14th CISO & Cyber Pioneers 2025

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Event Overview

14th CISO & Cyber Pioneers Awards & Confex 2025

The cybersecurity landscape is evolving at an unprecedented pace, presenting organizations with a complex web of threats. As enterprises expand their digital footprints, security operations, cloud and application security, AI-driven threat mitigation, network protection, and supply chain vulnerabilities have become critical areas of focus.

Among the most transformative forces in cybersecurity today is Artificial Intelligence. While AI empowers security leaders with deeper threat intelligence, real-time risk assessment, and proactive defense mechanisms, it is also a double-edged sword. Cyber adversaries are leveraging AI with equal efficiency, using it to launch highly sophisticated attacks on enterprise networks, making traditional security measures increasingly inadequate.

In this relentless battleground, CISOs and cybersecurity teams stand as the first line of defense, continuously upskilling and adapting to outpace adversaries. Their unwavering efforts ensure business continuity, secure access, and resilient digital environments for enterprises and their customers.

For 14 years, BitStream Mediaworks has proudly celebrated the unsung heroes of cybersecurity through the . In May 2025, the 14th edition of this prestigious 14th CISO & Cyber Pioneers 2025 event will take place in Mumbai, bringing together 125+ CISOs, CDOs, CTOs, CROs, CIOs, IT Heads, InfoSec leaders, and global security experts from the private, public, and government sectors.

Before the awards ceremony, attendees will engage in thought-provoking sessions featuring industry pioneers and cybersecurity visionaries. Discussions will explore the latest cyber threats, innovations in AIdriven security, and best practices to fortify enterprises against evolving risks.

Join us at 14th CISO & Cyber Pioneers 2025, where thought leadership meets innovation, and excellence in cybersecurity is honored.

Event Takeaways:

  • Critical insights to re-imagine and re-orchestrate your cyber security strategy

  • Learnings to maximize ROI through a digitally immune business roadmap

  • Knowledge from cyber stalwarts across industries on future-proofing the enterprise

  • Exploration of 2025 cyber security trends from across industries

  • Exclusive information about new cutting-edge cyber security products and solutions

  • Networking with India’s top C-suite cyber security leaders

  • One-on-one meeting with the best-in class technology solution providers

  • Exclusive Gala Dinner with live entertainment


Key Highlights

Key Highlights

AI / ML Security

Cloud Security

Risk Management

IoT / ML / Automation

DevSecOps

Quantum Safe

Threats Intelligence

Identity & Access

Zero Trust

Security Operations

Data Protection

Incident Response

Application Security

Insider Threats

IT / OT Security

Who Should Attend?

  • Chief Information Security Officers (CISOs)
  • Chief Risk Officers (CROs)
  • Chief Information Officers (CIOs)
  • Chief Technology Officers (CTOs)
  • Chief Digital Officers (CDOs)
  • VP, AVP, Director – IT / Systems / Security
  • Head - Information Technology Deptt
  • GM / AGM / DGM / CGM – IT / Security
  • IT & Security Consultants
  • Manager / Sr Manager – IT / Security
  • Delivery Heads, Data Centre Professionals
  • Cloud, Security, & other Technology Architects
  • Data Scientists & Analysts
Listen to the Event Speakers

Who's Speaking

Speakers
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Abdulla Pathan

Senior Vice President – Head of Solutions and Practices, LearningMate Solutions Private Limited
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Akshay Garkel

Partner & Leader, Cyber ,
Grant Thornton Bharat LLP
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Aman Chhikara

CISO,
The Akshaya Patra Foundation
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Ambuj Bhalla

CISO ,
BharatPe
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Amit Subhanje

Cybersecurity Leader,
Major Aerospace and Defence Company
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Anand Sinha

CIO & Global Head IT,
Birlasoft
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Ankit Agarwal

Sr. Director - Global Systems and Security,
Encora Innovation Labs India Private Limited
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Ashis Rout

Vice President (IT Security Operations & Control), HDFC Bank
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Bhavik Dedhia

CISO,
ECL Finance Limited
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Bijender Mishra

Global CISO ,
Alkem Laboratories Ltd
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C Nageshwaran

Group Head - Cyber Security ,
TVS Group
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Deval Mazmudar

Cybersecurity Advisor,
TJSB Bank
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Dinesh Phogat

CISO ,
The Clearing Corporation of India Limited
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Dominic Vijay Kumar

Head of Technology,
NAMDEV FINVEST PRIVATE LIMITED
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Dr. E. Khalieraaj Naidu

Director, National Cyber Security Research Council (NCSRC)
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Dr. Sriranga Narasimha Gandhi

Vice President - Secure Architecture Engineering, Reliance Jio Infocom Limited
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Gokulavan Jayaraman

CISO and DPO,
Mahindra Home Finance
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Harshad Mengle

Global CISO ,
Tata Chemicals Ltd
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Hemant Kumar

CISO,
Bajaj Auto Credit Ltd
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Hetal Presswala

CISO,
Kalpataru Projects International Limited
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Jaspreet Singh

,
Grant Thornton Bharat LLP
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Jitendra Jadhwani

CISO,
Tata Motor Finance
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John Joseph

Head - Cybersecurity,
Perceptive
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Kalpesh Doshi

CISO,
HDFC Life
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Kiran Komatla

Group CTO,
Restaurant Brands Asia Ltd
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Lalit Kumar Rout

CISO
Cent Bank Home Finance Ltd
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Manish Kishore

Global Head IT , Wockhardt Ltd
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Manmeet Thakur

CISO,
Astral Limited
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Mohit Srivastava

CISO & DPO,
Perfios Software Solutions Pvt Ltd
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Mukesh Jain

CTO & EVP, Leading AI Driven Innovation,
Capgemini
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Muneer H KongaWani

CISO,
J&K Bank Ltd
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Niketan Jadhav

CISO,
CDSL Ventures Limited
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Prince Joseph

Group CIO,
NeST Group, SFO Technologies
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Rajesh Garg

Sr. EVP & CDO, Head of Cybersecurity & CISO function,
Yotta Data Services
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Ramkumari Iyer

CISO,
Airtel Digital
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Sachin Kawalkar

CISO & VP Neeyamo
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Sandiip Kothaari

CTO,
Speciality Group
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Sanjay Jaiswal

CISO,
Nuvama Wealth Investment Limited
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Satyavrat Mishra

Head - Corporate IT & Group CISO,
Godrej Industries Limited
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SUNIL KAPOOR

Chief Risk Officer (CRO),
Future Generali India Life Insurance
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Udit Pahwa

CIO,
Blue Star Limited
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Vaibhav Tole

Sr. Director - CyberSecurity, CYIENT Ltd.
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Vamsikrishna Ithamraju

CTO,
Axis Mutual Fund
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Vikas Gupta

CTO,
Bajel Projects Ltd
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Vishwajeet Singh

Director IT,
Axtria
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Vishwas Pitre

CISO & DPO,
Zensar Tehcnologies Ltd
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Yogesh Malvankar

President / Head - IT GRC,
Yes Bank Limited
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Yusuf Hashmi

Group CISO,
Jubilant Bhartiya Group




Nomination

Nomination CLosed!


Judging Process

Submissions for CISO & Cyber Pioneers Awards 2025 must align with the category for which they are nominated and are judged based upon completeness and accuracy of the information provided. Nominations are also judged based on the overall influence, effectiveness and success of the nominees’ project, initiative or improvement.

Nominators may be contacted by any member of panel of juries. The panel of 7 judges selected, each represent a different segment of industry and bring to the forum their extensive knowledge and experience. The jury’s judgment will be considered as final one.


Judgment in these criteria will be based on:

  • Industry type
  • Organization size
  • Factors driving organization’s information security spending
  • Evaluation of information security spending
  • Security measures deployed or to be deployed
  • Size and complexity of projects undertaken/delivered
  • Security assurance
Highlights

Agenda Highlights

Keynotes by Visionary Leaders

Our keynote sessions have always been star attractions for our discerning attendees. Our keynote speakers are highly knowledgeable leaders with visionary outlooks. They will not only set the right tone and agenda for the other sessions but also ignite the minds with thoughts of brilliance and ideas of transformative innovation.


14th CISO & Cyber Pioneers 2025

14th CISO & Cyber Pioneers 2025 is an initiative to identify hard work, talent, innovation and effort of those CISOs for protecting sensitive information of their organizations. This award not only recognizes the best CISOs / InfoSec Leaders, but also establishes the increasing trend of current and future role of CISOs in Indian Industry.


CISO-led Discussions

These thought leadership exchanges will be held in panel-discussion formats. Each power group will discuss ideas and share best practices around a given information security theme to drive meaningful outcomes and takeaways for the attendees. The panels will primarily be constituted of CISOs, with minority representations by the industry. The discussions will be technology- and vendor-agnostic to ensure objectivity and fair value for all.


Industry-driven Knowledge Sessions

Providers of infosec products and solutions are continually investing in hardening their offerings against the potential breaches that keep getting more and more sophisticated. They are also investing in building research-driven insights across various sectors and geos, which gives them an early peek into the changing threat landscape. This enables them to speak with authority on future infosec trends and potential prevention frameworks, which is what they will be doing in these knowledge sessions.


Networking Opportunities

Networking opportunity for solution and service providers with industry top decision makers via digital exhibition, live chats etc.

Schedule Plan

Agenda & Schedules

Agenda

*Agenda & Schedule to change without prior notice

16 May, 2025
08:00 AM
Live Delegate Registrations / Breakfast
08:00 AM - 09:00 AM (IST, UTC+5:30)
09:00 AM
Live Delegate Registrations / Breakfast
09:00 AM - 09:10 AM (IST, UTC+5:30)
09:10 AM
Live Opening Keynote: The Evolving Role of CISOs: Cultivating a Security-First Culture from the C-Suite Down
09:10 AM - 09:45 PM
Dr. E. khalieraaj Naidu
Director, National Cyber Security Research Council (NCSRC)
09:45 AM
Live Panel Discussion: The Strategic CISO: From Cyber Guardian to Business Enabler
09:45 AM - 10:35 AM
Moderator: Amey Subhash Lakeshri
Director - Cyber Forensics and Privacy, Ernst & Young
Jitendra Jadhwani
CISO, Tata Motor Finance
Mohit Srivastava
CISO & DPO, Perfios Software Solutions Pvt Ltd
Milind Khamkar
Group CIO, Supermax
Aman Chhikara
CISO, The Akshaya Patra Foundation
Deval Mazmudar
Cybersecurity Advisor, TJSB Bank
John Joseph
Head - Cybersecurity, Perceptive
Vishwajeet Singh
Director IT, Axtria
10:35 AM
Live Break-Free from Traditional SIEM and Embrace Al-Driven App First Approach
10:35 AM - 10:55 AM
Chandrakant Sharma
CEO, BinaryFlux Inc
10:55 AM
Live Securing the Hyperconnected World in AI Era
10:55 AM - 11:15 AM
11:15 AM
Live SASE and Zero Trust in era of AI
11:15 AM - 11:35 AM
Parag Parab
Manager - Solutions Engineering, Netskope
11:35 AM
Live Tea-Coffee Break / Technology Showcase
11:35 AM - 11:55 AM
11:55 AM
Live Panel Discussion: AI-Driven Cybersecurity Automation: Dream or Reality?
11:55 AM - 12:35 PM
Moderator: Ranjeeth Bellary
Partner, Ernst & Young
Priyaranjan Samal
AVP - Global Information Security, Genpact
Harshad Mengle
Global CISO,
Tata Chemicals Limited
Sanjay Jaiswal
CISO,
Nuvama Wealth Investment Limited
C Nageshwaran
Group Head - Cyber Security, TVS Group
Dr. Sriranga Narasimha Gandhi
VP- Secure Architecture Engineering, Reliance Jio Infocom Limited
Dr Mukesh Mehta
Chief Technology Officer, Investec
12:35 PM
Live Presentation: Passwordless 360° : Protecting Your Business, Empowering Your Users
12:35 PM - 12:55 PM
Veneet Sharma
Regional Sales Director – APAC (Identity & Access Management (IAM), THALES)
12:55 PM
Live Beauty and the Beast: Unifying Identity Security Across Cloud & Legacy IAM Silos
12:55 PM - 1:15 PM
Abhinav Gupta
Country Manager, Silverfort India
1:15 PM
Live Lucky Draw / Networking Lunch / Technology Showcase
1:15 PM - 02:00 PM
2:00 PM
Live 14th CISO & Cyber Pioneers Awards 2025 -- Part - 1
2:00 PM - 02:40 PM
2:40 PM
Live Panel Discussion: Privacy Meets Security: Who Owns What in the Data Protection Ecosystem?
2:40 PM - 3:20 PM
Moderator: Akshay Garkel
Partner & Leader - Cyber, Grant Thornton Bharat LLP
Mukesh Jain
CTO & EVP, Capgemini
Vishwas Pitre
CISO & DPO, Zensar Tehcnologies Ltd
Abdulla Pathan
Sr Vice President – Head of Solutions & Practices,
LearningMate Solutions Pvt Ltd
Rebeiro Melwyn
Director - Head IT GRC, Regional CISO & DPO, Julius Baer
Lalit Kumar Rout
CISO, Cent Bank Home Finance Ltd
Parag Parab
Manager - Solutions Engineering, Netskope
3:20 PM
Live Balancing Security and User Experience
3:20 PM - 3:40 PM
Udit Pahwa
CIO, Blue Star Limited
3:40 PM
Live Fireside Chat: The Smart SOC: Leveraging SIEM + UEBA + SOAR + Threat Intel for Autonomous Defense
3:40 PM - 4:00 PM
Sankalp Pandey
CTO, BinaryFlux
Muneer H KongaWani
CISO, The J&K Bank Ltd
Binod Roy
CTO & CISO, Wonder Home Finance
4:00 PM
Live Fireside Chat: Cybersecurity as a Service: The MSSP’s Role in Enabling Secure Digital Transformation
4:00 PM - 4:20 PM
Prince Joseph
Group CIO, NeST Group, SFO Technologies
Janakbhai Bhindora
CIO, Stelmec Limited
Rajnish Niraj
CEO, Fencesense Technologies
4:20 PM
Live Tea-Coffee Break / Technology Showcase
4:20 PM - 4:40 PM (IST, UTC+5:30)
4:40 PM
Live Panel Discussion: Building Cybersecurity into Your Digital Transformation Strategy from Day One
4:40 PM - 5:20 PM (IST,
Moderator: Apoorba Kumar Patranabish
Partner, Grant Thornton Bharat LLP
Satyavrat Mishra
Group CISO & Head - Corporate IT, Godrej Industries Limited
Kiran Komatla
Group CTO, Restaurant Brands Asia Ltd
Manmeet Thakur
CISO, Astral Limited
Sandiip Kothaari
CTO, Speciality Group
Dominic Vijay Kumar
President and Head of Technology, Namdev Finvest Pvt Ltd
Harsh Parikh
Head of Cyber Security & Data Privacy, Tata Digital
05:20 PM
Live Panel Discussion: Securing OT, IoT & Critical Infrastructure from Emerging Threats
05:20 PM - 5:55 PM
Moderator: Hetal Presswala
CISO, Cybersecurity Adviser
Amit Subhanje
Cybersecurity Leader, RTX
Vikas Gupta
CTO, Bajel Projects Ltd
Janakbhai Bhindora
CIO, Stelmec Limited
Manish Kishore
Global Head IT, Wockhardt Ltd
Prashant Juwatkar
Senior Presales Consultant, Arcon
5:55 PM
Live 14th CISO & Cyber Pioneers Awards 2025 -- Part - 2
5:55 PM - 6:30 PM
BFSI CXO Awards & Confex 2025 | Agenda & Schedule | May 16, 2025
6:00 PM
Live Delegate Registration -- BFSI CXO Awards 2025 / Tea-Coffee Break / Technology Showcase
6:00 PM - 6:30 PM
6:30 PM
Live Keynote: The Evolving Landscape of Data Privacy and Compliance
6:30 PM - 6:45 PM
Sunil Kapoor
CRO, Future Generali India Life Insurance Company Ltd
6:45 PM
Live Fireside Chat: Driving Responsible AI in BFSI: Balancing Risk, Regulation, and Returns
6:45 PM - 07:30 PM
Dinesh Phogat
CISO, The Clearing Corporation of India Ltd
Lalit Kumar Rout
CISO, Cent Bank Home Finance Ltd
07:30 PM
Live Panel Discussion: Reimagining BFSI in the Age of AI, Cloud & APIs
07:30 PM - 07:45 PM
7:45 PM
Live Winners Announcement.... 3rd BFSI CXO Awards 2025 (All Categories)
8:15 PM Onwards
Live Networking with Cocktails & Dinner

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Topics

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Speakers

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Attendees

Sponsors

Event Sponsors

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Co-Powered By Partner

CISO Awards Partner

Managed Security Services Partner

Technology Partner

Platinum Partner

Gold Partner

       
Silver Partner

Exhibiting Partner

                       
Glimpses

Previous Edition Glimpses

Why Partner with Us?

With this initiative, we provide you with the unique opportunity to reach out to 150+ of the most influential CISO's, InfoSec leaders, and other CXOs across the nation, all under one roof. Attendees at this conference also includes from award ceremony who are the winners of most prestigious 14th CISO & Cyber Pioneers Awards & Confex 2025 – normally difficult to reach executives. It’s an excellent platform for companies to influence with brand profiling, networking, and to ensure market position.


Also, sponsors can use this platform to show their support for technology and its leadership. Here are the key benefits of being an event sponsor:

  • Networking and Lead Generation.
  • Gain access to the most targeted, high-profiled influencers and decision-makers from key organizations. It gives you the opportunity for exclusive interaction with influential CXOs throughout the day.
  • Visibility for Your Brand.
  • Be visibly present and seen by InfoSec leaders are partner of choice in delivering the CISO agenda.
  • Technology Showcase.
  • Demonstrate cutting edge technologies through virtual exhibition stalls to 150+ CISO, security leaders and decision makers.
  • Brand Exposure.
  • Extensive online exposure during COVID-19 to your brand through pre- and post-event promotions.
  • Strategic Relationship.
  • Opportunity to build strategic relationships
Venue

Venue

FOR SPONSORSHIP, ATTENDANCE

Contact Us

For Partnership

Jitendra Srivastava
jeetu@cioaxis.com
+91-98183-05558

For Delegation

Tanu Sri
tanu_sri@cioaxis.com
+91-80769-17366

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