
Atlanta CISO Community
Executive Summit
June 5, 2025 | Westin Atlanta Perimeter North
June 5, 2025
Westin Atlanta Perimeter North
Collaborate with your peers
Get together with Atlanta's top CISOs to tackle shared business challenges and critical priorities facing your role today. Participate in this one-day, local program with peer-driven topics and interactive discussions with your true C-level peers.
Join your peers to discuss the most critical issues impacting CISOs today:
Harnessing data to drive innovation, improve decision making, and enhance operational efficiency
Balancing security with innovative strategies to drive leadership while safeguarding digital assets
Delivering secure, seamless interactions built on trust and strong data governance
Atlanta CISO Governing Body
The Governing Body Co-Chairs shape the summit agenda, ensuring that all content is driven By CISOs, For CISOs®.
Governing Body Co-Chairs

Derek Benz
The Coca-Cola Company
CISO

Tim Callahan
Aflac
SVP & Global CISO

John Dickson
Colonial Pipeline
VP & CISO

Meredith Harper
Synchrony Financial
Former CISO

Stacy Hughes
ABM
SVP & CISO

Bob Varnadoe
Kaiser Permanente
VP, Technology Risk Management
What to Expect
Agenda
8:00am - 8:30am Registration & Breakfast
8:30am - 9:15am Keynote
Cyber Resiliency — A CISO's Superpower for Defeating Digital Adversaries
Hosted by Wiz

Jamil Farshchi
EVP & CTO
Equifax

Meredith Harper
Former CISO
Synchrony Financial
In today's dynamic digital landscape, CISOs must prioritize cyber resiliency, while distinguishing between disaster recovery and business continuity. By adopting a forward-thinking approach and focusing on people resiliency, CISOs can build resilient frameworks to navigate current and future cyber challenges, ultimately enhancing their organization's ability to deconstruct incidents, manage risks, and prepare for future disruptions.
Join this session to:
- Establish a cyber resiliency strategy to ensure seamless business continuity amidst digital threats
- Boost incident response through team mobilization, board engagement, and communication
- Enhance people resiliency to better manage risks and prepare for future cyber challenges
9:15am - 9:40am Networking Break
9:40am - 10:25am Breakout Session
From Finding to Fixing -- How Agentic AI Secures Code at the Speed of Dev
Hosted by Checkmarx

Ori Bendet
VP of Product Management
Checkmarx
As software development accelerates with AI-generated code and scalable cloud-native architectures like microservices and serverless, the need for early, efficient, and scalable vulnerability remediation is critical. But the true challenge lies not just in finding vulnerabilities-it's fixing them without slowing down developers.
Join this session to:
- Detect vulnerabilities early to ensure proactive secure coding
- Provide context-aware remediation to earn developer trust
- Enable manual or automated remediation for efficient resolution
9:40am - 10:25am Breakout Session
Crypto Agility — Critical Component & Complex Challenge
Hosted by Entrust

Greg Wetmore
Vice President Software Product Development
Entrust
Crypto-Agility is critical to digital security. The need to “encrypt everything” that we see in best practices, like Zero Trust, requires Crypto-Agility, as does preparing for the transition of tomorrow’s post-quantum reality. How can organizations achieve a mature crypto-agile security practice, and overcome the challenges to get there – from people and processes to technology?
Join this session to:
- Understand Crypto-Agility fundamentals
- Learn how to develop a Crypto-Agile practice
- Set yourself up for success to overcome implementation challenges
9:40am - 10:25am Executive Boardroom
From Chaos to Clarity ― How AI is Transforming Data Security
Hosted by Cyera

Pete Chronis
Board Director
Cyera

Leo Howell
VP, Technology & CIO
Georgia Tech

Whitfield Samuel
CISO
Georgia State University
Your data is everywhere ― across clouds, apps, and teams. Innovation demands speed, security demands control. To lead securely, CISOs need more than policies and firewalls ― they need real-time visibility, actionable intelligence, and AI that keeps pace. Join this boardroom to unpack how AI is reshaping data security. You’ll walk away with strategies to:
- Turn fragmented data environments into a unified governance foundation
- Stay ahead of shifting regulations with scalable, AI-supported compliance
- Empower teams with shared accountability and smarter security
9:40am - 10:25am Executive Boardroom
Identity Security in the Agentic AI Era
Hosted by Veza

Mike Towers
Chief Security & Trust Officer
Veza

Ray Griffin
CISO
Mazda Motor of North America

Trey Tunnell
CISO
Floor & Decor
The rise of Agentic AI is increasing risks and complexities for Non-Human Identities (NHIs) in cloud environments. AI agents need extensive NHI access, posing new challenges in identity governance and security.
Join this roundtable to discuss:
- Exponential NHI growth impacting security
- Management of AI access models and permissions
- Complex AI interactions affecting identity management
10:25am - 11:10am Networking Break
10:35am - 11:00am Peer-to-Peer Meetings
Peer-to-Peer Meetings
Connect with like-minded peers in a one-on-one setting through Peer-to-Peer Meetings. You will be matched with peers in your community based on your shared interests and priorities.
11:10am - 11:55am Breakout Session
Streamlined Compliance— Boosting Security and Cutting Costs with Innovation
Hosted by Akamai

Sean Flynn
Director, Security Technology and Strategy
Akamai Technologies
Managing compliance doesn’t have to be a drain on resources. By reducing the scope of compliance environments and leveraging scalable solutions, businesses can simplify audits and control costs. Discover how micro segmentation and cloud-based services can streamline compliance while improving security.
Join this session to explore:
- Minimize the scope of compliance to reduce audit complexity and costs.
- Scale security solutions with business growth for cost-effective protection.
- Eliminate costly on-premises infrastructure by utilizing cloud-based platforms
11:10am - 11:55am Breakout Session
Future-Proofing Compliance in the Age of Multi-Cloud and Agentic AI
Hosted by Wipro and AWS

Geoff Hauge
Financial Services Leader, Cybersecurity & Risk Advisory Services
Wipro
As organizations expand operations across hybrid and multi-cloud environments, they gain agility and cost efficiency but face increased security risks and compliance challenges. The advent of agentic AI introduces new capabilities, reshaping governance frameworks and accelerating decision-making processes. How can CISOs build resilient risk and continuous compliance management strategies in today’s cloud environments, especially with emerging technologies like agentic AI?
Join this session to discuss:
- Enhancing security and streamlining compliance processes with agentic AI
- Addressing emerging regulatory risks effectively, including implications of AI-driven decisions
- Ensuring business resilience in the digital economy with advanced automation and AI capabilities
11:10am - 11:55am Executive Boardroom
Identity Security Amidst AI & Intelligent Automation
Hosted by Delinea

David McNeely
CTO
Delinea

Ganjar Imansantosa
Vice President, Chief Information Security Officer
Tropical Smoothie Cafe

Bhanu Vallabhaneni
Head of Cyber Security
J.M. Huber
As AI and intelligent automation transform business operations, they also reshape identity security. While automation enhances efficiency and streamlines access, it introduces new risks, including AI-driven cyber threats, and privilege abuse. Organizations must modernize their IAM strategies to mitigate evolving threats while ensuring secure, frictionless access.
Join this session to discuss:
- Balancing automation and security for resilient IAM strategies
- Emerging AI-driven threats and how to mitigate them
- The future of AI in identity governance and compliance
11:10am - 11:55am Executive Boardroom
Taming Third Party Risk with Advanced Technologies
Hosted by RiskRecon, a Mastercard Company

John Chisum
VP, Solutions Consulting
Mastercard Cybersecurity

Gretchen Hiley
CISO, North America
Randstad North America

Ray Strubinger
AMS CISO
TK Elevator
Cyber threats are increasingly sophisticated and pervasive, making conventional TPRM approaches like questionnaires inadequate. AI/ML and threat intelligence have the potential to transform TPRM, as well as extending into 4th, 5th parties and beyond. Leveraging key insights can help CISOs stay ahead of evolving risks and enhance security programs, even with limited resources.
Join this session to discuss:
- Practical strategies for leveraging threat intelligence in TPRM
- Critical alignment of people and process elements with advanced technologies
- Acting on useful insights and data to manage supply chain risk
11:55am - 12:30pm Lunch Service
Apply to Participate
Apply to participate in the Atlanta CISO Community Executive Summit.
Gartner facilitates exclusive, C-level communities by personally qualifying and understanding the priorities, challenges and interests of each member.
Our selective approach maintains the high quality of the network and ensures top-level discussions with peers from the world’s leading organizations.
Each application will be reviewed, and once your participation is confirmed, you will have access to year-round community programs.
Location
Venue & Accommodation
Westin Atlanta Perimeter NorthParking Information
Hotel does not offer valet parking. Self- Park in the Concourse lot directly across from The Westin will be hosted by Evanta. Please make sure to show your parking pass at registration.
A block of rooms has been reserved at the Westin Atlanta Perimeter North at a reduced conference rate. Reservations should be made online or by calling 888-627-8407. Please mention Gartner Atlanta Executive Summit to ensure the appropriate room rate.
Deadline to book using the discounted room rate of $199 USD (plus tax) is May 12, 2025.
Community Program Manager
For inquiries related to this community, please reach out to your dedicated contact.