Houston CISO Community
Executive Summit

Executives, speakers and supporting partners of the Houston CISO Executive Summit are invited to an informal reception hosted by the members of the Houston CISO Governing Body for an evening of drinks and peer networking to connect before the summit.

Parking: Valet will be hosted/complimentary; attendees also have the option to self-park.

New, special demands constantly arise for decision-makers who steer the fortunes of companies. Recently, business success has become linked to IT infrastructure. Seamless and secure connectivity is the key to unlocking innovation and accelerating business outcomes. To reach this state, enterprises are transforming their networks and security to a zero trust architecture augmented by AI/ML capabilities, thereby reducing risk, eliminating cost and complexity and increasing agility.

Join this session and learn:

• How zero trust architecture secures users, workloads, IoT/OT devices, and your business partners by addressing critical security shortcomings of legacy network architecture
• How to reduce network complexity without exposing your organization to new risks
• How AI/ML adds defensive and business analytics capabilities that have the power to turn IT into the engine propelling business success forward

Today's threat landscape calls for a renewed focus on partnership and engagement, including up-to-the-minute information sharing, technology collaboration and critical infrastructure protection. But what does this look like in practice? The State of Texas has seen great improvement across these initiatives since moving to a "whole-of-state" approach to cybersecurity, a strategy that enables multiple levels of government – and private industry – to embrace greater collaboration. 

Join this session to hear State of Texas CIO Amanda Crawford and Deputy CISO Tony Sauerhoff share insights about Texas's "whole-of-state" model and facilitate an open discussion on:

• Benefits, challenges and dynamics of adopting a more centralized approach to statewide security operations
• Opportunities for better threat intelligence and analysis sharing between the State and Texas public sector organizations
• Perspectives on applying principles of "whole-of-state" beyond the public sector

In the past 12 months, 87% of F1000 businesses were affected by significant cyber incidents as a result of a third-party. And yet, most rely on ‘snapshot in time’ questionnaires. While necessary, snapshots are insufficient by themselves, and must be augmented with continuous monitoring in support of ongoing security operations. This requires a different approach, that includes external threat detection capabilities by using AI across Public Data.

Join this session to learn about:

• The Public Data opportunity: collect, process, alert across multiple languages / modalities
• Real-time external threat detection on a rapidly evolving threat landscape
• The most advanced AI techniques for automating the collection, processing, delivery, and initial analysis of millions of public data sources

Generative AI swept into the business world like few technologies in recent years, and CISOs are increasingly on the front lines to ensure that their organizations can leverage GenAI capabilities without exposing their organization to heightened levels of cyber risk.

Join this roundtable conversation to discuss, share and hear from peers on how they are effectively managing the implementation of these technologies into their enterprises while also preparing for a rapidly evolving cyber threat landscape, addressing pressing questions such as:

• What approaches are CISOs taking to balance enabling teams to experiment and innovate with generative AI tools while safeguarding the business?
• What use cases are CISOs exploring for Generative AI within their security programs?  
• How are CISOs preparing for/protecting against AI-powered attacks?

Connect with like-minded peers in a one-on-one setting through Evanta’s Peer-to-Peer Meetings. You will be matched with peers in your community based on your shared interests and priorities.

Many executives envision their career including corporate board service at some point, but it's not often an easy path – especially for CISOs. (Only about 12% of S&P 500 organizations currently have at least one current or former "cyber expert" on the board.*) But the push for more board oversight and accountability around data breaches has put infosec expertise more squarely in the sights of board search teams than ever before. 

Join this session for a candid conversation on what CISOs should know if they're considering corporate board service as a career move, including:

• How the reality of corporate board service may -- or may not -- align with your expectations
• How to determine if corporate board service is something that really aligns with your professional and personal goals
• What skills and experience boards are looking for, and how CISOs can plan their next career moves with these criteria in mind

*"State of Cyber Awareness in the Board Room Report," NightDragon & Diligent Institute, September 2023

Cybersecurity is often an afterthought when it comes to mergers and acquisitions processes, but infosec leaders have the power to leverage these changes into positive, permanent growth within an organization. How are you preparing now to thoughtfully execute the next business integration in a way that unlocks new potential for your organization?

Join this session as your peers discuss:

• Lessons learned from past mergers and acquisitions
• How to leverage the potential influx of funding and talent
• Why empathetic leadership is crucial during times of change

As CISOs look to build their array of leadership skills, effective talent and team career development cannot be overlooked. This critical skill has evolved from "nice to have" to instrumental in building a resilient cybersecurity team and pushing the business forward.

Join this executive boardroom to connect with your peers on best practices for:

• Fostering an environment of continuous learning and skill development
• Leveraging talent development within the security function as a business enabler
• Promoting and enabling a team to take ownership of their career paths

Join us for an informal networking break exclusively for women in cybersecurity leadership and their allies to connect and build relationships with like-minded leaders in the greater Houston area and across Texas who are making an impact in their organizations and communities. Come prepared to share ideas, inspire and be inspired, and forge new connections that can help empower each other to achieve your goals and broaden your perspectives.

This session is aimed at, but not limited to, women leading the cybersecurity function at their organizations (CISO/equivalent, and those reporting directly to the CISO/equivalent). Priority access will be given to these participants, and allies are welcome as space permits. 

The demand for AI and especially for generative AI solutions is immense within business. But your colleagues are not aware of the non-functional requirements and security questions that need to be addressed to reduce technological debt and enable secure implementations.

Many companies immediately started experimenting and fueled the hype around generative AI. A significant number of the realized cases have already been abandoned. Enterprise IT leaders need to work on a unified operating model that enables the development of AI applications at scale by establishing a support structure for all development teams and business technologists.

Join this session to find out how your AI strategy can be executed best and get insights on issues like:

• How are organizations building a world class AI engineering practice that enables a multitude of cases?
• Which established AI operating model enables enterprises to empower all developers?
• How do CISOs embed AI security into their operations to secure models and data?

 Meet the Analyst: Christian Stephan is a Senior Director Analyst in Gartner's CIO Research, where he is part of the Innovation and Disruption analyst team. His work focuses on helping executives harness the potential of technologies, trends and ideas to drive their own innovation, transform their business and create revolutionary momentum.