Skills
About
Ritesh is a seasoned executive with deep cybersecurity expertise across both public and private sectors. As the head of cyber-intelligence and counterterrorism of a national intelligence agency, he has honed his expertise in cybersecurity working in the front lines of cyber war. Extending his expertise to IBM Research, Ritesh has built ground-breaking products that have been deployed in many industries. Combined with his role as an executive with PWC running large cyber consulting programs and the global CISO of one of the world’s largest mining companies, Ritesh has the unique experience to see a cybersecurity challenge from the lens of a practitioner, an innovator and a business leader.
Kumar Ritesh
Published content
expert panel
Artificial intelligence has fundamentally changed cybersecurity—not just for defenders but also for attackers. AI can now generate convincing phishing campaigns, rapidly mutate malware and automate reconnaissance at a scale that would have required large teams only a few years ago. As attack velocity accelerates, many organizations are discovering that even mature detection and response capabilities struggle to keep pace.That shift is forcing security leaders to rethink longstanding assumptions. Members of the Senior Executive Cybersecurity Think Tank, a community of experienced cybersecurity executives and practitioners, argue that future-ready organizations will succeed not by responding faster, but by preventing more attacks from succeeding in the first place.According to IBM's Cost of a Data Breach Report, organizations that combine AI-driven security with proactive risk reduction significantly reduce both breach costs and response times, reinforcing the business value of moving security "left" before attackers gain a foothold.Below, Think Tank members share practical strategies for moving beyond reactive security, highlighting the technologies, processes and leadership mindset needed to stay ahead of these AI-powered threats.
Company details
CYFIRMA
Company bio
CYFIRMA is a global leader in preemptive external threat landscape management, enabling organizations to predict and prevent cyberattacks through its AI-powered intelligence platform. By integrating nine pillars of external threat management including Attack Surface Discovery, Vulnerability Intelligence, Brand & Digital Risk Management, Third-Party Risk, Situational Awareness, Predictive Threat Intelligence, Threat Adaptive Awareness, and Sector-Tailored Deception Intelligence, CYFIRMA shifts cybersecurity from reactive to predictive. The platform delivers early warnings, personalized insights, and actionable intelligence from a hacker’s perspective, helping reduce cyber risk and costs through threat prioritization, contextual decision-making, improved visibility, and stronger operational resilience. CYFIRMA serves Fortune 500 companies and national agencies and is headquartered in Singapore with offices across APAC, the US, and EMEA.