Host
Christelle Heikkila
Contributing Editor CIOChristelle Heikkilä is a people-focused technology and cybersecurity leader with a strong track record of driving digital transformation across major UK brands. She began her technology career as an IT consultant at Accenture. She then led major technology initiatives at Sainsbury’s and Superdrug and later served as IT Director at Arsenal Football Club. At Arsenal, Christelle was responsible for all aspects of technology and cybersecurity, guiding the club through significant digital change while strengthening its resilience against emerging cyber threats. Her leadership across these diverse sectors gives her a unique perspective on how to align innovation, business strategy, and human factors.
Whether discussing hybrid cloud, AI, or cybersecurity, Christelle champions the principle that technology succeeds when people are at its heart. Dynamic, insightful, and pragmatic, she brings real-world experience and vision to every stage and conversation.
Upcoming and recent events
CIO 100 Awards & Conference UK
VIP Executive lunch with Cloudflare - Ditch Legacy, Embrace Agility: Practical Strategies for Modernisation, Resilience & Risk Mitigation
Thursday, September 18, 2025
12:30 - 13:30
Application modernisation is no longer just a technical upgrade, it’s a strategic necessity. In today’s fast-changing environment, organisations must deliver stronger customer experiences, simplify complex architecture, and stay ahead of emerging risk. The ongoing climate of uncertainty has renewed the focus on C-Suite in 2025. With global IT outages, sophisticated…
AI in Your Business: What every IT specialist must know about security!
Thursday, September 18, 2025
CSO ThreatScape Manchester
Resilience Under Fire: Lessons from Real-World Breach Containment
Thursday, March 19, 2026
11:15 - 11:40
Breaches are inevitable, but catastrophic disruption is not. This panel examines real-world case studies of organisations that contained cyberattacks before they spiralled out of control. Leaders will uncover hard-won lessons on segmentation, zero trust, and rapid response, and how these principles can be embedded to protect operations. Key Topics: •…
Operational Technology Resilience: Defending the Systems that Keep the Nation Running
Thursday, March 19, 2026
12:20 – 12:45
OT systems underpin national infrastructure, from power grids to water treatment to transport. With the NCSC emphasising definitive asset records, clear architecture maps, and strong separation between IT and OT, resilience has become non-negotiable. This panel brings together OT and cyber leaders to examine how to map, defend, and recover…
Fireside Chat: Security by Design - Building Defences into Emerging Technologies
Thursday, March 19, 2026
14:50 - 15:15
Embedding resilience into AI, IoT, and cloud systems Emerging technologies are only as strong as the security built into them. This discussion examines how security leaders can drive “secure by design” principles across AI, IoT, and cloud. The panel will explore embedding cyber expertise at the development stage to reduce…
CSO ThreatScape London
Limiting the Blast Radius and Building Resilience – Learnings from Withstanding, Absorbing and Recovering from Real-World Breaches
Thursday, November 27, 2025
09:50 – 10:30
We all know the theory but what are the learnings from real world breaches, with the appreciation of the complexities that most organisations face? Hear candid insight and learnings from case studies by CISOs who have withstood attacks, absorbed attacks or recovered from breaches to apply in your own scenarios…
Recovering from a Cyber Attack: Operational Resilience
Thursday, November 27, 2025
Join this roundtable to share recovery-war stories and benchmark operational resilience. We’ll explore real-world frameworks to maintain critical services during a breach, shift into recovery mode and restore stakeholder trust. Practical insights, peer discussion, business continuity beyond the plan.
How Can We Manage the Security Aspect of Increased AI Adoption and Get Ahead of the Game on the EU AI Act?
Thursday, November 27, 2025
15:45 -16:15
As enterprises seek business value from AI and adopt it at pace, how can security teams ensure that their controls and technology keep pace with the rate of adoption? Many in the security sector are asking how we can build safe systems when using this technology. From concerns about sharing…
Closing Panel: Security ROI - Where Should You be Spending Your Budget?
Thursday, November 27, 2025
17:00 – 17:30
According to IDC, global cybersecurity spend will grow to nearly $300 billion in 2026. How is spend being allocated and what priorities are security leaders leaning towards? Join this panel of top security professionals as we navigate the cybersecurity spend landscape, hear how they secure the budget and what their…