness of most organizations to combat them effectively. Many lacked the skilled resources, real-time visibility across their IT environments, and unified solutions that could offer protection that evolves with threats. GBM Shield was designed specifically to address these challenges, offering a fully integrated and regionally tailored MSS ecosystem that delivers end-to-end protection, tailored to the unique needs of regional businesses.
How does GBM Shield go beyond being “just another cyber defense program” to position itself as a next-generation solution?
What really sets GBM Shield apart is its holistic approach to cybersecurity. It isn’t just a program or a collection of tools, it’s a comprehensive ecosystem that integrates technology, process, and expertise. While traditional security solutions are often reactive, GBM Shield leverages advanced threat intelligence and AI-driven analytics to deliver proactive defense measures.
Our solution takes cybersecurity beyond the perimeter, focusing on real-time detection, threat prevention, and rapid incident response. With its advanced signal chaining and real-time user friendly, intuitive and executive-ready dashboard, it gives business leaders the insight and foresight to tackle advanced threats. It incorporates features like Security Orchestration, Automation, and Response (SOAR), which ensures seamless coordination between monitoring, analysis, and resolution. GBM Shield is also “next-gen” because it’s adaptable. It evolves alongside new attack vectors, such as those targeting operational technology (OT) and IoT ecosystems, ensuring businesses stay protected even in uncharted territory.
In what ways does GBM’s regional expertise give GBM Shield an edge over global competitors?
One of our greatest strengths at GBM is our deep understanding of the Middle Eastern business environment and IT landscape. Global cybersecurity providers often deliver one-size-fits-all solutions that may not address the specific regulatory, cultural, and operational nuances of this region. This is where GBM’s local expertise becomes invaluable. With our deep roots, global standards, and over 35 years of experience in the Middle East, GBM Shield is designed with the region in mind. From aligning with national cybersecurity frameworks to addressing compliance requirements in regulated industries like banking and government, we ensure our solutions meet regional standards. Additionally, our local presence enables us to deliver personalized partnerships rather than transactional services. With on-ground teams offering 24/7 support, we partner with clients end-to-end, ensuring resilience beyond implementation in their cybersecurity journey.
AI-driven attacks and OT vulnerabilities are evolving rapidly. How is GBM preparing clients to defend against these non-traditional and highly adaptive threats?
The evolution of AI-driven threats and vulnerabilities in operational technology is indeed a pressing concern, and we take it very seriously. GBM Shield is equipped to detect and respond to these sophisticated threats using advanced AI and machine learning capabilities. Our solution constantly analyzes vast amounts of security data to identify patterns that could indicate an emerging vulnerability or an ongoing attack.
When it comes to OT environments, these are often legacy systems that weren’t originally designed for modern cybersecurity challenges. GBM takes a layered approach, ensuring there are no blind spots in the infrastructure while focusing on securing both IT and OT systems. We provide threat modeling and risk assessments tailored to OT environments, ensuring that businesses can operate securely without sacrificing uptime or productivity.
Additionally, we actively invest in continuous research and partnerships to stay ahead of the curve, incorporating the latest threat intelligence into GBM Shield to mitigate even the most adaptive threats.
How do you see the regional threat landscape in MENA changing over the next 2–3 years, and how is GBM Shield adapting in anticipation?
The MENA region is one of the fastest-growing cybersecurity markets globally. This underscores the critical importance of investing in robust cybersecurity measures as organizations navigate an increasingly complex threat landscape. The cyber threat environment is evolving rapidly, becoming more sophisticated and multifaceted. We are already witnessing an alarming increase in ransomware attacks, vulnerabilities within supply chains, and targeted campaigns against critical infrastructure sectors such as energy, healthcare, and finance. With the growing adoption of smart cities and IoT technologies, the attack surface is expanding at an unprecedented pace, highlighting the urgent need for businesses to enhance their security strategies and proactively mitigate risks. As we navigate these complexities, it’s crucial to recognize that threat actors and organized cybercriminal groups will continue to influence the threat landscape. Their tactics are becoming more advanced, and we must stay one step ahead.
In this environment, I’m confident that data protection will be the cornerstone for organizations’ resiliency in the coming years. PWC’s 2025 Global Digital Trust Insights survey highlights this sentiment, revealing that 40% of technology leaders in the Middle East prioritize data protection as a top investment, significantly exceeding the global average of 28%, which aligns with GBM’s growing focus on data security innovation. Furthermore, I believe AI will play an even greater role in shaping how organizations approach cybersecurity. While it presents new challenges and increases the threat landscape by enabling more sophisticated attack methods, it also offers powerful tools for enhancing cyber capabilities and counteracting advanced attacks.
With this, GBM Shield is evolving to continuously anticipate shifts. We’re investing in predictive capabilities, leveraging AI to identify risks before they materialize. We’re also enhancing our focus on industries that are prime targets, offering specialized solutions for sectors like public utilities, healthcare and finance. Ultimately, GBM Shield is built to adapt dynamically. Our approach isn’t static, and that’s key in staying ahead of threats.
How does GBM Shield integrate with existing enterprise IT environments, especially where customers have multi-cloud or hybrid infrastructures?
GBM Shield is designed to work seamlessly within complex IT ecosystems, including multi-cloud and hybrid environments. The solution integrates with existing cybersecurity tools, cloud-native applications, and on-premise infrastructure. This is achieved through open APIs and flexible architecture, ensuring that our clients don’t feel locked into additional proprietary systems.
GBM Shield’s central security dashboard provides unified visibility, enabling organizations to manage security across diverse environments from a single pane of glass. Whether data resides in a public cloud, private cloud, or on-premise setup, GBM Shield ensures end-to-end protection and streamlined operations. Our orchestration capabilities also ensure that workflows across cloud and hybrid setups remain secure and efficient.
How does GBM balance “global best practices” with tailoring for local compliance requirements and regulatory frameworks in the Middle East?
Striking this balance has been central to our approach. While we incorporate global standards and frameworks into GBM Shield, we also ensure that these practices align with the specific compliance mandates and regulatory frameworks of the Middle East.
What sets us apart is that we don’t stop at compliance, we aim to elevate it. We help organizations go beyond the regulatory baseline to build truly robust and resilient cybersecurity postures. Additionally, our on-ground consultants are well-versed in the nuances of local laws and business culture, which allows us to deliver solutions that are not just compliant but also culturally and operationally aligned with client needs.
With 24/7 monitoring and response at the heart of MSS, how does GBM ensure faster detection, prioritization, and mitigation of threats compared to in-house teams?
Speed and precision are critical to modern cybersecurity, and they’re integral to GBM Shield’s COR. offering. Our cor. platform operates on a 24/7 basis, staffed by a team of experts with deep technical and operational expertise. Unlike in-house teams, who are often stretched thin managing day-to-day IT operations on top of security, our SOC is dedicated solely to threat detection, analysis, and response.
GBM Shield leverages AI to correlate events, prioritize alerts, and eliminate noise, enabling faster identification of high-risk incidents. The automation built ensures that low-priority alerts don’t consume time, while our analysts focus on impactful, mission-critical threats. Incident response protocols are predefined but dynamically adaptable, ensuring rapid containment and mitigation. Our clients benefit from proactive, round-the-clock vigilance that’s difficult to replicate in-house.
How is GBM helping enterprises in the region leverage AI and hybrid cloud to strike the right balance between agility, cost optimization, and security?
AI and hybrid cloud represent pivotal technologies for addressing the intricate challenges of modern IT environments. At GBM, we’ve embedded AI into the core of our solutions to empower enterprises with greater decision-making agility, operational efficiency, and robust security. For example, GBM Shield uses AI-driven analytics to assess vulnerabilities, predict potential attack vectors, and optimize workflows in real time.
Our AI-powered models help organizations analyze vast volumes of data from across the enterprise to identify patterns, flag anomalies, and generate actionable insights. This allows businesses to not only respond to threats faster but also allocate resources strategically to enhance operational performance. Beyond cybersecurity, GBM’s AI solutions are also leveraged for IT service management, automation of routine tasks, and enhancing customer experiences through predictive analytics.
When combined with hybrid cloud models, which provide flexibility across public, private, and on-premise environments, these AI-driven technologies help enterprises align their cost objectives with their need for scalability and performance. GBM ensures this balance by offering solutions that integrate seamlessly with cloud-native tools while maintaining stringent security protocols. Ultimately, we’re helping businesses transform their IT ecosystems into future-proof, intelligent environments where agility, optimization, and protection coexist harmoniously.
As organizations accelerate digital transformation, what role does GBM see AI-driven automation playing in simplifying and securing complex hybrid IT environments?
AI-driven automation is not just an enhancement; it’s now a cornerstone of effective IT management and cybersecurity in an era of rapid transformation. At GBM, we see AI as a catalyst for simplifying IT complexity while elevating the overall security posture of our clients. For example, AI can help ensure that enterprises can navigate hybrid environments efficiently by automating processes such as threat detection, incident prioritization, and even elements of remediation. This frees up in-house resources, allowing IT teams to focus on strategic initiatives rather than being bogged down by repetitive tasks.
Our AI solutions are designed to deliver predictive intelligence, enabling organizations to identify vulnerabilities before they escalate into problems. For instance, GBM Shield continuously monitors systems across hybrid IT landscapes, analyzing thousands of data points to detect hidden risks and recommend preventive actions, whether it’s patching a system, revising configurations, or bolstering access controls. Furthermore, by integrating AI with orchestration tools, GBM simplifies governance and compliance, ensuring that businesses remain aligned with regional regulations while optimizing workflows.
The role of AI doesn’t stop at simplification, it’s also key to securing the future. With the advent of self-healing systems, systems that can detect and patch vulnerabilities automatically without human intervention, we’re exploring how AI can autonomously manage hybrid IT environments, enabling real-time detection, diagnosis, and remediation of issues without human intervention. These systems aren’t just reactive; they’re preemptive, learning from each incident to become smarter over time. This vision is embedded in GBM’s roadmap for the region, where we aim to empower businesses to embrace AI as a partner in innovation and security.
As the pace of digital transformation accelerates, it’s clear that AI and automation will be indispensable in managing the growing intricacies of IT environments. At GBM, we aren’t just helping businesses adapt, we’re equipping them to lead for this digital future and GBM Shield is at the core of enabling that leadership. Whether it’s through enhancing agility in decision-making and operations, balancing costs, or building resilient security frameworks, we’re committed to guiding organizations across the region toward a future that is smarter, safer, and more connected.
