Scottsdale

 The Evolving Use of AI in Healthcare: Friend, Foe, or Both? addresses the critical cybersecurity paradox created by artificial intelligence in the medical sector. It first highlights AI as a Friend, an essential cyber-defender that uses behavioral analytics and SOAR to provide the speed and scale necessary for proactive threat detection and automated incident response in complex healthcare environments. However, AI as a Foe, detailing how adversaries weaponize generative AI to launch sophisticated, hyper-personalized phishing attacks, create convincing deepfakes for social engineering, and employ adversarial AI to poison clinical data models, directly threatening patient safety. The concluding message emphasizes that securing the future of patient care requires a strategic response built on layered defense, prioritizing AI-on-AI security measures, establishing robust governance for ethical AI use, and fostering Cyber Resilience to maintain clinical operations even when a breach is inevitable.  

Public sector organizations face unique cybersecurity challenges as they balance limited resources with growing threats and rising expectations for digital services. In this session, Sandeep Desai, Information Security Executive for the Arizona Department of Education, explores how state and local agencies are adapting to an evolving threat landscape. From securing legacy systems and managing third-party risk to strengthening cyber awareness and resilience, Sandeep will share lessons learned and practical strategies that public sector leaders can apply to protect critical infrastructure, safeguard citizen data, and build a stronger cybersecurity culture across government.

As digital transformation accelerates, businesses are increasingly dependent on secure technologies, data integrity, and trust across their ecosystems. In this session, Bindi Davé will discuss how organizations can build and sustain digital trust amidst evolving cyber threats. Drawing on her extensive experience as a CISO and her leadership in cybersecurity transformation at companies like GoDaddy and DigiCert, Bindi will explore the strategic role of cybersecurity in enabling business growth while safeguarding critical assets.

Key Topics:

• Building and managing effective incident response plans.
• Detecting and mitigating cyber and physical threats.
• Using real-time data and intelligence for decision-making.

Why It Matters:
Security managers often handle tactical responses. Understanding effective response strategies ensures timely containment and resolution of incidents.

The AI revolution is fundamentally transforming cybersecurity, while the future of networking evolves toward Hybrid Full Mesh—integrating 5G, WiFi, Ethernet, Fiber, and other network infrastructures. This presentation examines how AI is accelerating cyber threats: attack costs are skyrocketing, incidents surging 50% year-over-year, and ransomware development compressed from nine days to mere minutes*. We’ll explore why Hybrid SASE (not cloud-only) forms the core of an effective hybrid full-mesh security architecture and how organizations can respond when the rate of change and complexity outpace their capabilities. Most importantly, we’ll demonstrate why security isn’t just a feature but the essential foundation of operations in this new era of hyperconnected vulnerability.

Artificial Intelligence is being utilized more than ever, as companies embrace AI’s value as pivotal to their business. However, with innovation comes risk, and AI has introduced another attack surface that organizations are struggling to manage and secure. 81% of executives say secure and trustworthy AI is pivotal to their business, but only 24% of these same executives are securing their AI projects. AI impacts every facet of the business, and it’s essential that these multiple groups collaborate to ensure not only visibility into all AI usage but also implementing the appropriate security and governance guardrails. With a strong framework, AI projects can be safely, confidently, and quickly deployed to support the business. Join us for a deep dive into how Security and Governance can evolve to meet your organization’s AI needs.

Key Topics:

• Ransomware, phishing, and advanced persistent threats (APTs).
• Optimizing operations and improving security through Orchestration and Automation.
• Understanding the impact of AI and IoT on security vulnerabilities.

Why It Matters:
Staying informed about the latest threats helps leaders anticipate and prepare for risks that can disrupt operations.

This session will explore the critical role of cyber resiliency in helping organizations withstand and recover from today’s evolving threats. We’ll dive into strategies for reducing attack surfaces, visualizing networks, and securing critical IT assets-while also examining how compliance regulations can enhance security and safeguard sensitive data. Attendees will come away with actionable insights for strengthening their security posture, minimizing vulnerabilities, and preparing their organizations to face future challenges in an increasingly complex threat landscape.

Despite billions spent annually on IAM, PAM, and IGA tools, more than 40% of enterprise applications remain outside the identity perimeter. Critical platforms—social media apps, vendor portals, legacy tools, and other disconnected apps—lack SAML, SCIM, or API support. These “last mile” gaps create dangerous patterns: weak or reused passwords, unmanaged privileged accounts, incomplete deprovisioning, and widespread credential sharing. The result? Elevated breach risk and compliance exposure. In this session, Keith Ledgerwood will expose why disconnected apps are one of today’s biggest blind spots in identity security. He’ll share how leading enterprises are closing these gaps with automation—eliminating manual credential management, streamlining provisioning and deprovisioning, enforcing MFA without added friction, and securing high-risk shared accounts like corporate social media. Attendees will leave with practical strategies to extend their identity perimeter to every app—without custom connectors or hidden license costs—and learn how to reduce risk, save time, and strengthen compliance across their organization’s most vulnerable access points.

What makes a good cybersecurity security program?

Harder question: how do you build one from scratch—and keep it operational while doing so?

In this story-driven session, I’ll walk through real-world lessons learned from building cybersecurity programs across multiple industries as a consultant and vCISO. These are programs that not only met compliance requirements but evolved into mature, sustainable, and scalable operations—even after I transitioned them to new leaders.

Attendees will learn:

• Key controls and governance processes that form the bedrock of every high-functioning cybersecurity program
• Practical playbooks and frameworks you can adopt to scale quickly and build maturity while still responding to daily fires
• How to align program structure to business context—whether you’re supporting healthcare, public sector, or private enterprise

• Common pitfalls to avoid when building a program while running it (hint: it’s more common than you think)

Hear from the women shaping the future of cybersecurity. This executive panel features trailblazing female cybersecurity leaders who are not only securing global enterprises and critical infrastructure, but also redefining what leadership looks like in the industry. In a candid, high-impact discussion, panelists will share lessons from the front lines—navigating complex threats, building high-performing teams, and breaking barriers in a traditionally male-dominated field. Attendees will gain executive-level insights into how diverse leadership drives stronger outcomes, how to build more inclusive cultures from the top down, and why supporting women in cyber isn’t just good optics—it’s smart strategy.

“The rise of nation state threats to all organizations and how it has evolved from just espionage.” As global tensions rise, so do the attacks from nation states against the US and our allies. However, the threat isn’t just to government or critical infrastructure, everyone is a target. Hear from a former CIA analyst on how the changing threat landscape affects us all. 

No organization can face today’s cyber threats alone. Success in cybersecurity depends on collaboration, knowledge sharing, and the collective strength of a trusted community. In this fireside discussion, Douglas Michaelson, CISO of STCHealth, joins J.D. Miller, SVP of CyberRisk Alliance, to explore why treating cybersecurity as a team sport is essential for resilience. Together, they will discuss the role of peer networks, cross-industry collaboration, and community-driven insights in helping leaders better anticipate and respond to evolving risks. Attendees will walk away with a deeper understanding of how to leverage professional communities for practical guidance, innovative solutions, and long-term security success.