About Kim McKayed

Kim McKayed is CEO and Co-Founder of Protostars, where she focuses on helping software teams build more secure, resilient products from the ground up. With a strong emphasis on software engineering and product innovation, Kim works at the intersection of secure-by-design development, regulatory readiness, and commercial trust. Her work explores how organisations can better prepare for CE Marking under the Cyber Resilience Act, while also using embedded cyber insurance as a practical enabler for product assurance and market confidence. Kim is passionate about making complex security and compliance challenges more accessible to engineering-led teams, translating regulation into actionable product and development practices. At ISACA Ireland Conference 2026, she brings a fresh perspective on how vision, engineering discipline, and vigilance can come together in the future of digital products.

Governing AI Security, Compliance and Digital Product Transfer in a Post-CRA World

As organisations rapidly adopt AI software and hyper-connected digital ecosystems, traditional approaches to security, risk and audit are no longer sufficient. Regulatory frameworks such as the EU Cyber Resilience Act (CRA), NIS2 and the emerging EU AI Act require a shift from point-in-time assessments to continuous, evidence-based assurance. In his talk, Kim Kayed explores how cyber, risk and audit professionals can practically govern AI-enabled systems without slowing innovation. Drawing on real-world work supporting Protostars-Cyber-AI Digital Europe Programme initiative, Kim will demonstrate how AI supports security governance.