Nozomi Networks has expanded its regional team with the appointment of three senior executives. Based in Saudi Arabia, Usamah Ridwan joins Nozomi Networks as Regional Sales Director, Jayson Pieterse takes up the role of Regional Sales Director – South Africa and Africa based in Johannesburg, while Wagdy Mostafa has been appointed as Regional Sales Director for Egypt, based in Cairo. As part of its expansion drive, Nozomi Networks also hired Osamah Al-Fardan as Senior Cybersecurity Architect.
The new hires demonstrate Nozomi Networks’ dedication to accelerating digital transformation in the region and reducing cyber risk for industrial, OT and IoT organisations. The hires also highlight the company’s strong desire to build deep relationships with its customers through expert engagement, with the goal of becoming a trusted partner in their digital transformation journeys.
According to an IDC report, annual spending on digital transformation across the Middle East, Turkey and Africa is set to top $58bn by 2025. While digital transformation has the potential to offer significant benefits, it unfortunately also draws the attention of global threat actors including cyber criminals, nation states and cyber hacktivists. A Gartner report recently predicted that by 2025 cyber attackers will have weaponised OT environments to successfully harm or kill humans. It is therefore vital that large industrial organisations and other critical infrastructures such as airports, manufacturing, oil and gas etc., are secured against the ever-expanding threat landscape.
With over 18 years of experience, Usamah Ridwan has supported customers with best-practice implementations across a variety of industries. At Nozomi Networks, he will be responsible for helping large industrial organisations and national critical infrastructures secure and monitor their OT and IoT networks, enabling and assisting prospective, as well as existing, customers. He will also provide customers with best-practice security strategies to mitigate evolving threats and will drive Nozomi Network’s expansion in Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Bahrain and Iraq’s Energy and Industrial sectors.
Prior to joining Nozomi Networks, Usamah worked in key roles at Lenovo Saudi, HP Saudi, Detecon Al Saudia, and Cisco. He holds a BSc degree in Computer Engineering from the King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals and has significant knowledge and experience in the Oil and Gas sector.
“Digital transformation is disrupting regional heavy industries with process efficiency and data interoperability being the key drivers. OT environments are becoming increasingly integrated with digital environments, sometimes exposing critical industrial environments to advanced security threats. Nozomi Networks recognises these pain points and is increasing the presence of its solutions and services through the regional appointments of Jayson, Osamah, Usamah and Wagdy.
We welcome them on board and look forward to their dynamic engagements with strategic customers in the region, leveraging their proven consulting and delivery skills and experience,” said Khalid Aljamed, Vice President – MEA West at Nozomi Networks.
Most recently at FireEye and Advanced Security/Camguard Group, Jayson Pieterse brings a decade of experience to Nozomi Networks. His qualifications include CompTIA Security+ and CISSP (Certified Information Systems Security Professional). As part of his role, he will support customers across South Africa and Africa with risk and vulnerability assessments from a physical and cyber perspective, whilst offering up potent mitigation solutions and strategies that are ideal for their bespoke requirements.
Based out of Riyadh, Osamah Al-Fardan is a cybersecurity veteran with 15+ years of expertise, joining as a Senior Cybersecurity Architect. He will lead the team in providing solutions for Nozomi Networks’ customers focusing on mega utility and smart cities, advising and supporting them in their digital transformation journeys, regulation compliance and security architecture designs and plans.
With over twelve years of technical and sales-focused roles across firms including Fortinet, Forcepoint, Trend Micro and other firms, Wagdy Mostafa is an experienced senior security sales/pre-sales professional. His multi-faceted experience in negotiation, sales, customer/vendor relations management and people management will bolster Nozomi Networks’ expansion in Egypt. As Regional Sales Director, he will be tasked with growing the business’ share of market in the country and fostering better client relationships.
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