Executive Summit

Sensitive data movement can be risky but restricting it outright can create operational and security challenges. In an era of agentic AI, generative AI, and emerging quantum computing, organizations need security frameworks that protect data while ensuring agility. This session explores how modern security platforms enable secure data flow, adapt to diverse use cases and prepare for the post-quantum encryption (PQE) shift.

Join this keynote to learn:

• How to choose the right secure access method for each use case
• Why security must be adaptive to risk, user behavior and AI-driven interactions
• How to prepare for post-quantum encryption and its enterprise security impact

We’re all familiar with the idea that “the best defense is a good offense.” But for cybersecurity – where the mandate has always been “defend and protect” – how do CISOs truly go on the offensive? For Kees Pouw, CISO at Questrade, the answer lies in a high-fidelity cyber testing strategy. 

In this session, Kees shares how he built out an offensive security team that helped propel Questrade’s cybersecurity program, covering:

• Challenges preventing CISOs from doing enough testing to build confidence in controls
• Strategies and resources for building an offensive security strategy, whether inhouse or outsourced
• Considerations on the use of GenAI by inhouse cybersecurity office team

Canadian CISOs aren’t just battling malware—they’re managing analyst burnout, navigating U.S.-Canada political friction, and rethinking trust in their tech stacks. Add in adversarial AI, alert fatigue, and the eternal skills shortage, and you've got a landscape where threat intel can feel more like background noise than actionable signal. Meanwhile, AI is becoming the double-edged sword of our time—accelerating detection on one hand, fueling smarter phishing and deepfake attacks on the other.

Join this closed-door discussion to hear and discuss concrete insights for improving your threat intel program, including:

• Making your threat intelligence program actually usable across strategic, tactical, and technical layers
• Where to focus your limited people, money, and time without inducing a mutiny
• What shifting global alliances and data politics mean for vendor selection, compliance, and resilience

Quantum computing could make traditional cryptography unsafe within five years and break current encryption methods within ten years. Malicious actors are saving encrypted data now to decrypt it later when quantum computers are powerful enough. To protect against these future threats, governments and organizations are developing post-quantum cryptography (PQC) standards. As CISOs, it's important to stay updated with regulations and vendor capabilities for compliance and trust.

Join this roundtable session to:

• Enhance your understanding of the post-quantum cryptography landscape/timeline
• Connect with peers on how they are navigating quantum-readiness conversations
• Delve into essential considerations for leading security teams in a post-quantum era

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.

Do you know how you are currently being perceived? In a world where reputation can shape your career, it's critical to take the time to understand how and if what you're known for aligns with what truly matters to you. 

Sean Barnes, our opening keynote speaker, returns to facilitate an interactive session that allows participants to get more strategic coaching and actionable tips on how to take control of not only how the world sees you, but how you see and understand your own personal executive brand, diving deeper into topics like:

• Discovering strategies to showcase your unique value and stand out in the cybersecurity industry
• Learning techniques to project confidence, credibility and influence in every professional interaction
• Identifying and seizing meaningful opportunities to build your brand and empower your growth as a leader

As enterprises rapidly accelerate their digital initiatives, CISOs are tasked with striking a delicate balance between implementing the right structures and strategies to safeguard organizational assets and delivering services and applications faster than ever before. How are CISOs updating their operating models and team structures to keep pace with the changing nature of business priorities and the changing technology landscape?

Join this conversation to hear how your peers are:

• Evolving security operating models to deliver better speed, agility and security while optimizing cost savings  
• Assessing how their business units may evolve in line with new technological innovations
• Positioning their team as security advocates and demonstrating business value

As global tensions rise, coordinated cyber-attacks are impacting organizations globally. Cyber-conflict isn’t just a security problem, it’s a business problem that requires a strategic partnership between CISOs and leaders across the enterprise.

Join this peer-led conversation to discuss:

• Gauging the business’ appetite for risk amidst geopolitical unrest
• Engaging leadership to make informed cybersecurity risk decisions
• Identifying and responding to politically charged TTPs

Ask 15 CISOs what it would take to feel truly confident in their identity access policies and you might get 15 different answers. It’s not news that the number of human and machine identities seeking access to data and critical business systems has grown exponentially, in turn increasing the threat landscape and challenging traditional IAM paradigms. So how are security leaders keep a pulse on IAM governance, tools and capabilities to keep their organization’s identities secure?

In conversation with your CISO peers, you'll address:  

• What your biggest challenges are in terms of identity governance
• Processes, policies and tools that add value to your IAM program
• Where, in light of major threat advancements, your IAM strategies need upgrading

There is no one-size-fits-all method for articulating cybersecurity business value to the board and other stakeholders, often making it a challenge for CISOs to compete for continued investment and buy-in. How can cybersecurity leaders translate the strategic benefits of their programs into business value when quantitative data is limited, unavailable or difficult to defend?

This session leverages the latest insights from the Gartner Research team to facilitate an interactive discussion on:

• Expressing the value of a cybersecurity in terms that relate to the board
• Evaluating the capabilities of your security and risk management program
• Developing a roadmap to balance risk management with facilitating business outcomes

Finish the day sharing lessons learned with your peers over light fare and drinks at this closing reception hosted by the Toronto CISO Governing Body.