In-Person

Seattle CISO Community

Executive Summit

December 9, 2025 | Grand Hyatt Seattle

December 9, 2025
Grand Hyatt Seattle

Collaborate with your peers

Get together with Seattle'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:

Maximizing Business Value with Secure AI Integration

Building Resilient Digital Ecosystems with Cloud Governance and Cyber Recovery

Leading Through Disruption by Aligning IT and Security for Business Success

Seattle CISO Governing Body

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

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 Seattle 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

December 9, 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

AI in Action — Real-World Wins

Jim Downing headshot

Jim Downing

VP & CIO

Carrix

More details coming soon.

9:40am - 10:25am  Executive Boardroom

Generative to Agentic — Is The Risk Worth The Evolution?

Anthony Scarfe headshot

Anthony Scarfe

Deputy CISO

Elastic

 GenAI is changing rapidly, and the next major step is agentic AI — systems that are capable of taking actions without human oversight. This brings a new level of complexity, but there are benefits for security teams as well. Security leaders are now exploring the value and risk of agentic AI to determine how to advance safely.

Join Elastic’s security leadership to explore:

  • The use of GenAI in security and how it's advanced to meet different team needs
  • How AI adoption changes your attack surface
  • The different ways AI augments security teams and workflows

9:40am - 10:25am  Executive Boardroom

Future-Proofing Data for Digital Transformation

Sriraj Rajaram headshot

Sriraj Rajaram

Director, Product Management

Reltio

Lutz Beck headshot

Lutz Beck

CIO

Daimler Truck North America

As AI and digital transformation accelerate, CIOs must deliver agile, trusted data ecosystems that drive innovation and business value. Yet, legacy systems, data silos, and governance challenges persist.

Join this roundtable to discuss:

  • Building a scalable, modern data foundation
  • Balancing speed, performance, and trust
  • Enabling innovation through unified data platforms

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 Vision to Value — A Practical Guide to AI Acceleration

Satish Iyer headshot

Satish Iyer

Vice President/CTO Technology Innovation & Research

Dell

AI hype is everywhere—from the boardroom to the front lines—but IT leaders need a clear roadmap to turn ambition into enterprise value. Progressing from “Day 0” to “Day 2” means overcoming challenges in strategy, data readiness, infrastructure, talent, and operations—while keeping technology aligned with outcomes.

The session will cover how to:

  • Define AI strategy, assess readiness, and align use cases with data (Day 0)
  • Build, pilot, and manage infrastructure and ecosystems (Day 1)
  • Scale AI, upskill teams, and drive continuous optimization (Day 2)

11:10am - 11:55am  Executive Boardroom

Rethinking Technical Debt — Turning Legacy into Strategic Advantage

Chris Richardson headshot

Chris Richardson

Regional CTO

Rimini Street

Daric Schweikart headshot

Daric Schweikart

CIO

Flow

What if your technical debt could be a blueprint for innovation? This session explores how to modernize ERP by re-architecting around what you already own.

Join this boardroom to discuss:

  • Decoupling workflows, embedding AI, and extending value without disruption
  • Discovering how to turn legacy systems into a composable, intelligent mesh
  • Using debt to guide transformation

11:10am - 11:55am  Executive Boardroom

Advancing Cyber Resilience and Recovery Strategies

Tim Gallo headshot

Tim Gallo

Head of Global Solutions Architects - Google Threat Intelligence

Google Cloud

Darren Challey headshot

Darren Challey

Chief Information Security & Privacy Officer

Remitly

CISOs must proactively address evolving threats by strengthening organizational resilience and disaster recovery capabilities. Protecting critical assets and maintaining robust, regularly tested recovery processes are key to reducing risk and business disruption. Effective collaboration between security leadership and business stakeholders drives strategic success.

Join this boardroom to discuss with your peers:

  • Methods for identifying and safeguarding critical assets within the security framework
  • Implementing best practices for ongoing testing, certification and hardening of recovery environments
  • Enhancing collaboration between security teams and executive leadership to align resilience strategies with business objectives

11:55am - 12:30pm  Lunch Service

12:30pm - 1:05pm  Gartner Keynote

Power Tactics to Build and Win Support for Your Strategic Plan

Brandon Germer headshot

Brandon Germer

Senior Director Analyst

Gartner

Gain expert guidance from Gartner on the latest tech insights and the unfolding of the future through predictions, trends and evolving digital business cycles. Gartner Experts give you the clarity you need to move your priorities forward.

1:05pm - 1:30pm  Break

1:30pm - 2:15pm  Executive Boardroom

Cyber Resilience — Beyond the Breach

Brent Maynard headshot

Brent Maynard

Senior Director Security Technology and Strategy

Akamai

Jonathan Barrios headshot

Jonathan Barrios

CISO

Amdocs

Organizations face complex threats that can overwhelm defenses and expose critical assets. Cyber resiliency helps organizations withstand and recover from attacks, while compliance regulations further strengthen security. Are you ready to boost your organization’s cyber resilience?

Join this session to explore:

  • Strategies for minimizing attack surfaces
  • Methods for securing critical IT assets
  • Insights on leveraging compliance for stronger security

1:30pm - 2:15pm  Executive Boardroom

Executive Boardroom hosted by Cloudflare

 

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  Executive Boardroom

Data Fabric — Powering Digital Transformation

 According to Gartner, by 2028, data ecosystems enabled by data fabric and generative AI will reduce technology complexity and integration costs. Discover how this scalable architecture can overcome integration challenges and accelerate business outcomes.

In this session, you’ll learn:

  • Key components for enhanced data integration
  • Strategies to leverage data fabrics for AI success
  • Techniques to align data outcomes with business goals

3:00pm - 3:45pm  Executive Boardroom

Paving a Path for Tomorrow's IT & Security Leaders

Succession planning is critical for CIOs & CISOs to ensure continuity and resilience in leadership roles. By identifying and developing internal talent, organizations can mitigate risks associated with unexpected departures and maintain strategic momentum.

Join this boardroom session to discuss:

  • Identifying emerging leaders and enabling development 
  • Cultivating a forward-thinking security culture
  • Ensuring leadership continuity and organizational resilience

3:45pm - 4:00pm  Networking Break

4:00pm - 4:35pm  Keynote

Trust and Alignment at PACCAR — Building a Unified CIO-CISO Partnership

Chuck Markarian headshot

Chuck Markarian

CISO

PACCAR

Lily Ley headshot

Lily Ley

VP, CIO

PACCAR

What happens when a CIO and CISO move beyond silos and truly operate as one team? Lily Ley, VP and CIO, and Chuck Markarian, CISO, share how trust and respect transformed their partnership — and the security culture at PACCAR — into a high-impact working relationship. Discover how intentional collaboration, open communication, and shared priorities can create a model for IT and security alignment that others aspire to.

In this keynote, you’ll hear:

  • Building trust and respect between the CIO and CISO roles
  • Embedding security into daily IT operations
  • Creating open dialogue for collective problem-solving

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

December 9, 2025

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

Gartner cares about the health and safety of our community. If you are feeling unwell, please refrain from attending the conference. At this time, Gartner does not have any health-related requirements in place for attendance. Should this change, we will follow up with updated guidance.

Location

Venue & Accommodation

Grand Hyatt Seattle
More Information

A block of rooms has been reserved at the Grand Hyatt Seattle at a reduced conference rate. Reservations should be made online or by calling 206-774-1234. Please mention Seattle Executive Summit to ensure the appropriate room rate.

Deadline to book using the discounted room rate of $199 USD (plus tax) is November 17, 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.

Monica Mickelson

Senior Community Program Manager

+17577054864

monica.podolsky@gartner.com