Atlanta CISO Community
Executive Summit
November 19, 2026 | Atlanta Marriott Northwest at Galleria
November 19, 2026
Atlanta Marriott Northwest at Galleria
Join fellow CISOs for a day of peer connections, peer perspectives and Gartner insights
The Gartner Atlanta CISO Community Executive Summit is the community’s signature event, bringing together CISOs for a full day of immersive, peer-driven discussions and curated networking. Connect with peers who share similar priorities, exchange real-world experiences and gain data-driven insights from Gartner analysts. Walk away with practical solutions, validated strategies and valuable connections, giving you greater confidence to lead through change.
Participate in discussions on the most critical issues impacting CISOs today:
Operationalizing trusted AI at scale through governance, accountability, and adaptive security
Elevating security leadership from risk management to enterprise strategy
Harnessing cyber resilience to sustain growth amid uncertainty
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
SVP & CISO

John Dickson
Insight Global
CISO

John Gift
PepsiCo
SVP & Global CISO

Stacy Hughes
ABM
SVP & CISO

Kemper Seay
Carter's
VP Infrastructure & Chief Information Security Officer
What to Expect at an Executive Summit
Agenda
8:00am - 8:30am Registration & Breakfast
8:30am - 9:15am Gartner Keynote
Turn Cybersecurity Spending into a Business Investment Decision
Chet Geschickter
VP Analyst
Gartner
Executives are often flying blind when it comes to cybersecurity spending. They want limited risk, but don’t know how to achieve it. Protection level agreements (PLAs) turn cybersecurity spending into a strategic business decision. CISOs can use PLAs to offer executives a continuum of risks in return for different levels of investment.
In this session, you'll learn how to:
- Expose gaps between security investments, business expectations, and actual protection
- Move from reporting metrics to governing protection outcomes
- Use Protection Level Agreements to align risk, funding, and accountability
9:15am - 9:40am Networking Break
9:40am - 10:25am Breakout Session
The Leadership Imperative for Security Talent and Skill Preservation
Hosted by Sophos
Agentic AI is rapidly reshaping security operations, automating triage, investigation, and response at scale. As routine work shifts to machines, organizations risk losing critical skills, judgment, and institutional knowledge. CISOs must decide what to automate, what to preserve, and how to evolve roles and operating models—while leveraging AI to extend security expertise beyond traditional boundaries.
Join this session to hear about:
- How agentic AI is reshaping SOC roles, workflows, and career paths
- How to identify and preserve critical skills while redesigning roles for the next 1–2 years
- Practical approaches to balancing AI automation with human judgment and leadership at scale
9:40am - 10:25am Breakout Session
From CISO to Business Influencer
John Gift
SVP & Global CISO
PepsiCo
In today’s dynamic world, CISOs must elevate beyond tactical experts to strategic business partners who influence true change. The time has come to redefine security leadership into business leadership by championing a responsible culture of innovation, driving organizational growth, and taking personal ownership of the company’s reputation.
Join John Gift, SVP & Global CISO at PepsiCo as he shares his perspective on:
- Reducing risk while improving resiliency to maintain a company’s brand and customer’s trust
- Building a responsible culture of emerging technology from AI to Quantum
- Developing intentional relationships to navigate evolving threats, and operational challenges
9:40am - 10:25am Executive Boardroom
Recovery as a Compensating Control — Defending the Undefendable
Hosted by Veeam
Mark Bentkower
Principal Technologist
Veeam
When legacy systems can’t be patched, recovery becomes a key compensating control. CISOs rely on recovery documentation as evidence to protect themselves and their organizations. This session covers how immutable backups and traceable recovery records withstand regulatory and legal scrutiny after incidents and how forensic and threat intelligence data can turn reactive recovery into a documented, risk-based decision.
Join this session to learn:
- How recovery and immutable backups protect unpatched legacy systems
- Building recovery records for regulatory and legal review
- Using forensic and threat intelligence to justify response decisions
9:40am - 10:25am Executive Boardroom
Reimagining Security Teams — Optimizing AI Agents and Cost
Hosted by Microsoft Corporation
Chris Tignor
Chief Security Advisor
Microsoft Corporation
As AI agents proliferate in security operations, CISOs must strategically manage token consumption and associated costs, while weighing those costs against the risk they mitigate. Organizational structures are evolving to support agent-centric models, and the hardest questions are as much about people as technology: how roles change, which skills matter, and what new leadership approaches and cross-functional collaboration the shift demands. This session will explore how to balance risk, cost, efficiency and resilience as the enterprise and its workforce adapts to the next wave of AI-driven security.
Join this session to discuss:
- Managing token consumption and aligning FinOps priorities against risk-reduction value
- Redesigning teams, roles and skills for agent-centric security models
- Anticipating future shifts in AI-driven organizational structures and the talent implications
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
The Widening Gap — When Patching and Detection Both Stop Working
Hosted by Rubrik
Bryan Willett
CISO in Residence
Rubrik
In 2018 you had two years to patch. Today the exploit often exists before the CVE does. This session argues that AI didn't break enterprise security – it removed the margin hiding how broken it already was. Evidence-led, experience-driven, and culminating in four uncomfortable actions you can take back to your team.
Join this session to:
- Assess why human-gated patch approval has become a liability rather than a control using measured exploitation timelines
- Scope autonomous containment and reversion authority by blast radius – determining what an AI analyst should be permitted to do alone
- Reframe recovery as a tested security control under your ownership by going beyond a checkbox
11:10am - 11:55am Breakout Session
GenAI — A Generational Paradigm Shift
Hosted by Concentric AI
Lane Sullivan
Chief Information Security and Strategy Officer
Concentric AI
Generative AI has rapidly evolved from a curiosity into a core driver of enterprise productivity. But as employees embrace its ability to generate content, code, and insights on demand, a new reality is emerging: data security is now the defining challenge of AI adoption. Organizations that recognize this shift early and proactively adapt their data security strategies will be best positioned to innovate with confidence.
Join this session to discover:
What makes GenAI fundamentally different and its impact on business operations and risk
Where unintended data exposure and downstream consequences can arise
How to adopt AI responsibly without slowing innovation
11:10am - 11:55am Executive Boardroom
Rethinking Security for the Age of Agents
Hosted by Cyera
Tafi Makamure
Data Security Evangelist
Cyera
Robert Andriulli
CISO
Mativ
Chris Mattson
Senior Director, CISO
Curia
Agents are becoming the biggest opportunity in the enterprise, and the biggest adversary. They read your data and act under borrowed identities, at a speed no human review process was built to match. The old question in security was how to keep bad actors out. The new one is more complex: how do you create and manage the biggest risk in your own enterprise, the agents you deployed on purpose?
Join this boardroom to discuss:
- Establishing a framework where data, identity, and agent security operate as one system
- Shifting from asking whether you can trust your agents to determining what access they can be trusted with
- Balancing innovation and risk by creating visibility needed to understand agent activity
11:10am - 11:55am Executive Boardroom
Strengthening Global AI Security and Governance
Hosted by Island
Matt Pour
VP, Solutions Engineering
Island
Chris Bullock
Director, Cyber Risk Management & Data Governance
Aveanna Healthcare
Joseph Hinkle
Group CISO
Smurfit WestRock
CISOs must secure the enterprise as generative AI adoption grows, ensuring governance, compliance, and visibility. Employees using browser-based AI tools expose organizations to risks like data leakage, security breaches, and regulatory issues. Responsible AI adoption requires balancing innovation and control. Threats from “Shadow AI” and cross-border data flows highlight the need for strong policies that protect the enterprise and enable secure, productive AI use. By advancing security posture and robust policies, organizations can confidently manage AI-driven transformation.
Join this session to discover:
- Mitigating risks from unauthorized AI tools
- Implementing global security policies
- Safeguarding data with secure AI adoption
11:55am - 12:30pm Lunch Service
Apply to Participate
Each application is carefully vetted to ensure members meet established criteria, preserving the quality of the network and enabling meaningful, peer‑level discussions among leaders from the world’s leading organizations.
Once you submit your application, a Community Program Manager will schedule a conversation to understand your priorities and interests and complete onboarding, including access to year‑round community events.
Location
Venue & Accommodation
Atlanta Marriott Northwest at GalleriaA block of rooms has been reserved at the Atlanta Marriott Northwest at Galleria at a reduced conference rate. Reservations should be made online or by calling 770-952-7900. Please mention Gartner CISO Executive Summit to ensure the appropriate room rate.
Deadline to book using the discounted room rate of $189 USD (plus tax) is October 26, 2026.
Community Program Manager
For inquiries related to this community, please reach out to your dedicated contact.
