GENEVA

As part of Geneva Cyber Week 2026, UNICC hosted an advanced tabletop exercise on 6 May, bringing together cybersecurity and technology professionals from across the UN system and international organizations for an immersive cyber crisis simulation.

Titled “Black Box Decisions: AI-Driven Crisis Leadership Simulation”, the exercise examined the growing challenges organizations face as artificial intelligence accelerates both cyberthreats and decision-making processes. Participants navigated a fast-evolving crisis scenario involving operational disruption, misinformation, reputational pressure, and legal implications, in an environment where malicious activity was increasingly difficult to distinguish from legitimate behaviour.

Participants were divided into technical and leadership groups and tasked with assessing the evolving situation, proposing response measures, and defending decisions under pressure. The simulation encouraged collaboration between operational and strategic perspectives, generating discussions on crisis management, communication, operational continuity, and the expanding role of AI in cybersecurity incident response.

Unlike traditional technical exercises, the simulation focused on leadership and decision-making under uncertainty, highlighting how shrinking response windows and AI-driven recommendations are reshaping organizational preparedness and response strategies.

The session concluded with a lessons-learned discussion, during which participants shared experiences, identified key takeaways, and reflected on the importance of preparing organizations not only to detect cyber incidents but also to make timely, effective decisions during rapidly evolving crises.

Over the past two years, UNICC has significantly expanded its tabletop exercise programme, delivering more than 40 exercises and training over 1,000 personnel from UN entities and international organizations. Exercises have been provided to technical and non-technical participants, including organizational crisis management teams, cybersecurity, and ICT operations teams. This continued growth reflects the increasing importance of crisis preparedness, cross-organizational coordination, and cyber-resilience across the international community. 

UNICC tabletop exercises are designed to strengthen organizational readiness by testing decision-making processes, clarifying roles and responsibilities, improving coordination across teams and partners, identifying operational impacts, and increasing awareness of emerging threats within a collaborative and secure environment.