Cybersecurity Risk Escalates, Insights from Rajaram Agrawal, Managing Partner of IMSA Search Global Partners India and CEO of TalentAhead
According to the World Economic Forum’s Global Cybersecurity Outlook 2026, this year we can expect rapid integration of AI which will transform both the scale of threats and the sophistication of the defenses. Companies will face unprecedented risks from AI-driven attacks. The number one concern for CEOs across the globe will be cyber-enabled fraud. Addressing skills shortages and embedding AI governance throughout organizations is absolutely essential.
Major Data Breaches
In the first few months of this year alone, high-profile data breaches impacted companies across industries and geographies. Stryker Corporation, the medical device maker suffered a destructive cyberattack that triggered simultaneous factor resets on 200,000 devices across 79 countries, severely impacting order processing and production. Fairlife, a subsidiary of Coca-Cola experienced a ransomware attack that disrupted operations and halted production of its products across the United States. EY, the Big Four Accounting firm confirmed that an “unauthorized third party” accessed its IT support ticket platforms containing client tax information. During the first half of the year, ransomware incidents surged by roughly 25% year compared with the same period last year, according to Check Point Research.
Board Leadership Matters
While data breaches are not unavoidable, companies can take actions to minimize their exposure and the potential damage. It all begins with board leadership and while most boards recognize that cybersecurity is an increasingly critical issue, many don’t actively develop comprehensive plans. When a board views cybersecurity as an overhead expense, and does not invest in anticipating potential risks and their associated costs, they are putting their organizations at risk. “Cyber shutdowns wreak havoc on operations and many disasters can be prevented by updating systems,” states Rajaram Agrawal, Managing Partner of IMSA Search Global Partners India and CEO of TalentAhead.
Conduct Regular Cyber Assessments and Invest
Outdated infrastructure, old software, and deferred maintenance often lead to major vulnerabilities, interrupted operations, and tremendous losses. On a regular basis, leadership should estimate risks and productivity losses associated with business shutdowns in order to support cybersecurity investments.
Train Employees Across the Organization
Human error is the leading cause of cybersecurity breaches. According to the security firm SentinelOne, “60% of all security breaches are due to misuse of data, poor password selection, misconfiguration, and human susceptibility to social engineering tactics.” To help minimize breaches, it is essential to provide mandatory training during onboarding of new employees and periodic update training for more seasoned employees.
Review the Budget
Every organization should review its cybersecurity budget to be sure it is in line with industry best practice and considers relevant current environmental factors. 60% of business and tech leaders rank cyber risk investment in their top 3 strategic priorities as a result of geopolitical risk, according to PwC’s 2026 Global Digital Trust Insights.
Learn from Near-Breaches
While a breach is terrible news for boards, employees, and customers, a near-breach can also be extremely stressful for those involved. And while the inclination may be to move on and quiet the news, strong business leaders will recognize that an early warning may prevent the actual occurrence if the company takes speedy action. Encouraging employees to be vigilant, be assertive, and communicate concerns as soon as they are identified, rather than trying to downplay them, helps build a more resilient cyber environment.
Plan for a More Resilient Cyber Environment
Today, every organization needs to develop a cyber resiliency plan that includes identifying who is responsible and for which actions – an incidence response plan. And every plan needs to include an emergency plan. Plans should specify which department will take what actions and who will lead each. They should involve leaders across the organization, not only IT.
Protect Your Cloud
As more and more organizations are storing data in the cloud, companies need to continually evaluate the sensitivity of the data and be sure they have qualified and secure service providers with adequate protections. The criticality of taking steps to protect against the unauthorized access to important data, starts and ends with multi-factor authentication.
Hire the Right Cyber Talent
With more cybersecurity concerns, greater focus on cyber talent is essential. Currently, there is a cyber talent shortage with the lack of expertise ranking as the second-most significant challenge, according to the World Economic Forum’s Global Cybersecurity Outlook 2026. And at the same time that talent is scarce, companies need to be increasingly vigilant in hiring. With more remote employees, screening needs to be more thorough in order to prevent hiring a scammer. One cybersecurity company that mistakenly hired a scammer suggests that companies pay extra attention to an employee who requests a name change prior to starting or has equipment delivered to a third-party address. Rajaram Agrawal adds, “As AI threats advance, our clients need more qualified cyber talent and they need it yesterday. And raising awareness of the importance of cybersecurity in every department of every company is essential.”
About IMSA Search Global Partners
With 30 offices in 18 countries on 5 continents, our 200 Executive Search experts span the globe to identify the right candidates to successfully lead teams and organizations locally, regionally, and globally. https://www.imsa-globalsearch.com/
