IN-PERSON

Boston CISO Executive Summit

June 24, 2025 | Hyatt Regency Boston/ Cambridge

June 24, 2025
Hyatt Regency Boston/ Cambridge

APPLY TO PARTICIPATE

Collaborate with your peers

Get together with Boston's top CISOs 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 CISOs today:

Empowering CISOs to Develop & Communicate IAM Protocols to Strengthen Security Posture

Fostering a Security Culture — CISOs Adopting New Policies Prompted by AI

Creating Robust DLP Strategies to Up Your Risk Management Game

Boston CISO Governing Body


The Governing Body Co-Chairs shape the summit agenda, ensuring that all content is driven By CISOs, For CISOs®.

Governing Body Co-Chairs

Julie Fitton

Analog Devices
CISO

Eric Galis

Cengage
CISO

Javed Ikbal

Bright Horizons
VP/CISO

Brian McGowan

SharkNinja
CISO

Ravi Thatavarthy

Rite Aid
Chief Information Security Officer

Gernette Wright

Schneider Electric North America
IT Security Officer

What to Expect

Interactive Sessions

Hear from CISO practitioners and thought leaders on how they're solving critical challenges impacting your role today in Keynote sessions, and join smaller, interactive discussions with your peers in Breakout and Boardroom sessions.

Community Networking

Make new connections and catch up with old friends in casual conversations during dedicated time for networking designed to better acquaint you with your Boston CISO community.

Peer-to-Peer Meetings

Connect with like-minded peers in a private, 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.

Agenda


June 24, 2025

8:00am - 8:30am  Registration & Breakfast

8:30am - 9:15am  Keynote

Body Language Secrets for Enhanced Executive Presence

Chris Ulrich headshot

Chris Ulrich

Body Language Expert

Guest Speaker

Uncovering the mysteries of body language — how people communicate their thoughts and feelings without saying a word — is a decisive first step toward mastering any business and social situation.  Top executives know that detecting split-second signals from your team and  leadership then taking immediate action is crucial to being a persuasive communicator and problem-solver especially during tricky internal matters or high-level negotiations.

During this session you will learn how to:

  • Move beyond the vacuum of artificial body language to a behavioral approach based on YOU
  • Strengthen interpersonal relationships, be a more decisive leader and manage your nerves better
  • Uncover the less obvious needs of others and improve your team’s confidence and competence


9:15am - 9:40am  Networking Break

9:40am - 10:25am  Breakout Session

Breakout Session

Details coming soon!

9:40am - 10:25am  Breakout Session

Beyond the Headlines – Stories of Cyber Resiliency

Pat Ford headshot

Pat Ford

Chief Information Security Officer, Americas

Schneider Electric North America

Fostering true cyber resiliency requires balancing preparation across the organization with what actually unfolds during a major event. Hear the behind-the-scenes stories of events highlighted in the news from the CISOs who led their teams through them. Then take part in activity to see how prepared you really are compared to your peers. Because we all know, it’s not if it’s going to happen… but when.

Join this session to explore with peers:

  • Stories of detection and recovery – what went right and what fell short
  • Best practices for organizational communication before, during and after an incident
  • Ways to better fortify now to allow for a faster recovery later


9:40am - 10:25am  Executive Boardroom

Cyber Savvy — Navigating Risks with Strategic Awareness

Patrick Sullivan headshot

Patrick Sullivan

VP, CTO, Security Strategy

Akamai Technologies

 In today’s dynamic landscape of escalating business complexity, evolving threats, and global regulatory demands, real-time situational awareness is critical for mitigating material risks. What strategies can organizations employ to effectively integrate people, processes, and technology for proactive threat assessment and management?

Join this session to explore:

  • Understanding the link between situational awareness and material risk mitigation
  • Adapting to emerging threats while maintaining compliance with shifting global regulations
  • Building resilient programs that combine tactical readiness with strategic risk assessment


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

From Conflict to Collaboration — Evolving your Infrastructure & Cybersecurity Relationships

Robert Sullivan headshot

Robert Sullivan

CISO, VP Technology Shared Services

Agero

Conflict reigns in the high-pressure worlds of cyber governance, cyber engineering, IT Infrastructure, and development teams. They all have their unique goals that are critical to the success of the organization but interactions between the teams are often ineffective and counterproductive. How do we navigate this natural tension and lead the teams to joint success?

Join this session to discuss:

  • Applying practical strategies to overcome team challenges
  • Investigating perspectives of each team
  • Learning what drives the conflict and ways to help teams unify

11:10am - 11:55am  Executive Boardroom

Executive Boardroom

Marshall Erwin headshot

Marshall Erwin

CISO

Fastly

 Details coming soon!

11:55am - 12:30pm  Lunch Service

12:30pm - 1:05pm  Keynote

The Art and Science of Using AI to Make Data Security Easy

Kayla Williams headshot

Kayla Williams

Field CISO

Cyera

As leaders, you’re asked to find ways to securely enable your business and use data to drive innovation. But this takes a fundamental understanding of what data exists within your environment, where it's running, its risk level, who has access to it, and how it's being used. This interactive discussion will cover the challenges and solutions CISOs use to discover their data attack surface, monitor, detect and respond to data threats and ensure data compliance.

Join this session to explore:

  • Gaining data visibility as a foundation for data governance
  • Managing data security’s landscape of laws, regulations, and industry standards
  • Aligning tools and teams across a shared responsibility model to ensure compliance

1:05pm - 1:30pm  Break

1:30pm - 2:15pm  Breakout Session

Fire Away – CIO Office Hours

Colin Joynt headshot

Colin Joynt

CIO

BXP

Gabriele Ricci headshot

Gabriele Ricci

Chief Data & Technology Officer

Takeda

Jennifer West headshot

Jennifer West

SVP, Chief Digital Trust Officer (CISO)

Takeda

Don’t you wish you could pop into your CIO's head, instantly understanding their approach to important topics and decisions? Now’s your chance to pursue that candid context, pose anonymous questions and watch an all-CIO panel pull back the curtain.

The questions in this session will be decided by the audience and will touch on themes like:

  • Building relationships across the C-Suite, with both stakeholders and the enterprise
  • How to pursue innovation while keeping the lights on
  • What’s next for the role of CIO and CISO

1:30pm - 2:15pm  Executive Boardroom

Beyond Visibility — Proactive SaaS Security in a Shifting Landscape

Lior Yaari headshot

Lior Yaari

CEO and Co-Founder

Grip Security

Steve Cobb headshot

Steve Cobb

CISO

SecurityScorecard

SaaS adoption has skyrocketed but so have the risks — from shadow SaaS to evolving identity threats. Static security measures won’t cut it. Organizations need a flexible, real-time approach to securing SaaS environments while maintaining agility.

Join this discussion to dive into:

  • Dynamically managing SaaS security through vendor and identity controls
  • Detecting and mitigating shadow SaaS risks before they escalate
  • Making proactive, data-driven security decisions in an unpredictable landscape

1:30pm - 2:15pm  Executive Boardroom

Executive Boardroom

 Details coming soon!

1:30pm - 2:15pm  Executive Boardroom

Maximize Velocity While Unlocking Incident Response Value

Peter Sprenger headshot

Peter Sprenger

Field CTO

Splunk

With the ever-increasing frequency and sophistication of threat actor attacks, continuous improvement in processes and tooling are needed to meet today’s heightened challenges for cyber resilience. Cybersecurity leaders have invested in increased capabilities and must be able to take advantage of those to increase velocity of response and understanding of risk at scale.

Join this session to:

  • Discuss heightened expectations cybersecurity leaders should have of their tooling and teams
  • Gauge industry trends and capabilities for leading platform integration, reducing or eliminating manual handoffs, and allowing faster risk identification and decision making
  • Leverage a vast community and ecosystem to drive security innovation

2:15pm - 3:00pm  Networking Break

2:25pm - 2:50pm  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.

3:00pm - 3:45pm  Breakout Session

Blind Courage — A Journey of Resilience

Brian McGowan headshot

Brian McGowan

CISO

SharkNinja

Chris Smith headshot

Chris Smith

Endurance Athlete

Guest Speaker

Chris Smith, an endurance athlete, achieved the extraordinary by completing the Tour Divide race, a grueling 48-day adventure along the Great Divide, legally blind. Overcoming 50 mountain passes, five flat tires, and broken brakes, his determination was unwavering. Despite relentless snow, wind, and wildlife, Smith triumphed over the world's longest mountain bike trail, sharing profound insights on overcoming adversity.

Join this session to learn about:

  • Welcoming transformation and conquering barriers
  • Facing adversity with a renewed perspective
  • Embracing a novel mindset for overcoming challenges

3:00pm - 3:45pm  Executive Boardroom

Executive Boardroom

 Details coming soon!

3:00pm - 3:45pm  Executive Boardroom

Executive Boardroom

 Details coming soon!

3:45pm - 4:00pm  Networking Break

4:00pm - 4:35pm  Keynote

Transforming CISO and Business Alignment through AI

Ravi Thatavarthy headshot

Ravi Thatavarthy

Chief Information Security Officer

Rite Aid

The difficulty in aligning security with business goals often leads to security functions being viewed as hindrances rather than facilitators. As CISOs ascend to business leadership roles, altering this perception is essential. In this keynote, Ravi Thatavarthy will share his insights, illustrating how AI can bridge alignment gaps and engage stakeholders effectively. He will discuss how aligning security across business functions can shift the perception of his team to enablers, advocating a positive mindset that showcases AI's role in driving business success. CISOs must adopt a "yes" mentality to lead organizational change successfully.

Join this keynote to learn about:

  • Analyzing business needs and challenges to serve as a proactive partner
  • Designing solutions that preserve data security integrity
  • Forming innovation teams, collaborating with leadership proactively and achieving business alignment


4:35pm - 4:45pm  Closing Comments and Prize Drawing

4:45pm - 6:00pm  Networking Break

Governing Body Reception

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

June 24, 2025

We look forward to seeing you at an upcoming in-person gathering


Gartner cares about the health and safety of our community. Please review the following recommendations prior to attending the gathering.

Location


Venue & Accommodation

Hyatt Regency Boston/ Cambridge
MORE INFORMATION

A block of rooms has been reserved at the Hyatt Regency Boston/ Cambridge at a reduced conference rate. Reservations should be made online or by calling (617) 492-1234.

Deadline to book using the discounted room rate of $399 USD (plus tax) is June 2, 2025.

Your Community Sponsors


CISO Thought Leaders
Key Sponsors
Program Sponsors

Community Program Manager


For inquiries related to this community, please reach out to your dedicated contact.

Spencer Bisgaard

Senior Community Program Manager

541-912-0183

spencer.bisgaard@gartner.com