Ahmed Naufal Abdul Hadee was appointed as the first Chief Executive Officer of the Maldives’ National Cyber Security Agency (NCSA) on 31 July 2024. A graduate of the UAE’s first Global Cyber Security Leadership Program, Naufal is a cybersecurity leader, AI developer, researcher, and keynote speaker with over 15 years of IT experience. As the founding CEO of NCSA, Naufal has helped shape the Maldives’ national cybersecurity ecosystem by transforming strategic vision into policy, capability, partnerships, and innovation. Guided by NCSA’s vision of “Nurture, Collaborate, Secure, Adapt,” he has contributed to advancing the Cyber Security Bill through its successful submission to Parliament and played a key role in finalising the National Cyber Security Strategy with international support. Under his leadership, NCSA has developed national cybersecurity capabilities including NCSA Hub, NCSA Learn, the Governance, Risk, and Compliance (GRC) Platform, and Code Prism—an AI-powered solution for automated source code analysis and compliance reporting. His leadership philosophy of “Data over Opinion” promotes evidence-based decision-making, using research and measurable insights to guide cybersecurity initiatives. Recognising that people are the foundation of cyber resilience, Naufal led one of the Maldives’ largest cybersecurity upskilling initiatives, selecting 100 participants from both public and private sectors nationwide for the CompTIA CySA+ Boot Camp (2025) and advanced CERT hands-on incident response training (2026). He also launched the NCSA Bug Bounty Program, a first-of-its-kind national collaborative initiative that strengthens responsible disclosure and connects local and international cybersecurity communities, with over 50 certificates issued to participants representing six countries. With over 12 years as an educator, Naufal has contributed to developing the Maldives’ technology workforce by teaching modules in Software Development, Machine Learning & Artificial Intelligence, Big Data, and IT Governance. He is also a recognised researcher and keynote speaker, having authored internationally peer-reviewed publications, including IEEE papers, and presented at local and global forums, bridging research, innovation, and practical cybersecurity solutions.