Guy Diedrich

Dr. Guy Diedrich is a Senior Vice President and the Global Innovation Officer at Cisco, where he is responsible for its Digital Impact Office. In this role, Dr. Diedrich collaborates closely with government and industry leaders worldwide to drive mass-scale digitization that increases GDP, creates millions of next-generation jobs, and develops sustainable innovation ecosystems. Dr. Diedrich is also a member of the Board of Directors of the Cisco Foundation, which supports nonprofits and NGOs with grants, technology donations and expertise to help solve global challenges in communities around the world. Prior to his current role at Cisco Systems, Dr. Diedrich was a Vice Chancellor at the Texas A&M University System where he was responsible for research, commercialization, federal government relations, state government relations and strategic initiatives. Before joining Texas A&M, Dr. Diedrich served as President and CEO of GRA Inc., a software development and consulting company that he co-founded and grew from a start-up to a firm employing more than 130 professionals. The company was sold to a publicly-traded technology company. Dr. Diedrich holds a Bachelor of Science degree from Texas A&M University, a Master’s degree from the University of Cambridge (Kings College) and a Ph.D. from Swansea University where he studied the economics of trust in organizations. Dr. Diedrich is a published author in cost accounting and medical psychology, and has worked extensively throughout Europe, the Americas, Asia, and the Middle East for more than two decades.

Session Overview

Tuesday, 3 November

11:20

Energy Security & Resilience Plenary Hall B 11:20 - 11:50

Digital threats, physical consequences: cyber security across the energy system

Cyber risk has become a frontline energy-security issue as attacks increasingly target operational technology and critical infrastructure. At the same time, connecting legacy industrial systems to cloud platforms, digital twins and AI is expanding the potential attack surface. AI is strengthening both attack and defence capabilities, making real-time detection, secure automation and rapid response increasingly important. For energy and technology leaders, cyber resilience must now be built into equipment, systems and operational decisions from the outset, not added as a separate technical layer.

Attendee Insights:
Evaluate how industrial leaders are embedding cyber resilience into energy infrastructure and using AI, automation and secure system design to protect physical operations.

Wednesday, 4 November

10:00

AI, Digital & Technology Plenary Hall B 10:00 - 10:30

Beyond digital: how AI is reshaping industries, economies and society

Artificial intelligence is moving beyond individual applications to become a foundational capability shaping how companies operate, how economies compete and how people work. n a enterprise level, AI is being embedded into decision-making, product development, customer engagement, and cybersecurity. While governments and investors are building digital infrastructure, computing capacity and technology ecosystems, required to support adoption at scale. AI is changing competitive advantage across sectors, concentrating investment around data, connectivity and advanced computing, and transforming the skills organisations require. It is also raising important questions around trust, security, governance and access as increasingly autonomous systems become integrated into business and society. The organisations that succeed will be those able to combine technological capability with secure infrastructure, responsible deployment and a clear understanding of where AI can create measurable economic and societal value.

Attendee Insights:
Understand how AI is progressing from a digital tool to a fundamental driver of industrial competitiveness, economic development and societal change, and identify the capabilities, partnerships and governance models needed to deploy it securely and at scale.