Seattle CIO Executive Summit

 Trust is both a fundamental business issue and the biggest asset of a company. Without it, companies lose reputations, employees and culture. With trust, organizations enjoy greater creativity, productivity, and results. Through extensive research and experience, Dr. David Horsager learned what it takes to gain and keep the “Trust Edge.”

Join this keynote to discover:

• Keys to building morale and culture through trust
• Frameworks for building trust across the enterprise
• Tenants of trust to create successful leaders and organizations

Is your organization ready for the AI revolution? As generative AI reshapes work norms, it's crucial to foster a culture that embraces this transformation. This session unveils five actionable steps to cultivate an AI-ready culture, ensuring your organization thrives in the future. Discover how generative AI can be a catalyst for change and progress.

In this keynote, we'll discuss:

• Strategies to build an AI-ready culture
• Techniques to integrate generative AI into daily operations
• Ways to leverage AI for organizational growth and innovation

Sensitive data movement poses risks, but outright restriction can hinder operations. Organizations need agile security frameworks to protect data in the AI and quantum era. This session explores modern security platforms that enable secure data flow and prepare for post-quantum encryption (PQE).

Join this session to learn:

• Choosing secure access methods for diverse use cases
• Adapting security to risk, user behavior and AI interactions
• Preparing for post-quantum encryption's enterprise impact

In today's volatile cybersecurity landscape, breaches are inevitable, demanding a collective approach to manage disruptions. This interactive session highlights the importance of diversity of thought in enhancing resilience and the critical role of technology in shaping human experiences.

In this session, we will discuss:

• Strategies for implementing a "Whole-of-Nation" cyber defense
• The role of diversity in enhancing organizational resilience
• Ways to align technology, security, and business objectives

The future of business is rapidly evolving — a future where AI agents are part of the workforce, almost any process or workflow can be automated, and customers expect better, more intelligent experiences across their unstructured data. Whether that means automating loans or onboarding employees faster, applying intelligence to your unstructured data can be a pathway to stay ahead of the competition.

Join this interactive session to explore:

• Practical approaches to building an unstructured data strategy
• Robust content workflows and use cases for AI-first businesses
• Tips for optimizing while balancing your AI and security strategies

Alaska Airlines is leading the industry with its innovative AI strategy. Charu Jain, head of Alaska’s Guest Digital Experience and Innovation, shares insights into pioneering technologies like Natural Language Search, AI Virtual Assistants, and Digital Twins. Discover how Alaska is transforming customer experiences and streamlining operations. Charu will discuss driving organizational change, leveraging OKRs, and building enterprise-wide support.

In this session, you’ll learn:

• Leadership strategies for fostering innovation
• Alaska Airlines' AI-driven industry advancements
• Preparing for the future of AI Agentics

Many enterprises face challenges in transitioning AI pilots into impactful, production-ready solutions. CIOs must navigate complexities beyond technology, including business alignment and organizational readiness, to drive tangible business impact.

In this session, you’ll discuss:

• Prioritizing AI initiatives for measurable business impact
• Engaging legal and security teams early to minimize risks
• Embedding change management for sustainable scaling

AI makes creating and consuming data easier than ever, with shadow AI and dark data presenting new challenges to security teams. As the tactics for protecting data evolve, IT and security leaders must adopt a risk-based strategy to protect mission-critical data and safeguard innovation.

Join this session to discover:

• Effective practices for ongoing monitoring to identify risks
• Rapid investigation and response techniques for insider threats
• CIO and CISO partnership strategies for evolving your data protection approach

As leaders, you're expected to enable secure, data-driven innovation. That requires a clear understanding of what data you have, where it resides, its risk, who can access it, and how it's used. This interactive discussion will explore how CISOs and CIOs tackle data visibility and ensure compliance.

Join this session to discuss:

• Gaining data visibility as a foundation for data governance
• Navigating evolving data security regulations and standards
• Enabling compliance through shared responsibility and the right tools

In an era where users are ubiquitous and digital operations sit in the cloud and beyond, it’s key to move beyond a foundational security approach and focus on achieving cyber resilience. The task at hand involves navigating complexity and upholding visibility and control to ensure uninterrupted operation despite cyber threats.

Join this session to explore:

• Enhancing security and cost-effectiveness across diverse cloud environments
• Leveraging AI innovations while addressing global regulatory and data privacy standards
• Sharing best practices for implementing effective cloud best practices across a global footprint

As cybersecurity becomes central to achieving business outcomes, the need to engage a broader range of senior leaders increases. CIOs & CISOs can maximize their executive impact by effectively partnering with key leaders.

Join this session to:

• Identify what situations require the greatest influence
• Equip yourself to build trust in executive circles
• Learn simple, effective techniques to enhance communication

 In today's fast-paced technological landscape, organizations must prioritize building dynamic innovation teams and bridging the skills gap through diverse talent development strategies. This interactive session, featuring insights from multiple industries and organizations, will explore how nurturing young talent and establishing innovation hubs can drive organizational growth and adaptability.

In this session, you’ll discuss:

• Methods to expand internship programs for skill development
• Techniques to integrate fresh perspectives into organizational culture
• Ways to cultivate a workforce ready to tackle future challenges

Does your organization have an AI-ready culture? Organizational culture is the shared identity that shapes our work norms — work norms that generative AI is about to disrupt. 60% of leaders recognize enterprise culture as a barrier to IT-related change. Join this session to gain clear guidance on steps to cultivate a generative AI culture that will help propel your organization into the future.

In this keynote, you will learn how to:

• Structure AI-related communication to ensure awareness and actionability
• Effectively engage users from across the AI maturity spectrum using open-source change
• Create an iterative strategy to continuously upskill employees toward AI digital dexterity

Finish the day sharing lessons learned with your peers over light fare and drinks at this closing reception hosted by your governing body members.

Female, non-binary, and allied IT & cyber leaders are invited to eat lunch and connect in our reserved networking space. Those in attendance can freely discuss best practices, key challenges and mission-critical priorities before heading over to the midday keynote.