Dimitri van Zantvliet
Dutch Railways / Cybersecurity Director, CISO
Dimitri van Zantvliet is the Cybersecurity Director and Chief Information Security Officer (CISO) at Dutch Railways (NS). He serves as co-chair of both the Dutch and European Rail ISAC and the Rail CISO Forum. In addition to being an international speaker and columnist, Dimitri is a cyber lecturer and a co-founder of the Dutch CISO Foundation and CISO Community. As an Ambassador to the Global Council of Responsible AI and an angel investor in several startups, he actively contributes to the advancement of technology and cybersecurity.
With three decades of experience as a CIO, CTO, and CISO, Dimitri has worked across multinational corporations, local governments, the Dutch Olympic Committee, and now Dutch Railways. A lifelong engineer, he holds an international Master’s degree in Business Administration and a range of esteemed cybersecurity certifications, including CISSP, CRISC, CISA, CISM, CDPSE, CIPP/E, CIPM, and FIP.
Dimitri combines technical expertise with strategic vision, making him a prominent voice in the cybersecurity and AI governance landscape.
Step into the eerie echoes of Charles Dickens' *The Signal-Man* to uncover a chillingly relevant parable for our age of AI and cybersecurity. In a world where AI systems power decisions at unprecedented speeds, are we, like the lonely signalman, misinterpreting critical warnings while hurtling toward disaster? Join Dimitri van Zantvliet, the Cybersecurity Director of Dutch Railways, for a keynote that fuses storytelling with cutting-edge insights into the rail sector’s digital transformation and cybersecurity strategies.
This session will unravel the lessons of Dickens' tragic tale, exploring the parallels between Victorian railways and today’s AI-driven systems. From opaque "black box" algorithms to over-reliance on automated defenses, we face a critical crossroads: embrace AI with responsibility or risk repeating the signalman’s fate.
Discover how the rail industry navigates waves of digitization, compliance tsunamis, and escalating threats while building ethical, transparent, and sustainable AI frameworks. You’ll learn practical strategies to balance human oversight with AI’s vast potential, ensuring trust, security, and resilience in an era where the stakes have never been higher.
Don’t miss this captivating blend of history, innovation, and foresight—a call to action for leaders who refuse to be overwhelmed by the warnings they cannot understand. Together, let’s rewrite the future and ensure the signals of tomorrow guide us to safety, not tragedy.