Top Highlights from the 8th Annual American CIO & Cybersecurity Summit

Introduction

There couldn't have been a more fitting backdrop than San Francisco, a city built on innovation, for two days of exploring the technologies redefining how organizations protect, transform, and grow. On June 9–10, 2026, the 8th Annual American CIO & Cybersecurity Summit welcomed cybersecurity and IT leaders to exchange ideas, challenge conventional thinking, and tackle the rapidly evolving digital landscape.

Through insightful keynotes, engaging panel discussions, interactive workshops, and countless networking conversations, attendees exchanged ideas on resilience, digital transformation, procurement, logistics, and operational excellence. As the summit marked ten years of connecting the industry's brightest minds, it once again proved why it remains one of the premier gatherings for supply chain leadership and innovation.

Like any strong cybersecurity strategy, the summit was built on layers. Three key themes led this year's conversations, including Cybersecurity, Artificial Intelligence & Machine Learning, and Digital Transformation & Data Management, where every session added another layer of insight into the future of enterprise technology. Between keynotes, panels, workshops, networking receptions, and countless conversations over coffee, attendees weren't just sharing best practices, they were building new connections, uncovering fresh perspectives, and future-proofing their organizations together.

Lee Bailey, Chief Information Security Officer, Prestige Group @ Unilever Prestige
Tommy Gardner, Chief Technology Officer @ HP Federal
Grant Ecker, Founder, Chief Architect Network, VP, Enterprise Architecture @ Ecolab

Join me as we look back on some of this year’s top takeaways.

Day 1 Highlights

As the fog cleared out and made way for that special California sun, the same occurred in Room 1, where attendees made way for Sun as well, Gene Sun, that is, Corporate VP, Chief Information Security Officer @ FedEx. With speakers from Stellantis and Workhelix, together, they led a fireside chat about leveraging AI tools to defend against AI-enabled cyberattacks.

Shortly thereafter, Trina Ford, SVP, Chief Information Security @ iHeartMedia, took to the stage discussing resilient enterprise security strategies that align with business priorities and growth goals. Just before our first networking break, Danny Jenkins, CEO and Co-Founder @ ThreatLocker, showed how AI tools do not need to be a threat in the workplace.

Following those Room 1 keynotes and plenaries, attendees flooded into the expo hall to recharge, meet new peers, and join pre-scheduled 1-2-1 meetings—a highlight for many who arrived with specific challenges, partnership goals, or product development questions in mind.

With coffees in hand, attendees dispersed into the three stream-focused sessions tackling the following:

Lee Parrish, Chief Information Security Officer @ Newell Brands, translating cyber risk to something the board understands
Tommy Gardner, Chief Technology Officer @ HP Federal, defending enterprise AI against subtle adversarial attacks
Kian Beyzavi, PH.D. (VP, AI Molecular Design), and Maxim Shatsky (Director, AI & Data Science) @ Danaher Corporation, re-engineering discovery pipelines with foundation models

Engaging workshop sessions were the perfect next stop for attendees to put those learnings into action! We had the pleasure of hearing the perspectives of leaders from MetrixData 360, EPI-USE Cloud, and Vooban.

A well-deserved meal made way after the conclusion of our morning workshops, where the energy shifted into a more intimate and conversational setting. Over the Lunch & Learn roundtables, attendees gathered for focused discussions from organizations including ThreatLocker, Pomerol Partners, Vooban, Tailscale, and Drata.

From 3-course meals straight into 3-streamed sessions, we had the incredible opportunity to hear from top speakers from the City of Austin, TX, Marvell Technology, and the National Hockey League!

Jeremiah Clifton, Chief Information Security Officer @ City of Austin, TX, on securing the digital enterprise within the public sector
Nishit Sahay, Chief Information Officer @ Marvell Technology, on the AI token bill and what will bend it
Carol Dann, VP, Information Technology @ National Hockey League, on transforming the digital game, for a safer, smarter NHL

Workshops led by Dualboot Partners and DCG then took over the afternoon where attendees gained valuable insights into the anatomy of an enterprise AI experiment and the readiness of organizations for automation.

Laptops and notepads were tucked away for a period as attendees found themselves back in the expo hall for a well-deserved happy hour networking break - it’s 5 PM somewhere! Drinks and lively conversation filled the expo floor before locking back into further sessions.

Asus's Robert Chin (Group Chief Information Security Officer) discussed architecting a unified front through public-private cybersecurity synergy in Room 1. Across the hall, GM Financial's very own Yaron Yaniv (SVP, Global Chief Architect) explored beyond the promise of AI and cracked down on the hidden risks and costs of enterprise transformation. In Room 3, harnessing AI, data, and human-centered design for secure transformation was the primary discussion between Oracle's AJ Debole (Field Chief Information Security Officer) and Women in Cybersecurity's Lynn Dohm (Executive Director).

By the late afternoon, everyone gathered in Room 1 for the final plenary of the day, led by Patrick Phillips, Chief Information Officer @ Vasion.

We finished Day 1 off strong with a powerhouse panel moderated by Barry Fisher (Senior Director, Platform GTM @ Cloudflare), where he guided the discussion on building cybersecurity resilience, trust and scalable defenses in today’s evolving landscape. We had the privilege to hear from:

Sandra McLeod (Chief Information Security Officer @ Zoom)
AJ Debole (Field Chief Information Security Officer @ Oracle)
Jalen Byford (Chief Information Officer, Humana Healthy Horizons @ Humana)
Manfred Boudreaux-Degmer (Inaugural Chief Information Officer @ NATO)

After a few closing remarks, attendees were reunited once again in the expo hall for a well deserved end-of-day-1 networking drinks reception.

Day 2 Highlights

Good morning to Day 2 San Francisco! The smell of freshly brewed coffee and baked goods along with a robust panel of speakers drew attendees straight to Room 1 for Day 2’s Women in Leadership discussion. Both new and familiar faces on the panel included:

Trina Ford (SVP, Chief Information Security Officer @ iHeartMedia)
Carol Dann (VP, Information Technology @ NHL)
Sandra McLeod (Chief Information Security Officer @ Zoom)
Elina Jensen (Director, Resilience GTM @ Cohesity)
Lynn Dohm (Executive Director @ Women in CyberSecurity)

The rest of the morning was filled with fantastic keynote and plenary speakers, including Manfred Boudreaux-Dehmer (Inaugural Chief Information Officer @ NATO), Jeremy Koppen (EVP, Chief Information Security Officer @ Equifax) and Tom Pucciarella (Chief Customer Officer @ Strike48). It was such an honor to hear from these revered speakers in the industry.

The final coffee and networking break of the summit took place in the expo hall, where attendees and sponsors alike wrapped up their final meetings before taking to the final sessions of the late morning.

Transitioning from networking to sessions was seamless, especially with the stacked line-up of session speakers including:

Thomas Gonzalez (Deputy Regional Director @ CISA), on the next decade of cyber conflict
Geeta Pyne (Senior Managing Director and Chief Architect @ TIA), on architecting the continuous enterprise loop
Rohit Jain (VP, IT, Applications and Analytics, Operating CIO @ iRhythm Technologies), on AI pilots to co-intelligent enterprises

Our final plenary before lunch included one of the stars of the summit, none other than Alexandra Landegger, Corporate Chief Information Security Officer @ RTX, discussing building resilience into our global technology ecosystem to counter evolving threats.

The summit’s infamous Lunch & Learns took place once again, led by these top leaders in the industry:

Neha Gill @ IBM
Marry Gunaratnam @ Northern Credit Union
Jyoti Chawla @ Cisco
Larry Woods @ Post Holdings
Philip Glebow @ Catalyst Brands
Jalen Byford @ Humana

The final day of the 8th Annual American CIO & Cybersecurity Summit wrapped up with two end-of-day panels. Familiar faces from IBM, Post Holdings, Unilever Prestige, City of Austin, TX, and Northern Credit Union sat on a panel discussing the future talent of cybersecurity and IT leaders. And last but certainly not least, the summit wrapped up with a panel discussing architecture as a business multiplier from strategic roadmaps to AI-native platforms with the following leaders:

Grant Ecker @ Ecolab
Geeta Pyne @ TIAA
Philip Glebow @ Catalyst Brands
Kamal Syal @ Eaton
Jyoti Chawla @ Cisco
Ben Gilman @ Dualboot Partners

Final closing remarks and farewells took place in Room 1, as emcees distributed some special prizes and attendees marinated in their thoughts and learnings from the past two insightful days of the summit.

Conclusion

As the 2026 American CIO & Cybersecurity Summit came to a close, we extend our heartfelt gratitude to all the incredible delegates, speakers, sponsors, and media partners who made this summit a success. Your insights, collaboration, and engagement continue to drive the supply chain industry forward.

Secure your spot at the 9th annual American CIO & Cybersecurity Summit, returning to San Francisco, CA in Spring 2027: cioamerica.com

Testimonials

“Excellent opportunity to exchange knowledge with industry peers and gain insights into emerging trends and leading practices, and explore potential partnership opportunities with vendors.”

- Dr. Marry Gunaratnam, Chief Information Technology Officer @ Northern Credit Union

“Great first time experience, the vendors and speakers were right in line with the current trends and topics.”

- David Plaut, CIO @ Yolo Federal Credit Union

“Amazing, insights, connections, and conversations are top tier”

- Grant Ecker, Founder, Chief Architect Network

“Exceptionally better than expected. I wasn’t sure what to expect with a schedule of 10 1-2-1s but I got value out of all of them (and added more while I was here). None of the sponsors were trying to sell me, just some great conversations about their value propositions and the problems I’m looking to solve.”

- Richard Freilich, Vice President - IT & Security @ Lynx Equity Limited

“Hearing from top technology and cybersecurity leaders in the nation provided me with a great number of takeaways that have inspired me to grow both strategically and tactically.”

- Dan Callari, Senior Director of IT @ Bob Barker Company

“I had a great time at this conference and have multiple meaningful takeaways and relationships that I gained while here. It was a great opportunity for me to advance in my knowledge in this space and I realized many of the issues I encounter on a day to day basis are common to peers across a very diverse group of industries.”

- Jesse Monza, Director of Accounting and Finance @ Cheyenne International LLC

“Very informative. Met a lot of great people. I enjoyed every talk [...] I love the 1-2-1 format. Super helpful.”

- Ryan Gorman, Director of BIM & IT @ WJ Architects

Learn more about our upcoming 2026 North American events, and secure your spot today:

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Top Highlights from the 8th Annual American CIO & Cybersecurity Summit

Table of Contents

Day 1 Highlights

Day 2 Highlights

Conclusion

Testimonials

Rena Wu Rena Wu is a Digital Marketing Specialist at Generis Group.