Join us at the Atlanta Assembly on March 30!

Atlanta, GA, March 30th, 2023 - Apex Assembly is excited to be bringing together 60+ CIOs, CTOs, CDOs, CISOs, and other Divisional Leaders from F500 and Global 2000 Enterprise organizations for our Assembly using Bizzabo as the event success software to create a more immersive, successful experience. We will unite the Atlanta-based executives for a day of panels, thought leadership discussions, networking sessions and more.

In collaboration with industry-leading speakers and our sponsors Pluralsight, Fortinet, Imperva, Darktrace, Digicert, Cloudflare and Threatlocker, we will examine the most pressing issues that lie ahead in 2023.

Assembly Sponsors Include:

Sessions at a Glance

**The agenda is subject to change.?For the most updated agenda and entire schedule, please visit the website.

We will kick off the day with our Opening Remarks led by Kenny Ferguson, IT Director of NC State University The Friday Institute as our Master of Ceremonies for the Assembly.?

—

Our Opening Keynote Panel: “Building a Culture of Cloud: How to Transition from Tactical to Transformational while Measuring Cloud Maturity” will be hosted and moderated by Pluralsight.

Everyone has a cloud initiative. Spending on cloud services is forecasted to reach $600 billion by the end of 2023, with 75% of leaders building all-new products and features in the cloud moving forward.

Despite the leadership intent to be cloud-first, there is currently a gap in the execution. Half of all enterprise IT organizations' migration to the cloud are estimated to be delayed by two years or more.?

This misalignment between an organization’s expectation and the reality of cloud maturity is especially concerning given the strategic investments and resources being allocated to these efforts.?

Why are so many organizations struggling with cloud adoption? This panel of experts will share their experiences, insights, and best practices in overcoming the challenges of cloud transformation and measuring cloud maturity.

Speakers Include:

Drew Firment, Chief Cloud Strategist, Pluralsight?

Irene Thong, CIO & CISO, Sr Director IT & Project Management, Printpack

Balaram Tidhi, Chief Data & Analytics Officer, Atera Services

Adolph Barclift, CISO, Five Star Bank

Brian Benn, CIO, Atlanta Housing Authority

—

We will then have our Visionary Presenter: "API Security: Protect Your Digital Ecosystem from Loss and Breaches" of Imperva.

The use of APIs is surging to support digital ecosystems and applications. Also surging is the concern for how to secure APIs to prevent abuse and breaches. Because according to Gartner, API abuses are now the most frequent attack vector for data breaches or data loss.

But successfully securing APIs requires the cooperation of software development and security teams to allow organizations to become more open and distributed without compromising safety. In this session, Imperva will share how organizations identify and mitigate vulnerabilities with governance and security guardrails, and achieve visibility through analytics.

Speaker:

Chris Hauser, Sales Engineering Manager, Imperva

—?

Following that, Fortinet will give a presentation as a Visionary Presenter on “Meaningful use of AI/ML in cybersecurity.” AI and machine learning have been brought to the fore with the publicly available services such as Chat GPT and similar competitive announcements.? The accuracy, effectiveness, and use cases of these chat bot-type services in real world applications is in its infancy.? However, the use of AI within cybersecurity has been evolving over more than a decade of production deployment.? This talk will cover the evolution and modern application of AI and machine learning to the most common cyber use cases with a view on how various algorithms actually work to provide better outcomes for business.??

Speaker:

Srija Reddy Allam, Cloud Security Architect, Fortinet?

—

Darktrace, the Visionary Presenter will speak on "Reduce Risk and Harden Security with the Darktrace Cyber AI Loop."?

Darktrace delivers the first-ever Cyber AI Loop: an interconnected set of cyber security solutions that continuously and autonomously hardens your security. The Cyber AI Loop comprises four AI-powered product families – Darktrace PREVENT, Darktrace DETECT, Darktrace RESPOND, and Darktrace HEALT – that work across your entire organization, including internal and external data, simultaneously. Each component of the Cyber AI Loop is powered by Self-Learning AI: proprietary Darktrace technology that learns you. By understanding your bespoke organization, your users and devices and how they interact, it can build an evolving sense of what’s normal to identify what’s not. This enables Darktrace to shine a light on previously unknown and unpredictable threats. Watch it in action during this session.

Speaker:

Ryan Schuler, Senior Cyber Technology Specialist, Darktrace?

—

Following that, DigiCert will present as a Senior Supporter on "A CXO’s guide to digital trust: best practices for security management across your enterprise."

In today’s hyperconnected world, how can organizations support the digital processes, interactions, and transactions that drive their business while ensuring that their digital footprint remains secure?

As enterprises become more connected, cyber threats and risks go up. With a 20% increase in data breaches and an economic loss of each breach estimated at $9.4M, Digital Trust is critical to an enterprise’s long-term viability. In fact, 47% of consumers reported that they have switched vendors due to breaks in trust.?

To address these threats, companies are now making strategic investments in digital trust to protect against the material consequences and risk of business disruption. But, what does Digital Trust mean and how can you create an impactful Digital Trust strategy for your organization??

Join us for a presentation where we will discuss the best practices CISOs and CIOs are adopting to secure their business, reduce costs, and improve efficiencies in order to achieve Digital Trust.

Speaker:

Dean Coclin, Senior Director of Business Development, DigiCert

—

Next up is the CXO Panel: "Diversity, Inclusion and what DEI looks like in your organization?" Join this panel as they discuss what steps your organization can take to promote DEI and the metrics used to measure the success of efforts.

Speakers:

Shilpi Ganguly, VP - IT & Cybersecurity, The Weather Channel (Allen Media Group)

Jennifer Baker, CTO & President of WIT, Synovus Financial

Laura Prietula, Deputy CIO, U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs

Mat Mathews, CTO & CISO, Boys & Girls Clubs of America

Phyllis Woodruff, VP - IT Risk and Compliance, Global Payments

—

We are then kicking the afternoon with the? CISO & BISO Panel: "What is your Cybersecurity Plan and Strategy to Secure the Enterprise?" Hear from these top executives as they discuss new technology trends, best practices learned from COVID-19 and the challenges of embracing a security first approach.

Speakers:

Elias Nyankojo, Global Head of IT Security, Avanos Medical

Ray Griffin, CISO, Cox Media Group

Ray Strubinger, Director Security Operations, Global Payments

Austin Herrin, Director Global Security, Creative Artists Agency

Pratibha Aphale, BISO, Goldman Sachs

—

Following that is the? CXO Panel: "The Challenges and Solutions for your Cloud Journey." Hear from these top executives as they discuss their current cloud challenges, their cloud transformation strategies and their top data security priorities.

Speakers:

Pratibha Aphale, BISO, Goldman Sachs

Andy Green, VP - Global Infrastructure, PRGX?

Kartikiran Seshagiri, Director - Software Engineering, FanDuel

Preyshi Darbari, IT Director, Finance, Corp Applications, ABB

Rajesh Singi, Director - Data & Analytics, Nike

—

Up next is the CXO Panel: "Top Trends & Challenges for CIOs and CISOs in 2023." Join this panel as they discuss high-level challenges and trends in their organization, how AI is impacting security and how to build teams to retain talent.

Speakers:

Walt Carter, Chief Digital Officer & CIO, Homestar Financial Corp

Phani Dasari, Global CISO, HGS

—

We will end the Assembly with the CXO Panel: "Empowering your organization with Data, Analytics & Governance. Join this panel as they discuss the modernization of data and analytics, the challenges of implementing new data platforms and how to meet your businesses’ data demands.

Speakers:

Ashok Narayan, Global Director of Applications and Emerging Technology, Tosca

Stefanie Khan, Director of Business Intelligence and Data Analytics, UPS

Pankaj Singal, Head of Data Governance, Platform Solutions, Goldman Sachs?

George Smiley, Sr. Director IT, Enterprise Information Management (EIM), Serta Simmons Bedding?

Marina Pashkevich, VP - Advanced Analytics and AI, Oshkosh Corp

John Williams, ED - Enterprise Data, RaceTrac

—

We will close out the event with a networking reception to share our thoughts from the great content and discussions we heard throughout the day.?

Aside from the presenting Sponsors, we also have Cloudflare and Threatlocker onsite discussing their organizations and offerings to the industry.?

—

Through these thought leadership sessions, panels and live chats we will bring to the forefront today's top successes, challenges and focus areas for CIOs, CTOs, CDOs, CISOs and other Divisional Leaders in the enterprise.?

Apex Assembly specializes in bringing together technology leaders from the world’s largest companies to discuss technology trends and focus on solving their biggest technology challenges. By uniting exclusive C-level communities, Apex offers unparalleled opportunities to mindshare in a secure environment and collaborate on industry trends, challenges and successes. Headquartered in Midtown Manhattan, Apex Assembly hosts regional and national events focused on open discussion and education to assist technology leaders in building lasting business relationships. Learn more at https://apexassembly.com