Midwest IT & Security Leaders Forum 2024

As the digital economy continues to expand, institutions must adapt to remain competitive and relevant. This session will explore the key trends shaping the future of the digital economy and how institutions can effectively enable their digital transformation. Topics will include advancements in digital infrastructure, the integration of artificial intelligence and machine learning, the importance of data analytics, and the shift towards digital-first business models. Experts will discuss the challenges and opportunities presented by these trends, providing practical insights on how institutions can leverage technology to enhance efficiency, innovation, and customer engagement. Attendees will gain a comprehensive understanding of the strategic steps necessary to thrive in the digital economy

Moderator: Tellis Williams, VP Risk Mgmt/Chief Information Security Officer, Dream Exchange Holdings

Panelists:

Ihuoma Kay Solomon-Okoli, AVP Global Technology Risk & Governance, CNA Financial

Vanette Cunningham Hill, IT Manager, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan

Rohit Sinha, Global Head of Cloud, Genpact

In today’s digital landscape, the traditional network perimeter has dissolved. Identity has emerged as the new security perimeter, representing the most critical attack surface for adversaries. As organizations increasingly adopt cloud-based services, remote workforces, and interconnected applications, managing identities and Identity Providers (IDPs) has become central to ensuring security. However, these same identities are also being targeted, manipulated, and abused by cybercriminals to gain unauthorized access to valuable data and resources.

This session will explore the evolving role of identity in cybersecurity, providing a deep dive into how identities and IDPs are leveraged—both legitimately and maliciously. Attendees will gain a comprehensive understanding of the Zero Trust model and why it is essential for today’s security strategy. We will discuss common security failures, such as overprivileged access, poor password hygiene, and inadequate monitoring, and identify tools and best practices that can help organizations strengthen their identity security posture.

Participants will walk away with actionable insights on how to better protect identities, implement effective Zero Trust principles, and adopt identity-focused security strategies that mitigate risks in an ever-evolving threat environment. Armed with these best practices, security leaders will be well-equipped to build resilient defenses against today’s most sophisticated cyber threats.

Speaker: John Harper, Sr. Security Engineer, Tenable

Presented by: Tenable

In today’s dynamic business environment, companies face the imperative of delivering instant answers and assistance to customers engaging with digital channels. This informative discussion addresses the vital elements needed to produce tangible results to meet this demand. While AI tools and smart agents can minimize human intervention, professionals across sales, marketing, and customer service must navigate customer interactions and team collaboration in new ways. In this chat we will address the challenges to be aware of in the strategic deployment of these technologies and steps to take to ensure they deliver expected value.

Speakers:

Mike Egli, CX Client Principal, RingCentral

Steve Mills, Former Global CIO, iHeartMedia

Presented by: RingCentral

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Delve into the flaws of the traditional cybersecurity landscape and how a modern SOC should focus on outcome-based services without relying on logs or the cost and complexity of a SIEM.

Presented by: LMNTRIX

Speaker: John Minasyan, COO, LMNTRIX

The AI hype cycle is at fever pitch. But are companies realizing the benefits? As large financial firms, strategic advisories and CIOs have found, hype doesn’t always translate to benefit. In this session, we will dive into the intersection of AI, Data, and applications and discuss recently emerging trends and insights in the AI/ML Ops space as they relate to data. And we’ll tease apart the hype from reality based on a few recent trends.

Speaker: Woody Evans, Vice President, Global Sales Engineering, Delphix

Presented by: Delphix

Open seating, Buffet-style lunch. Serving food for all tastes, pallets and preferences. Vegan, vegetarian, halal options available

Dive into the transformative world of quantum computing, where the boundaries of processing power and problem-solving are redefined. This session explores the fundamental shifts that organizations must embrace to harness the potential of quantum technology, from upgrading cybersecurity measures to innovating computational strategies. Get ahead of the curve by understanding the essentials of quantum readiness and positioning yourself for success in this exciting new era of computing.

Speaker: Yev Avidon, Director – Cybersecurity, Data Protection, Kroger

The ERP is the backbone of most organizations. Software packages from large vendors such as Oracle and SAP are essential for back-end business operations. But how do they fit into emerging technology strategies such as Cloud, AI/ML, Security, and other competitive growth initiatives? Come to this session to learn about the intersection of ERP and emerging technology and ways to find the right allocation of resources between operations and innovation.

Speaker: Keith Siegfried, GVP, Unified Service Experience, Rimini Street

Presented by: Rimini Street

Join us for an engaging and insightful journey through the evolution of AI, from the pioneering days of Turing to today’s cutting-edge generative models. In “Not Your Grandparent’s AI: New Age of Cybersecurity and IT Management,” we explore how AI is revolutionizing IT operations and cybersecurity, transforming our approaches to data analysis, threat detection, and endpoint management. We’ll delve into the emotional rollercoaster of technology adoption, address the new risks posed by generative AI, and discuss how to balance the need for speed and real-time data with security imperatives. This talk will equip you with a deeper understanding of the current landscape and future trajectory of AI in our industry. Come discover how to harness AI’s potential while navigating its challenges.

Tim Morris, Chief Security Advisor, AMER, Tanium

Presented by: Tanium

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In the ever-evolving landscape of cybersecurity, staying ahead of threats is imperative. As we reflect on the past, embrace the present, and prepare for the future, the integration of artificial intelligence (AI) into security infrastructure has emerged as a disruptive technology in safeguarding digital assets. Join us at this exclusive event led by Trend Micro as we delve into the dynamic journey of AI’s impact on cybersecurity. From historical insights to current advancements and future projections, discover how AI is reshaping the defense mechanisms against cyber threats, fortifying your infrastructure, and empowering organizations to navigate the digital frontier with confidence.

Speaker: Marc Tabago, Security Engineer, Trend Micro

Presented by: Trend Micro

In most markets, there is an abundance of open IT jobs with fewer people able to fill them – and the positions are getting more expensive. Working remotely is the norm, but not optimal (usually). There is less off-shoring and more resources are focused locally or within the same hemisphere.

Additionally, we are still not recruiting enough women and minorities into the rank and file, especially senior IT roles, and we’re losing talent to major tech hubs.

Join us at the roundtable with your peers as we dive into solutions to tackle the following challenges:

• How do you scale staff / team without losing them to major tech hubs?
• How do you create more diversity – not only among race and gender – but diversity of thought – Old vs New Thinking?
• How do we mentor universities to implement actionable steps for supplying more IT talent?

Moderator: Helen Knight, VP of IT, Legal Aid Alberta 

Panelists:

Vanette Cunningham Hill, IT Manager, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan

Jim Byrge, Manager of Incident Response, Undisclosed

Saima Gonsalves, Global Technology Leader End User Experience /Service Management, Thomson Reuters

Aggressive attacks on Enterprise computer networks are continuing with increased frequency and threatening economic and national security. Actions like vulnerability reduction and passive defenses on their own simply are not cutting it and there needs to be a functional shift in the way we mitigate this substantial threat. Companies can seek to protect their most sensitive data by implementing an environment of actionable intelligence and detection to bring the fight to the adversaries and ensure a proactive approach to securing data. This session will discuss best practices in managing the constant evolution in the security environment.

Moderated by: Todd Baerenklau, Account Executive, Cyera

Panelists:

Aladdin Elston, CISO, Altimetrik

Tellis Williams, VP Risk Mgmt/Chief Information Security Officer, Dream Exchange Holdings

Jim Byrge, Manager of Incident Response, Undisclosed

MJ McSheehy,VP of Information Security, Addison Group

We’ve seen major changes in the way that cyber-attacks, including ransomware, unfold. While the concerns and challenges are real, there is a framework to assist in enhancing your cyber-resiliency.

Join Veeam in this session to learn about:

• Recent trends for protecting your organization from malicious attacks
• Best practices to put your data in a better position mitigate and remediate against ransomware
• Lessons learned from actual ransomware attacks
• And more!

Speaker: Cassandra Faris, Technologist, Product Strategy, Veeam Software

Presented by: Veeam

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Enterprises have hordes of data and many opportunities to integrate other data sources. But readying data for AI experimentation is expensive and requires an iterative approach. This session will focus on finding the best opportunities to experiment with AI and on applying agile practices in machine learning initiatives.

Speaker: Ken Foster, Head Global Architecture, Adient

This presentation will cover the evolution of Generative AI and recent developments & trends. It will also cover use cases that the industry is looking to focus on. Will deep dive into a few of the use cases.

Speaker: Rohit Sinha, Global Head of Cloud, Genpact