Cyber Pulse: Deryck Mitchelson, Systal Technology Solutions

Our Cyber Pulse blogs highlight member voices on cyber security. Join this conversation with Deryck Mitchelson, Strategic Chief Information Security Officer (CISO) at Systal Technology Solutions.

What is your cyber security background?

I’ve worked in cyber security for more than 30 years, although my career originally began more broadly across technology and digital leadership. Over the last 15 years, I’ve been transitioning into dedicated cyber security leadership roles as security has become a fundamental business and operational priority for every organisation.

Today, effective cyber security is no longer just an IT function, it’s a core capability required of every digital leader.

The Current Landscape

What is one cyber security challenge or trend you are currently seeing in your sector?

One of the biggest cyber security challenges right now is the rapid and often unsecured adoption of AI across organisations. While AI creates huge opportunities for productivity and innovation, it’s also expanding the attack surface at a pace many organisations are struggling to govern effectively.

This is especially critical in sectors such as critical infrastructure and the public sector, where resilience, trust, and operational continuity are essential. We’re seeing threat actors use AI to increase the speed, sophistication, and scale of attacks, from highly convincing phishing campaigns to automated reconnaissance and exploitation.

How is this challenge specifically affecting your organisation or clients?

For organisations and clients, the challenge is twofold: securing the use of AI internally while also defending against adversaries who are already operationalising AI externally.

The pace of adoption means traditional security models can quickly become outdated if governance, visibility, and security controls are not embedded from the beginning.

Response & Lessons Learned

How are you or your team responding to this challenge?

Our focus is helping organisations adopt AI securely and responsibly, enabling secure innovation without compromising resilience, operational stability, or trust. Systal provides managed services covering AI, Security, Network, Workplace and Cloud.

What is one insight or lesson you have learned that others could benefit from?

Don’t make assumptions on “good enough security”, AI has changed the threat narrative.

Looking Ahead

What emerging threat, technology or trend should organisations be paying attention to over the next 6–12 months?

One of the most significant developments I’m watching over the next 6–12 months is the emergence of increasingly autonomous, AI-enabled nation state cyber operations. We’re moving beyond traditional attacks supported by automation into an era where adversaries can use AI to accelerate reconnaissance, vulnerability discovery, social engineering, and attack execution at scale.

The concern is not just the sophistication of these attacks, but the speed and persistence they enable. Nation state actors are increasingly combining AI with cyber operations to target critical infrastructure, supply chains, public services, and trusted digital ecosystems.

At the same time, organisations are rapidly adopting AI internally, often faster than governance and security controls can mature. That creates a widening gap between innovation and resilience that both public and private sector organisations need to address urgently.

Over the next year, I expect resilience, AI governance, identity security, and operational visibility to become even more critical priorities for security leaders.

Quick Fire

Favourite cyber tool right now: Right now, I’d say AI-assisted security operations and threat intelligence platforms are some of the most valuable tools available to defenders. The ability to rapidly correlate signals, automate investigation workflows, and help analysts prioritise real threats is becoming essential as the volume and speed of attacks continue to increase.

More broadly, though, the most important “tool” is visibility — understanding what assets, identities, data, and AI services exist across an organisation in real time. You can’t secure what you can’t see.

Someone in the industry to follow: I’d recommend following Geoffrey Hinton for his perspectives on the future risks and implications of AI, particularly around safety and unintended consequences. While he’s not a traditional cyber security leader, many of the conversations shaping the future of cyber resilience are now deeply connected to AI development and governance.

From a cyber security perspective, I’d also encourage people to follow leaders who are focused on the intersection of AI, resilience, and operational security, because that’s where the industry is evolving fastest.

One word that describes the current state of cyber security: Accelerating