Khalid Aljamed, the VP for KSA at Nozomi Networks, says 2024 was a pivotal year for the OT and IoT cybersecurity industry

How did the industry and your company fare in 2024, and what were the key highlights?
2024 was a pivotal year for the OT and IoT cybersecurity industry, as cyber threats targeting critical infrastructure became more sophisticated and frequent. The demand for robust, scalable security solutions grew across sectors such as energy, healthcare, and manufacturing. Nozomi Networks achieved significant milestones, including expanding our customer base globally and deepening our presence in high-priority markets like the Middle East.

Our participation in key events like Black Hat MEA underscored our leadership in OT cybersecurity, particularly in the Kuwait and Saudi markets. Collaborations with strategic partners helped us deliver tailored solutions that met the specific needs of local industries. Overall, 2024 was marked by growth, innovation, and strengthened relationships with both customers and partners.

What opportunities do you foresee for 2025, and how do you plan to leverage them?
In 2025, we anticipate significant opportunities driven by the convergence of IT and OT security strategies, as organizations aim to secure hybrid environments while ensuring compliance with evolving regulations. In the Middle East, the focus on national infrastructure resilience and smart city initiatives presents a critical market for our solutions. To capitalize on these opportunities, we will deepen relationships with local partners and customers, enhancing our regional presence.

We also plan to expand our AI-driven capabilities, offering predictive insights that enable proactive threat management. Tailoring our solutions to meet sector-specific challenges, particularly in renewable energy, healthcare, and transportation, will be key. Our focus on customer education and advocacy will ensure stakeholders understand the unique risks and mitigation strategies for OT and IoT environments, driving adoption and strengthening our market position.

What major challenges did you encounter in 2024, and how did you address them?
One of the key challenges we faced in 2024 was navigating the rapidly changing regulatory environment for critical infrastructure, especially in regions like the Middle East. To address this, we aligned our solutions with emerging compliance requirements and guided customers on achieving regulatory adherence.

Another challenge was the ongoing lack of awareness around OT security threats, which often lag behind IT security in organizational priorities. Finally, integrating our solutions with complex, hybrid IT-OT systems required a focus on interoperability and collaboration with ecosystem partners. By strengthening our integrations and offering tailored deployment strategies, we ensured that customers could secure their environments effectively despite these challenges.

Which emerging technologies do you believe will be in high demand in 2025, and why?
It’s not surprising that in 2025, we expect to see an increase in AI/ML-enabled cyberattacks targeting critical infrastructure. At the same time, you can expect defenders to increase their use of AI-powered cybersecurity solutions to quickly assess risks levels and more effectively and efficiently neutralize threats.

Additionally, threat Intelligence will be critical in 2025. Automation in threat intelligence management will streamline analysis, reducing delays caused by manual processes. More accurate and curated IT and OT-specific threat intelligence feeds will further enhance the value of this information by reducing noise and information overload, allowing security teams to focus on actionable threats. As such, threat intelligence will be increasingly impactful as it becomes more efficient and relevant to specific industrial environments.

What will be your primary focus areas and strategic priorities for 2025?
Our strategic priorities for 2025 include several key areas aimed at strengthening our market leadership. We will continue expanding our presence in high-growth regions like the Middle East by deepening local partnerships and building on the momentum gained in 2024. Enhancing our AI-powered platform will remain a central focus, with innovations aimed at providing predictive insights and real-time threat response for OT and IoT environments.

To support our customers, we will scale education and training programs, ensuring stakeholders are equipped to handle evolving cyber threats. Building stronger ecosystem partnerships to deliver integrated, end-to-end solutions is another priority. Additionally, we will explore sector-specific use cases, particularly in energy, healthcare, and transportation, to address unique security challenges and align with industry trends. These efforts will position us to drive continued growth and customer success in 2025.

Are there plans to explore new markets or introduce new products/applications to your portfolio in 2025?
Yes, 2025 will see us exploring new markets, where investments in critical infrastructure and smart city projects are accelerating. These emerging markets present opportunities to deliver OT and IoT security solutions tailored to unique regional challenges. We recently launched a new product called Guardian Air, which builds on our extensive experience in traditional wired OT and IoT systems by expanding into the radio and wireless domain.

The response has been overwhelmingly positive, particularly as the adoption of wireless IoT devices continues to grow in critical sectors. Additionally, we’re seeing significant interest in the specialized use of drones for public security and service applications, where Guardian Air is proving to be a game-changer, and we see this product being a centre point of our 2025 strategy alongside all the developments and new features we’re introducing within our cloud services, AI and 3rd party integrations.