Panel Discussions
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Day 1 Spotlight Panel (Aug 7, 12.10PM - 1.00 PM)
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Day 1 Track A Panel (Aug 7 , 4.10 PM - 5 PM)
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Day 1 Track B Panel (Aug 7 , 4.10 PM - 5 PM)
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Day 2 Combine Panel 1 (Aug 8 , 2.15 PM - 3.05 PM)
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Day 2 Combine Panel 2 (Aug 8 , 3.10 PM - 4 PM)
The Billion-Dollar question: Who Is Responsible When AI Goes Wrong?
Synopsis
“The Billion-dollar question: Who is responsible when AI goes wrong?”
The discussion will explore accountability in an increasingly AI-driven world, examining where responsibility ultimately lies when AI systems lead to unintended outcomes.
The panel may consider perspectives across technology providers, organizations deploying AI, regulators, governance professionals, and end users, while debating the balance between innovation, oversight, trust, and accountability.
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Moderator Balachandar NatarajanVice President, ISACA Chennai Chapter Brief Profile of the Speaker Working with Ford Enterprise Technology division since 2007, and in IT Space for 24+ years across various leadership roles, Balachandar Natarajan is currently playing the role of Platform Engineering Manager for Global Ford IT e-Commerce and Marketing & Sales Division. He is serving for the Cyber Security community via ISACA Chennai Chapter as Vice President currently and playing the role as “Board of Directors” since July 2017. Bala speaks in various forums as an AI practitioner & expert, gives leadership talks in technology transformation including AI Strategy, and is a passionate Cyber Security trainer. |
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Panelist Anish KoshyStandard Chartered GBS Brief Profile of the Speaker Anish Koshy has spent his career at the intersection of Information & Cyber Security, Risk Management, and Regulatory Compliance, with extensive experience in securing the technology environments for global banking and financial institutions. He currently works with Standard Chartered GBS and is also the Co-founder & Partner of Intuera Lifeworks, a consulting firm focusing on various domains. Outside of work, he enjoys travelling, adventure sports, good food, following Liverpool FC, and learning from people across different cultures and backgrounds. |
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Panelist Kugan KulothunganCEO & Co-founder Brief Profile of the Speaker Kugan is the CEO and Co-founder of Scybers, a cybersecurity consultancy and managed services organisation providing enterprise-grade cybersecurity to ambitious, fast-growing organisations. He brings over 25 years in cybersecurity, having held CISO and Chief Information Security Risk Officer roles in multinational organisations across India, Singapore, and Hong Kong, building and running security functions in regulated environments. He incubated Scybers’ AI Security Practice and its product work, including CO-CISO, an agent-based platform for security advisory, and Scyra, an agent-based platform for MDR services. |
Can you Trust the AI systems you didn’t build?
Synopsis
Integrating third-party AI models is an economic necessity but an architectural hazard. The core challenge of trusting systems you didn’t build stems from complete black-box opacity, silent behavioural drift caused by unannounced vendor optimization, and critical security vulnerabilities like indirect prompt injection. Because these models are non-deterministic, organizations cannot safely inherit an external provider's alignment claims. Consequently, the paradigm has shifted to “Zero Trust AI.” Instead of seeking inherent model trustworthiness, engineers build strict input firewalls and real-time output validation treating the external AI as a highly capable but untrusted runtime environment.
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Moderator Sivva KannanDirector – Training, ISACA Chennai Chapter Brief Profile of the Speaker Sivva Kannan is a cybersecurity and cloud security leader with 14 years of industry experience across leading organizations, including Accenture and EY. As Director of Training at ISACA Chennai, he manages the certification review program for 1800+ members and personally, has trained over 12,000 professionals and mentored more than 1,000 learners toward certification success. An acclaimed instructor, with courses in Udemy, Coursera, Skillsoft, and GUVI. His expertise spans cybersecurity, cloud security architecture and AI/GenAI. He holds 40+ industry credentials and is certified in ISACA’s AI triad—AAIA, AAISM, and AAIR. |
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Panelist Solomon Sagayaraj JCybersecurity Executive & Board Advisor Brief Profile of the Speaker Solomon Sagayaraj John Michael is a Cyber Security Executive and Board Advisor with over 30 years of experience in consulting and operations covering Cyber Security Strategy, Data Governance, Data Privacy, Artificial Intelligence and Business Resilience. His extensive career has been marked by security leadership roles in BFSI Sector. Solomon was the former CISO - Qatar Islamic Bank and former Deputy CISO - Commercial Bank of Qatar. He is the Research Group Leader – ISACA Chennai Chapter and a regular speaker for ISACA Chennai Chapter, ISC2 Chennai Chapter, DPO Club and Trainer for Govt. of Tamil Nadu. Solomon holds MBA, CISA, CISM, CGEIT, CRISC, CDPSE, Certified Chief AI Officer [CCAIO], Certified DPO, ISO 27701 LA&LI, ISO 42001 LA, AIGP [Trained] |
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Panelist V Murali Krishna VaddadiHead of AI Brief Profile of the Speaker Murali Krishna Vaddadi is an AI leader and researcher specializing in Generative AI, Multi-Agent Systems, AI Governance, and Private LLMs. He has extensive experience in building enterprise AI platforms, including Data Intelligence Platforms and AutoML, with expertise spanning Deep Learning, NLP, and Agentic AI frameworks. An alumnus of ISB, Murali has filed three AI-related patents currently under review. He is also an active AI researcher and blogger, passionate about developing responsible, scalable, and governed AI solutions that drive innovation while ensuring compliance, transparency, and enterprise adoption. |
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Panelist Arun GantayatHead of Presales Brief Profile of the Speaker Arun Gantayat is the Head of Presales at Kaspersky India with over 25 years of experience in cybersecurity, enterprise IT, and security consulting. He leads the Presales organization, helping enterprises and government organizations strengthen their cyber resilience through strategic security solutions and technical leadership. Arun specializes in XDR, Security Operations, Threat Intelligence, Endpoint Security, and Cloud Security. A frequent speaker at industry forums, he is passionate about sharing practical insights on emerging cyber threats, security best practices, and strategies that help organizations build resilient and future-ready cybersecurity programs. |
Inclusive AI — Are We Designing for Everyone or Just the Majority?
Synopsis
This topic examines critical ethical flaws within modern artificial intelligence and machine learning development. It highlights how training models on narrow, non-representative datasets can inadvertently marginalize minority groups, amplify historical biases, and restrict systemic accessibility. The discussion focuses on breaking down these algorithmic barriers to ensure data equity. Engineers and policy architects must actively shift from majoritarian design frameworks to universally accessible ones. Ultimately, the topic challenges the tech community to pioneer fair, representative, and transparent AI ecosystems that securely serve all of humanity.
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Moderator Cdr. M Ramanathan KumarDirector SIG Brief Profile of the Speaker Accomplished Governance, Risk, and Compliance (GRC) and Business Resilience professional with over 20 years of experience spanning information security consulting, auditing, and enterprise risk management. He is a qualified CISA, CISM and Lead Auditor for BCMS, ISMS and PIMS, with a strong track record of implementing, consulting and auditing, facilitating certification readiness, and delivering multiple training programs. Over 3 years of conducting and leading Management system audits for certification bodies. Earlier served with distinction as a Commander in the Indian Navy in leadership roles aboard ships, submarines, and Naval Dockyards, bringing disciplined leadership, operational excellence, and strategic decision-making capabilities. |
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Panelist Nanda KumarFounder & CEO Brief Profile of the Speaker Nanda Kumar is the Founder & CEO of SaaviGenAI and a cybersecurity leader with over 23 years of experience. Before founding SaaviGenAI, he held engineering and leadership roles at Cisco, HPE, and Aruba, contributing to SIEM, Next-Generation Firewall, UEBA. He is currently building SaaviAIDR, an AI Detection & Response platform for securing AI-native applications and agentic systems. Nanda is a recognized AI Security speaker, having presented at BSides, FIRST, Anthropic Claude Community, and Cisco, and serves as a cybersecurity trainer for NACIN, under India's Ministry of Finance. He advises organizations on secure AI adoption, governance, and AI risk management. |
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Panelist Dr. P. RayavelProfessor & Head, Computer Science and Engineering (Cyber Security) Brief Profile of the Speaker Dr. P. Rayavel is a Professor and Head of the Computer Science and Engineering (Cyber Security) Department at Sri Sai Ram Institute of Technology. A distinguished Senior Member of the IEEE, Dr. Rayavel holds a Ph.D. from Anna University and an MBA, combining technical rigor with institutional leadership. His extensive research spans Cyber Security, machine learning, and advanced image processing. Known for driving innovation ecosystems, Dr. P. Rayavel frequently collaborates with industry bodies to shape future-ready engineering curricula and pioneer resilient defense frameworks against modern digital threats. |
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Panelist Devika SubbaiahSenior Manager, Privacy Brief Profile of the Speaker Devika Subbaiah is a seasoned Privacy and AI Governance Leader with close to 15 years of experience spanning GRC, information security, and privacy, currently serving as Senior Manager of Privacy at Freshworks, where she sits at the intersection of Security and Legal. Holding a Fellowship in Privacy, CIPP/E, CIPM, CISA, CISM, AAISM and AIGP certifications, she combines deep technical grounding with a practical, operational approach to embedding privacy into products and AI systems. Devika is passionate about making privacy knowledge accessible, especially for women entering the field, championing the shift from compliance theatre to operational reality. |
The AI Workforce Revolution — Is Your Next Employee Human or AI?
Synopsis
Workforce Revolution will be the culmination of AI disruptions across the globe. There are myriad dimensions to this subject. This discussion will extend beyond technology into governance, accountability, workforce strategy, succession planning and trust. With AI, organisations are not merely procuring technology — they are onboarding cognitive capability. Our task today is not only to govern that capability responsibly, but also to facilitate winning collaborations that harmonize Human and AI Workforce.
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Moderator CA. Sangeetha N SathishHonorary Treasurer, ISACA Chennai Chapter Brief Profile of the Speaker Sangeetha N Sathish is a Chartered Accountant for over 2 decades and an Information Systems Auditor for a decade, with audit being her core expertise cutting across finance, taxation, information security and privacy. Her experience spans 4 to 5 year stints each, across the World Bank Trust Funds Financial Reporting, practice of the CA profession, external Infosec audits at a CERT-In empanelled firm and internal Infosec audits at the Murugappa Group, Chola MS General Insurance. She is currently working at Equitas Bank HO as an Internal Auditor. She is the Hon. Treasurer of the ISACA Chennai Chapter. She contributed to the Information Systems Audit Standards (ISAS) developed by the ICAI, released earlier this year. She is also a passionate speaker at multiple forums including ISACA, ICAI, ISC2 and EWIT. |
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Panelist Chandrasekar RathinamVice President – Security Services Brief Profile of the Speaker Profile to be announced. |
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Panelist ManikandanCo-founder Brief Profile of the Speaker Mani comes with about 20 years of professional cybersecurity career including Big4, M&M etc, with a double post-graduation and industry certifications (past/current) including CISA, CEH, ABCP, ITIL, COBIT, ISO 27001 LA, CDPSE, and ISO 42001 (AIMS). An avid speaker, writer and hands-on consultant with experience in hands-on implementing large-scale GRC, information and cybersecurity projects globally in BFSI, healthcare and manufacturing. He has set up cybersecurity practice lines including GRC, application security, cloud security and OT security. An acknowledged thought leader, his philosophy of “Live Local, Think Global” led him to liaise with leading research entities such as Gartner’s, contributing to many success stories at client engagements. He has presented at several national and international conferences on sessions related to GRC, information and cyber security, and risk management, including the CIO Summit, Gartner, GRC Summit, CII Connect and the ISACA Annual Conference. His current focus is on “Derisking AI”, with focus on ‘AI for GRC’ and ‘GRC in AI’ programs. |
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Panelist Santhosh SubramaniamSVP, India Lead – Cyber Third Party Governance Brief Profile of the Speaker Santhosh is a distinguished Information and Cybersecurity professional with over two decades of expertise, including 16+ years in the banking sector. His career began as a Network Engineer, laying the foundation for a strong technical skillset in infrastructure security, including firewall technologies, SOAR platforms, malware analysis, web content filtering, SOC operations, and cloud security. Evolving into Governance, Risk, and Compliance, Santhosh has held pivotal roles such as Assurance Manager and Principal Assessor, driving organizational resilience and regulatory alignment. Today, he serves as India Lead for Cyber Third-Party Governance, spearheading global Third-Party Risk Management programs. In recent years, he has been instrumental in establishing secure frameworks for digital assets and cryptocurrency ecosystems, where vendor dependency plays a defining role in risk oversight. With his deep technical foundation and strategic leadership, Santhosh bridges operational security with enterprise risk governance, making him a sought-after voice in industry forums and conferences. |
Purpose Limitations in Personal Data and AI Usage … A Tight Rope Walk?
Synopsis
Purpose limitation is a cornerstone of privacy law, yet AI thrives on reusing data in ways never originally imagined. This panel explores that tension: when does secondary use for model training or generative AI cross from innovation into violation? Panellists will examine consent and legitimate interest, compatibility assessments, anonymisation and synthetic data, and expectations under the DPDP Act, GDPR, and EU AI Act, offering practical guardrails and accountability measures that let organisations pursue AI value without losing user trust.
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Moderator Sriram SrinivasanDirector – Programs, ISACA Chennai Chapter Brief Profile of the Speaker Sriram Srinivasan is a Cyber Security Senior Manager and Enterprise Security Architect at EY GDS with over 25 years of IT experience. He specializes in cybersecurity, security architecture, GRC, AI, cloud security, data privacy, and risk management, delivering secure, business-aligned solutions globally. His credentials include CISA, CISM, CGEIT, CRISC, CDPSE, PMP, AMBCI, and CCSK. As Honorary Director – Programs on the ISACA Chennai Chapter Board, he supports professional learning, industry events, and ISACA knowledge and certification initiatives. |
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Panelist Dinesh GanesanDelivery Head – Healthcare, North America Portfolio Brief Profile of the Speaker Profile to be announced.
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Panelist Vimalaasree AnandhanCybersecurity Leader, India Brief Profile of the Speaker Vimalaasree Anandhan brings close to two decades of cybersecurity leadership to her role as Head of Cybersecurity – AI & Application Security at Poshmark India, where she drives enterprise-wide security strategy across AI governance, product security, and application security for a global platform. She has built and scaled security functions across e-commerce, financial services, and telecom, with deep expertise in LLM/GenAI risk management, threat modeling, ASPM, API and mobile security, DevSecOps, and cloud security. Prior to Poshmark, she held senior security leadership roles at EY, Tata Communications, and Cognizant, leading global DevSecOps practices and security architecture programs for critical infrastructure and Fortune-level clients. |
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Panelist Kavitha AyappanHead of Cyber Security Brief Profile of the Speaker Kavitha Ayappan is a seasoned cybersecurity, privacy, risk, and resilience leader with over 23 years of experience across industry and consulting organizations. As Head of Cyber Security at Saama Technologies, she combines strategic vision, technical expertise, and business-focused governance to strengthen enterprise resilience and digital trust. Her experience spans cybersecurity transformation, GRC, data privacy, cloud security, responsible AI, incident preparedness, and regulatory compliance. An award-winning leader, keynote speaker, mentor, and PhD research scholar in AI security, Kavitha is passionate about innovation, continuous learning, and inclusion. She mentors professionals and students, inspiring future leaders to build secure, ethical, and resilient organizations. |
