Florida CIO Community
Executive Summit
May 14, 2026 | Fort Lauderdale Marriott Coral Springs Hotel & Convention Center
May 14, 2026
Fort Lauderdale Marriott Coral Springs Hotel & Convention Center
Collaborate with your peers
Get together with Florida's top CIOs to tackle shared business challenges and critical priorities facing your role today. Participate in this one-day, local program with peer-driven topics and interactive discussions with your true C-level peers.
Join your peers to discuss the most critical issues impacting CIOs today:
Driving Purposeful Innovation Through AI Adoption and Governance
Strengthening Cybersecurity Leadership to Navigate Evolving Risks and Regulations
Optimizing Technology Investments for Strategic Agility and Resilience
Florida CIO Governing Body
The Governing Body Co-Chairs shape the summit agenda, ensuring that all content is driven By CIOs, For CIOs®.
Governing Body Co-Chairs

Carrie Busbee
Core & Main
CIO

Elvis Clemetson
SBA Communications
SVP & Global CIO

Otto Contreras
Miami-Dade County
Director of Public Safety and Criminal Justice Division, IT

Chad Couch
JM Family Enterprises
CIO

Christina Shannon
KIK Consumer Products
Chief Information Officer

Luis Suarez
H.I.G. Capital
Chief Technology Officer

Christine Vanderpool
Florida Crystals Corporation
VP & Chief Technology Officer
What to Expect
Agenda
8:00am - 8:30am Registration & Breakfast
8:30am - 9:15am Gartner Keynote
Top Strategic Technology Trends for 2026 and Beyond
Gene Alvarez
Distinguished VP Analyst
Gartner
Hear from Distinguished VP Analyst at Gartner, Gene Alvarez, on the top trends for 2026 and beyond to propel your business and technology goals. Learn how to transform disruption and uncertainty into opportunity and growth.
Join this session to hear about:
- Emerging technology trends shaping the future
- Understanding the impact and importance of these trends
- Leveraging insights to drive opportunity, growth, and competitive advantage
9:15am - 9:40am Networking Break
9:40am - 10:25am Breakout Session
Rethinking Security for Agentic AI — From Control to Orchestration
Hosted by Cyera
Thomas Mazzaferro
Chief Data Officer
Cyera
As AI agents start acting across business environments, data becomes the true control surface. These agents require broad access to data, identities, and business processes, creating new risk patterns as sensitive data and outbound actions converge at machine speed. This is a control shift. CISOs must modernize their data approach to adopt agentic AI confidently while maintaining oversight.
Join this session to explore how to:
- Detect emerging risk behaviors in autonomous AI
- Build a data-centric and intent-aware security model
- Establish the CISO as the orchestrator of scalable AI and business growth enabler
9:40am - 10:25am Breakout Session
Foundations vs. Frontiers — Debate Showdown
Margarita Rivera
Global Chief Information Security Officer (CISO)
Carnival Corporation
Johann Balaguer
VP, Global CISO
Hard Rock International
As technology and risk rapidly evolve, CIOs and CISOs must choose: reinforce core IT and security fundamentals, or pursue advanced capabilities?
During this interactive debate-style breakout you will:
- Hear how peer leaders set organizational priorities
- Broaden your perspective on key IT and security topics
- Join in through audience participation
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
Decoding Tomorrow’s Threats — Trends & Insights Unveiled
Hosted by Google Cloud Security
Rob Lowe
Global Solutions Architect - CTIR
Google Cloud Security
CISOs today are pulled in multiple directions, facing a relentless onslaught of evolving threats while balancing competing priorities and limited resources. As adversaries leverage new technologies—especially AI—organizations must rethink how they utilize threat intelligence and set security priorities. Yet, with historical knowledge and ongoing engagement in adversary tracking, there is hope: we can anticipate and outmaneuver tomorrow’s threats.
Join this session to explore:
- Key findings and use cases from 2025
- Predictions for 2026’s threat landscape and adversary tactics
- Actionable strategies for prioritizing and mitigating emerging threats
11:10am - 11:55am Executive Boardroom
AI Security – Turning Agents into Security Allies
Hosted by Microsoft Corporation
Nicole Darden Ford
Vice President, Customer Security Officer
Microsoft Corporation
The dual nature of AI is here - extraordinary innovation paired with complex risks. According to recent reports, more than 29% of employees have turned to unsanctioned AI agents for work tasks and these unsecured agents lack clear visibility into what they can do, what they access, or the blast radius they introduce. CIOs and CISOs must secure AI agents with the same rigor as human users, ensuring visibility, governance, and robust controls amid rapid change and resource constraints.
Join this boardroom to discuss:
- Enforcing Zero Trust principles for both human and AI identities
- Establishing continuous observability and monitoring of AI agent activity
- Implementing governance frameworks to manage access, actions, and compliance
11:55am - 12:30pm Lunch Service
Apply to Participate
Apply to participate in the Florida CIO Community Executive Summit.
Gartner facilitates exclusive, C-level communities by personally qualifying and understanding the priorities, challenges and interests of each member.
Our selective approach maintains the high quality of the network and ensures top-level discussions with peers from the world’s leading organizations.
Each application will be reviewed, and once your participation is confirmed, you will have access to year-round community programs.
Location
Venue & Accommodation
Fort Lauderdale Marriott Coral Springs Hotel & Convention CenterParking available onsite at a daily rate of $12.
A block of rooms has been reserved at the Fort Lauderdale Marriott Coral Springs Hotel & Convention Center at a reduced conference rate. Reservations should be made online or by calling (954) 753-5598. Please mention Florida Executive Summit to ensure the appropriate room rate.
Deadline to book using the discounted room rate of $134 USD (plus tax) is April 21, 2026.
Community Program Manager
For inquiries related to this community, please reach out to your dedicated contact.
