Philippine business and technology leaders are being urged to make cyber resilience part of the way their organizations operate, as artificial intelligence gives cyber threats greater speed and reach.
Cybersecurity is no longer something that can be left to the IT department.
That was one of the key messages at the I AM SECURE 2026 CXO Connect Series 2, where executives, cybersecurity professionals, government representatives and technology companies discussed how organizations can prepare for attacks that are becoming more automated and harder to predict.
The forum, held Aug. 5 at The Executive Centre in Makati City, carried the theme “Engineering Cyber Resilience in the Age of Intelligent and Autonomous Threats.”
The discussions went beyond the usual focus on detecting and blocking attacks. Speakers and participants looked at what happens after an attack gets through—and whether an organization can keep critical operations running, recover its systems and adjust to new threats.
From cybersecurity to resilience
ISOG executives led by Chito Jacinto (President) and Alvin Punsalan (Vice President)
ISOG President Chito Jacinto said organizations need to build resilience across the enterprise as cyber threats become faster and more adaptive.
That means cybersecurity decisions can no longer be treated purely as technology decisions. Senior management, business units and other parts of an organization also have a role in determining how prepared a company is when an incident occurs.
ISOG Vice President Alvin Punsalan made a similar point, emphasizing the difference between simply protecting an organization and making sure it can recover when defenses fail.
He said resilience needs to be built into people, processes, technology and leadership.
The discussion continued the conversation started during the first CXO Connect session in June, this time looking more closely at how organizations can apply cyber resilience across their systems, data, employees and connected digital platforms.
Executives compare notes on the threat landscape
Rather than one large discussion, the second CXO Connect was divided into three executive tracks.
The Titanium Track was moderated by Stephen P. Cutler, PhD, chairman of the Overseas Security Advisory Council (OSAC) of the American Chamber of Commerce of the Philippines (AMCHAM-PH).
Panelists included Peter Molloy, chief growth officer of ViewQwest; Mayuresh Kothari, advisory solution principal of Sophos with WSI; and Ulysses Liao, senior solutions engineer of TrendAI with VST-ECS.
The Platinum Track was moderated by Christine Kempeneers, governance and risk head of Maplecrest Group Inc. and instructor at the Asian Institute of Management. Joining the discussion were Nap Castillo, senior manager for systems engineering at Fortinet with VST ECS, and Vignesh Kumar Kathiravan, practice lead for machine identity and access management at Arcon.
The Gold Track, moderated by Justin David Pineda, president and principal consultant of Pineda Cybersecurity, featured Julius Gerola, technical consultant at Westcon with BeyondTrust.
Other speakers brought perspectives from business, government, critical infrastructure and cybersecurity organizations.
They included Alexis Bernardino, field CISO and principal CXO adviser and chief cybersecurity evangelist of PLDT Enterprise and ePLDT; Rookie Nagtalon of the CIO Philippines Board of Trustees; Philip Casanova, cybersecurity consulting partner at SGV and president of ISC2; Col. Roland Ong, MNSA (INF) PA (RES), brigade commander of the 1503rd Ready Reserve Infantry Brigade of the Philippine Army Reserve Command, Armed Forces of the Philippines; Melanie Oteyza, senior vice president and CAE of Meralco; and Calix Enggay, committee co-chair for membership of ISOG and former board trustee of ISACA.
Technology alone will not solve the problem
A recurring point during the discussions was that buying more cybersecurity products is not enough.
Companies also need to look at how their systems are designed, who is responsible for making decisions during an incident, how employees respond to threats and how quickly the organization can restore essential services.
That becomes more important when dealing with threats that can move faster and operate with less human intervention.
A security incident can quickly become a business problem, affecting operations, customers, finances and reputation. The ability to respond therefore depends on more than the security tools sitting inside a company’s network.
It also depends on whether people know what to do when those tools fail or when an attack takes an unexpected turn.
Cyber resilience requires collaboration
IMAGE CREDIT: Freepik
The forum also put attention on cooperation between organizations and sectors.
ISOG said businesses cannot address the cybersecurity threat on their own. Government agencies, technology companies, industry groups, academe and cybersecurity professionals all have a role in building a safer digital environment.
Pam Valmonte, program head of I AM SECURE and operations manager of XMS, pointed to collaboration and trust as important parts of bringing the right people together to address the changing threat landscape.
That kind of cooperation is particularly important for organizations dealing with threats that do not stop at company or industry boundaries.
The conversation moves to action
The CXO Connect series was created as a smaller, executive-focused platform where participants can exchange experiences and discuss issues directly with their peers.
For Xialeemar Valdeavilla, CEO of XMS, I AM SECURE partner and ISOG consultant, the goal is to create a setting where those conversations can lead to decisions beyond the event itself.
“At XMS, we don’t simply create events, we design platforms where leaders connect, ideas evolve, and strategic decisions take shape.”
The organizers said they are looking at the quality of conversations and relationships developed during the series, rather than attendance alone, as measures of its impact.
I AM SECURE prepares for October event
The CXO Connect Series 2 is part of I AM SECURE 2026, now in its ninth year and organized by the Information Security Officers Group (ISOG) in partnership with XMS.
The series carries the broader theme “Soaring High: Future Ready in the Age of Intelligent Threats.”
Its next major gathering will be the I AM SECURE 2026 Cybersecurity Solution Pitch and Exhibition, Season 4, scheduled for Oct. 1, 2026, from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. at the SMX Convention Center Aura at SM Aura Premier in BGC, Taguig City.
The event will bring together cybersecurity and technology professionals, government and business leaders, practitioners and solution providers.
The focus will shift from executive discussions to cybersecurity solutions, technology demonstrations, industry conversations and potential partnerships.
For companies already experimenting with AI — or simply relying more heavily on digital systems — the issue raised at the CXO Connect is becoming harder to ignore.
The question is no longer just how to stop the next attack.
It is whether the organization is ready to keep operating when one happens.
