CyberCEO
Summit

Zach Deming is Vice President of Corporate & Product Marketing at Horizon3. His career has been built at companies that arrive before the market fully understands what they are. In that space, Zach believes the real work isn’t outspending competitors, it’s out-thinking them, at speed. He has done that twice at scale, with both journeys ending with a public offering.The through-line across Zach’s career has been category creation: moving companies beyond feature comparison into market definition. His work focuses on finding the language that reframes an industry, building the internal conviction to commit to it, and orchestrating every customer touchpoint around a single, unmistakable narrative.Zach operates with a “One Voice” philosophy: the belief that whether a customer encounters a brand through a press release, a partner, an event, or a product launch, its value should be instantly recognizable, consistently felt, and clear.

Yuliya Gorenko is an award-winning influencer marketing strategist with over a decade of hands-on experience building and executing influencer programs. Yuliya has worked with 100+ brands globally, facilitated thousands of brand-influencer partnerships, and scaled cybersecurity influencer programs from zero to eight-figure budgets.

From LinkedIn creator campaigns and podcasts to short-form video and in-person activations, she’s done it all and knows how to make each channel perform.

Yuliya has been championing influencer-led storytelling in cybersecurity long before it was widely accepted. She now drives influencer strategy at Mischka, the leading cybersecurity influencer marketing agency.

Dr. Yonesy F. Núñez is a 6x Chief Information Security Officer, board director, and senior security executive at Surf AI, the agentic security platform closing the execution gap between detection and resolution.

Over more than two decades, Yonesy has built and scaled cybersecurity programs across financial services and critical infrastructure, including CISO and senior security leadership roles at DTCC, Jack Henry & Associates, Wells Fargo, Citigroup, The New School, and Pall Corporation. At DTCC, he served as both CISO and inaugural Chief Cybersecurity Risk Officer for an institution settling multi-quadrillion-dollar transaction volume. He has engaged directly with U.S. and global regulators including the SEC, Federal Reserve, OCC, FINRA, FCA, and Central Bank of Ireland, and has led security through M&A, consent order remediation, and enterprise modernization.

He serves as an Independent Board Director at Chain Bridge Bank, N.A. and Pentegra Retirement Services, and is a named inventor on four U.S. patents in fraud risk detection.

At Surf AI, Yonesy shapes how the world’s largest enterprises approach agentic security, from the boardroom to the analyst. He advises CISOs on where automation earns trust and where it breaks it, convenes security leaders through roundtables and industry forums, and carries the technical weight in the rooms where Surf’s own security posture is put under a microscope. He engages CISOs as a peer because he has been in the chair, and he knows why context matters more than model intelligence the moment agents start making decisions at machine speed.In a world of AI attackers, hygiene is your best defense.Context is the differentiator. Decisions are the product.

Experienced and result-oriented marketing leader with the ability to develop, implement, and manage forward-driven marketing campaigns that elevate brand value, drive lead generation, and increase revenue. A dedicated marketing innovator with the experience in motivating teams to deliver at peak performance, enhance efficiency of processes and spend to positively impact revenue and brand equity.

William Jardine is aStrategist at Miscreants, where he helps cybersecurity companies shape thestrategy and positioning behind their marketing. Before moving into marketingstrategy, he spent 10 years in cybersecurity consulting, performing pentestsagainst tier-one financial organizations, leading attack simulations oncritical infrastructure, and designing security architectures for modern cloudenvironments. On the business side, William has run a cyber practice, managedvendor relationships, and owned service portfolios, giving him a clear view ofhow buyers evaluate security solutions. He has spoken at events including OWASPPoland, DevSecOps Manchester, and CPS-SPC, as well as on podcasts and webinarscovering cloud, AI, and other modern security topics.

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Virginia (Satrom) Peterson is a cybersecurity marketing leader with over 15 years in the industry.

Currently VP of Growth Marketing at Onapsis, Virginia leads corporate marketing, brand, digital, and content to drive revenue growth. Her career spans some of the most respected names in security: Flashpoint, Forcepoint, RSA Security, among others. She has been recognized by CRN as a Woman of the Channel and was a contributing member of the Forbes Communication Council.

Virginia holds degrees in Marketing and Psychology from UMass Amherst.

Venkata Kartheek Reddy Somasani is an accomplished Information Technology Security and Cybersecurity Engineer with over nine years of specialized experience designing, implementing, and securing enterprise-scale network infrastructures across on-premises and cloud environments. Based in Dallas, Texas, he has built a distinguished career focused on protecting critical public sector systems and safeguarding sensitive government operations.

Since May 2018, Venkata has served the City of Dallas through KC Synergy Solutions Inc., where he plays a pivotal role in securing vital municipal infrastructure. His responsibilities include comprehensive cybersecurity defense for the Dallas Police Department and Criminal Justice Information Services (CJIS), ensuring the protection of sensitive law enforcement data through multi-layered security controls such as OKTA two-factor authentication, advanced VPN architectures, and strict CJIS compliance. He has engineered secure, disaster-resilient communication channels between CAD911 dispatch systems and the Texas Department of Public Safety, ensuring uninterrupted emergency response coordination statewide.

One of Venkata’s most significant accomplishments is the architecture of a secure, multi-zoned SCADA network for Dallas’s freshwater, wastewater, and stormwater treatment facilities. By implementing air-gapped environments, zero-internet-access zones, and IDS/IPS protections, he has directly safeguarded critical public health infrastructure from cyber threats. His expertise was further demonstrated during a major ransomware incident, where he successfully detected, contained, and eradicated malware by isolating compromised systems and blocking communication with the Royal ransomware group.

Venkata’s technical expertise spans Cisco ASA, Firepower Threat Defense, SD-WAN, Palo Alto firewalls, F5 BIG-IP, and web application firewalls. He has architected secure hybrid cloud environments using AWS Direct Connect, Azure ExpressRoute, and IPSEC tunnels, supported by AWS architect level certifications. He holds a Master’s degree in Information Assurance and maintains advanced certifications, including CJIS Level 4 and Cisco Firepower NGFW, consistently ensuring compliance with NIST and federal cybersecurity standards.

Varun is a Managing Director with BDO’s Third Party Attestation practice. In his current role, he works with tech companies to evaluate their cybersecurity posture and assess compliance with SOC 2 and various ISO standards to help them meet customer requirements and build trust with stakeholders. He focuses on complex and emerging requirements for security, privacy, cloud and AI assurance.

Varun is an IT audit and risk management professional with 15+ years of progressive experience that he gained through various roles for Big4 firms and world leading corporations across various geographies. He has managed and executed a variety of IT audit-based projects from end-to-end. He has provided various types of IT audit and assurance services, such as, SOC 1/SOC 2 examinations, ISO 27001/42001/22301 audits, cybersecurity assessments, SOX testing, and privacy reviews. Varun is the VP of the ISACA SF chapter and part of ISACA’s IT Audit and Assurance Task Force.

Valerie Zargarpur is Head of Marketing at Monad, a security data pipeline platform backed by Sequoia and Index Ventures. Previously, she launched Hopper Security out of stealth at the seed stage. She's the former Head of Marketing at JupiterOne (employee #33, Series A to Series C), and before joining cyber in 2020, she co-founded a B2C experiential marketing agency working with brands like Coca-Cola, Nike, and HBO. Passionate about problem solving, puzzles, and authenticity.

Marketing Partner for Sales

Umang runs product marketing for an emerging business at Zscaler and has previously led product marketing at Duo and Securiti.

Tony is the CMO at Seemplicity, bringing more than 25 years of experience scaling global B2B technology and cybersecurity brands. A seasoned marketing leader with a business-first, data-led approach to brand building and demand generation.

Throughout his career, Tony has built a proven, repeatable track record of value creation, category leadership, and brand transformation. Prior to joining Seemplicity, he served as CMO at Swimlane, where he successfully established the company as the AI security automation category leader, driving 4x revenue growth and an 800% expansion in the active sales pipeline, engaging more than 75% of the Fortune 500.

Before Swimlane, Tony was the CMO at Kemp Technologies, where he repositioned the company as the pioneer in “always-on application experience," driving nearly 100% revenue growth and paving the way for the company’s successful acquisition by Progress Software.

Tony’s extensive leadership background is rooted in deep domain expertise across the cybersecurity and networking landscapes. Earlier in his career, he held senior marketing leadership roles at marquee technology companies including Silver Peak (now part of HPE), McAfee, Solidcore (acquired by McAfee), Juniper Networks (now part of HPE), SS8 Networks, and Blue Coat (now part of Broadcom).

Known for cutting through the noise in highly competitive markets, Tony excels at building brands that not only perform but lead among customers and partners. At Seemplicity, he is leveraging his expertise in demand generation and category creation to propel the next phase of the company’s global expansion in agentic exposure management.

I am a transformational marketing and communications leader who creates corporate narratives and builds market-defining thought leadership to deliver authority and expertise. My work elevates executive engagement through inspirational narratives, data-driven storytelling, and brand differentiation to bring decision-makers to the table, accelerate sales pipelines, and enable GEO-ready marketing.At AT&T Cybersecurity and LevelBlue I developed new messaging, led communications, and created an award-winning thought leadership program fostering business discussions about the future needs of cybersecurity in the age of AI with executive decision makers.I help executive teams, technical leaders, and global audiences understand how the market is changing, what it means to the business, and what to do next. I’ve delivered over 1,000 keynotes, briefings, and presentations around the world reaching more than one million people. The goal is always to turn insight into action.As a former Gartner industry analyst and chief cybersecurity evangelist, I don’t just speak – I listen, analyze, and create a clear point of view. I work closely with executive teams to ensure that message reflects reality, inspires action, and drives results.If you need a trusted communications leader, evangelist, and top-ranked speaker to help with executive engagement and leave your audiences thinking differently, let’s talk.

Steve Piper is the Founder & CEO of CyberEdge Group, the largest marketing and research firm dedicated to serving cybersecurity marketing teams. Steve is also the Editor-in-Chief of Security Buzz, an innovative new cybersecurity media website designed to connect the dots between cybersecurity headlines and the impact they have on security professionals.

With over 30 years of high-tech marketing experience, including 13 years at CyberEdge, Steve offers unique perspectives on how cybersecurity marketing teams can generate high-value leads, create compelling content, and equip sales teams with the tools they need to shorten sales cycles and defeat the competition.

Steve holds a CISSP certification from ISC2, has authored more than a dozen books on cybersecurity, and speaks regularly on marketing strategies and cybersecurity topics of the day. When not working, he cherishes time with his two daughters and enjoys boating, scuba diving, and competing in the World Series of Poker.

As Chief Innovation and AI Officer at Sendmarc, Stephen builds AI-powered solutions that transform how cybersecurity companies enable their partners. His experience spans building marketplace businesses across Africa to now creating AI agents that help partners understand products, assess security postures, and scale sales—all while integrating seamlessly into existing workflows. He's passionate about using AI to solve real business problems, not just as technology for technology's sake, but as a practical tool that drives measurable GTM results.

Stephanie leads market strategy across the company’s IT portfolio, including ITPro, ActualTech Media and SmartBrief. She focuses on connecting audience insights, research and content strategy to help technology marketers better understand and engage today’s IT decision-makers. With extensive experience in B2B media and marketing, Stephanie is particularly focused on how changing buyer behaviors, including the growing role of AI in research and discovery, are reshaping the technology buying journey.

Solange Deschatres is an empathetic marketing leader with deep experience building growth, credibility, and demand for some of the world’s most recognized technology and cybersecurity brands, including Microsoft, Cisco, IBM, OpenText, and FIS. At Energize Marketing, she leads brand and growth strategy across integrated campaigns, demand generation, and content ecosystems designed to turn insight into impact.Known for her distinctive point of view, Solange blends creative intuition with strategic rigor, connecting audience psychology, storytelling, and data across complex B2B buying journeys.

Her work includes global product launches, executive thought leadership, high-performing content programs, and live experiences that consistently exceed expectations.Solange brings a rare ability to balance big-picture strategy with operational execution, translating ambitious ideas into scalable systems teams can sustain. Her approach is grounded in curiosity, empathy, and a belief that the strongest marketing earns trust first and delivers growth as a result.

Shlomi Ashkenazy is Head of Marketing at Rein Security and a B2B marketing and positioning expert who specializes in turning complex technologies into clear, compelling market narratives.

Over the past decade, he has worked with 50+ VC-backed startups across cybersecurity, AI, DevOps, fintech, and even quantum computing, helping founders move from “we have a great product” to “we’re defining a movement.”, changing thier karma as a result. His work focuses on positioning, product marketing, and building movements that drive real growth, often helping companies scale to 8-figure ARR and beyond.

Before Rein, Shlomi was Head of Marketing at Cybellum, and the Strategy Director at Atreo, one of the leading B2B tech branding agencies, where he led positioning and brand work for companies like JFrog, Axis Security, Bionic, Cybellum, and Claroty. Prior to that, he spent five years at Monitor Deloitte, building growth strategies for both startups and enterprises.

He sees his work as a mix of engineering and creativity. Designing positioning, categories, and messaging systems that do not just explain a product, but make the market move.

Seth Steinman is VP of Marketing at PreVeil, where he's helped 10x the business in under 3 years. With 15+ years in tech and cyber marketing, he specializes in building small teams that punch well above their weight.

A previous speaker at the Cyber Marketing Conference & CMMC Summit, Seth has been published in Security Boulevard, Digital Guardian, and Security Clearance Jobs.

Scott Johnson is the founder of Amplifyed, an Inc. 5000 agency that exclusively does SEO/GEO for cybersecurity companies. Scott lives in San Diego with his wife and daughter. When he isn't working or with his family, he's likely losing at pickleball or chess.

Sarah builds Demand Gen and Field Marketing teams from scratch at early stage IT and Security startups. After re-locating from the US to the UK, Sarah co-founded the first ‘Demand Gen ’ community for marketers in London which is supported by brand partners like Cognism, Yext and LinkedIn.

Samaresh Kumar Singh is anEngineering Principal at HP Inc. with more than 21 years of experiencedesigning and implementing large-scale distributed systems, cloud-nativeplatform architectures, and secure Edge AI / ML systems. His expertise spansagentic AI systems, GenAI / LLMs, Edge AI, federated and privacy-preservinglearning, and secure hybrid cloud–edge computing.

 In addition to buildingintelligent systems, Samaresh specializes in cybersecurity, Zero Trustarchitectures, and AI governance frameworks for production environments. He hasled initiatives focused on securing AI pipelines across the full lifecycle fromdata ingestion and model training to deployment, monitoring, and continuousvalidation. His work integrates secure MLOps practices, model risk management,AI supply chain security, identity-centric access control, and runtimeprotection for distributed AI systems operating at the edge.

 Throughout his career, hehas architected high-throughput, low-latency services and resilientorchestration frameworks that deliver intelligence closer to devices and datasources while maintaining strong security, compliance, and governance controls.He actively contributes to the technical community, serving as a book revieweditor for Apress and Manning, and has reviewed more than 50 research papersfor IEEE conferences and journals spanning AI/ML, distributed systems, edgecomputing, cybersecurity, and AI risk management.

 Samaresh is passionateabout translating academic research into secure, production-grade systems andmentoring engineers and researchers in building trustworthy, scalable, andgovernance-aligned AI platforms.

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Human-first Product Marketer

I tell stories, build go-to-market strategies and execute marketing projects to simplify lives of Information Security professionals, salespeople and product managers in their jobs. My approach to GenAI agentic workflows in 2026 is to supercharge the quality of my output. But first start with human-first conviction and taste in any activity. I have grown mature appsec products worth $100M+ at 20-50% year on year and built up startup insider threat and CASB products to grow 100%+ yoy.

Ron Eddings is the Founder and Chief Executive Officer ofHacker Valley Media. Ron’s mission is to help unleash the potential ofcybersecurity professionals and companies through creative content.

Before setting his focus on creative content, Ron spent 12years as a security architect and supported government intelligence agenciesand Fortune 50 companies to become more resilient against cyber attacks.

Ron'scommitment to learning and storytelling make him a pivotal figure in shapinghow cybersecurity narratives are crafted and received. Ron has spoken atconferences worldwide and, as the host of the Hacker Valley Studio podcast, hasan audience that spans more than 150 countries

Revenue marketer. Sales champion. Data devotee.For19 years, I've built regional, partner, and corporate marketing programs across the IT Networking and Cybersecurity industries that don't just generate activity - they move pipeline. I've learned that great marketing isn't measured in impressions or clicks; it's measured in the deals sales closes because marketing showed up as a true partner.I lead Global Field, Partner, and Corporate Events Marketing at Varonis, a leader in AI data security, where I get to do what I love most: aligning our channel organization with partners, launching go-to-market programs that give sales real momentum, and turning prospect and customer insight into campaigns that actually convert. Data isn't a nice-to-have process, it's the foundation every strategy is built on, from the first target account to the last touchpoint before close.Connecting with people is my passion. Whatever the background, whatever the communication style, I strive to find the common ground, because the best marketing programs aren't built in a vacuum, they're built in strong partnership with sales, the channel, and customers alike.

From helping build a cyberstartup from 10 to 200 employees to leading regional demand generation acrossLatin America and Africa, I’ve spent about a decade mastering the art ofcreating pipeline where none existed. I thrive on turning chaos into scalableprocesses, aligning marketing with sales and partners, and advancing brandsthrough every stage of maturity.

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Randall Degges is VP of AI Engineering and Developer Relations at Snyk, where he builds AI-powered security tooling and leads the teams behind Snyk's developer relations and community. He's been writing software for over 25 years -- a former startup CTO who built some of the internet's most-used API services (ipify alone handles over 100 billion requests a month) along with a stack of open-source security tools. Before Snyk, he led developer advocacy at Okta and Stormpath.These days, Randall speaks and writes about where AI and security collide: shipping code fast without shipping vulnerabilities, why authentication still isn't a solved problem, and what secure development looks like when AI writes most of the code. He's a hands-on engineer who'd rather walk you through working code than a slide full of buzzwords.

Paul Innella is the CEO of TDI and a cybersecurity entrepreneur with over 30 years of experience leading and advising cybersecurity companies. In addition to building and scaling his own firm, Paul serves on boards of cybersecurity companies where he provides direct input on go-to-market strategy, positioning, and differentiation. He works closely with executive teams to pressure-test messaging, align product and sales narratives, and communicate credibility to customers, partners, and investors. Paul brings a candid, operator-level perspective on what actually resonates in cybersecurity markets and how boards influence successful growth.

Nicole Gates is VP of Global Growth Marketing at Varonis and has spent the past 15+ years building growth teams, driving pipeline, and learning the hard way what actually scales in cybersecurity marketing. She communicates primarily in memes and GIFs, has strong opinions about Real Housewives, and will absolutely talk to you about both.

Nathan Burke has spent his career building cybersecurity brands that don't look like cybersecurity brands.

At Axonius, where he was the first US employee and stayed from pre-product through $100 million in ARR, that meant a campaign built around Simone Biles and adaptive athlete Amy Bream — an argument that the best don't just overcome complexity, they find a way to give back — in a category still buying stock photos of hooded figures.

At 7AI, where he's CMO, it has meant a Black Hat booth designed as an art gallery, demo stations disguised as the exhibits, sitting quiet and deliberately strange in the middle of the show floor's sensory overload. The next year, 7AI took over the Las Vegas Sphere — and put almost no words on the booth at all.

The through line is a conviction that boring is the only unforgivable marketing sin, and that the playbook everyone is running is precisely why everything in this industry looks the same.He's a three-time CMO across five cybersecurity startups and seven startups total. He also once pitched Axonius at the RSAC Innovation Sandbox on less than 24 hours' notice after his CEO's flight was canceled, and won — a story he has now told enough times that you've probably heard it and you're rolling your eyes.

Nate lives on Cape Cod full time with his wife Randi and daughter Maggie, where his primary household function is early-morning food source to Travis the dog and to Eddie and Ashley, two cats with strong opinions and no volume control. He is a rabid New England Patriots fan and an unapologetic WWE fan, and considers exactly none of those a character flaw.

MJ Kaufmann is the author of Moving from Vulnerability Management to Exposure Management and co-author of Attack Surface Management, both published by O’Reilly Media. She holds a master’s degree in Information Security and has more than two decades of experience across development, IT, cybersecurity, higher education, and technical marketing.MJ is also the CEO and founder of Write Alchemist, a product and content marketing company that helps cybersecurity and technology companies turn complex technical ideas into clear, credible messaging. Through Write Alchemist, she has worked with startups and global technology leaders, including UST, Saviynt, Bitdefender, Cisco, and Snyk. Her work combines technical depth, cybersecurity experience, and marketing strategy to help companies create content and messaging that buyers can trust.

Missi Carmen is Chief Revenue Officer at Safetica, where she leads global sales, marketing, sales engineering, customer success and revops. She joined Safetica as CMO, rebuilt the marketing org, and later stepped into the CRO role. Her career includes leadership roles across cybersecurity and global B2B organizations including Spirion, OPSWAT, SYKES and Concentrix. She speaks from an operator’s perspective on marketing, revenue growth, RevOps and what it takes to lead effectively at the executive level.

Michael Lyborg is the Chief Information Security Officer at Swimlane. Prior to taking his current role, Michael was Global Vice President of Advisory services, a highly sought-after expert by the world’s largest Fortune 500 companies and global government agencies to advise on the creation and operation of industry leading security operations programs in North America, Europe, Australia, the Middle East, and Asia.

Before joining Swimlane, Michael was a head of security for the Fortune 100 fastest growing pharmaceutical company Heska (HSKA), where he held multiple responsibilities for global security operations, engineering, and compliance. His roles at Swimlane and Heska built on decorated US Marine Special Operations career supporting both cyber and physical response and the mitigation of emerging threats.

Along with spearheading the marketing and production aspects of ISMG publications and co-founding an Internet-based consumer sports company, D’Agostino brings an unprecedented level of hands-on experience with the Internet channel. Internet-related marketing skills such as lead generation, brand awareness strategies, and search engine optimization are areas of expertise along with web-based application development, database programming and architecture, graphic design and typography. Before helping to launch BankInfoSecurity.com (an ISMG publication), D’Agostino was responsible for the production and project management team of a boutique marketing firm. His responsibilities included overseeing the design, programming and project management of hundreds of SMB websites and Internet applications, along with managing ongoing Internet-related marketing initiatives.

Michelle Radlowski is the Vice President of Field & Partner Marketing at Vertex, bringing 20 years of experience building and leading high performing regional and partner marketing teams. She has a proven track record of enabling revenue growth, strengthening sales alignment, and scaling organizations through hypergrowth, acquisitions, and major transformation.Before joining Vertex, Michelle led the AMS and EMEA Regional & Partner Marketing teams at DigiCert, where she established integrated go-to-market frameworks and deepened collaboration across sales, SDR, and channel organizations. She previously led the Americas Field Marketing team at Zscaler, where she helped scale the company through significant expansion, including its successful IPO and a 14x growth trajectory during her tenure. She also held impactful roles at Dell, Quest Software, and Vizioncore, consistently elevating field marketing into a strategic, datadriven engine that supports both customer needs and business priorities.

Matt Johansen is a cybersecurity leader, educator, and entrepreneur with over 20 years of experience helping hundreds of organizations level up their security programs. He previously led software security at Reddit, where he helped secure the infrastructure behind one of the world’s most visited websites. Today, he runs Vulnerable U, a fast-growing cybersecurity media brand known for its popular newsletter and daily expert content across social media. He also leads a content agency that helps security vendors tell better stories without the marketing cringe. Outside of content and consulting, he advises and invests in early-stage tech companies and supports nonprofits with security strategy they otherwise couldn't afford.

15 years selling to people who read the docs first.

Mate has spent 15 years figuring out what makes technical buyers actually buy - and 10 of those leading the teams responsible for the answer.

Currently VP Marketing at Axoflow, he previously served as Fractional CGO at BitNinja Security, where he turned a culture of "don't ship on Friday" into weekly sprints, halved churn, and doubled trial-to-paid conversion. Along the way, he's consulted for a range of seed-series A startups on PLG, positioning, and go-to-market strategy.

He specializes in B2B and B2D SaaS in cybersecurity - because marketing to people who can and want to read the documentation is the most honest version of the job.His teams run on empowerment, scrum inspiration, and the firm expectation that you'll ship before you've over-thought it. He's a doer with a thinking problem.

Based in Valencia, Spain. Married, father of twin girls, casual gamer, and a surfer in ongoing negotiations with the ocean.

Mary Yang has been a Chief Marketing Officer for several startups, jumpstarting their marketing programs and positioning them for successful exits. Mary got her start in cybersecurity at MITRE, managing cybersecurity projects and initiatives across NIST, DOD, and DHS. She also provided cybersecurity research and trend insight to MITRE’s corporate cybersecurity strategy office on special initiatives, such as deception, digital identity, and privacy.  

Mary has over 20 years of experience in marketing and communications, supporting multiple technology organizations at varying levels of maturity, including a government technology start-up and a publicly traded enterprise resource planning software vendor, across several sectors.

Marissa Salzone is an award-winning marketing executive and Director of Marketing at Echelon Risk + Cyber who has spent her career proving that marketing is not an elective, it is a business driver.

With deep roots in B2B cybersecurity and demand generation, Marissa drove over $22 million in revenue and a 420% increase in sales while helping grow a cybersecurity firm from startup to industry leader, earning coverage in The Washington Post, TIME, and Business Insider. She holds a record-breaking lead-to-prospect conversion rate of 46%, was named Cybersecurity Marketer of the Year for North America, and recognized as one of the Most Inspiring Women in Business.

Marissa has spent her career operating at the executive level and building marketing organizations that run like business units: accountable, aligned, and impossible to ignore.

Four months into her role at Echelon Risk + Cyber, she received the firm's highest honor: Echelonian of the Year, a reflection of the culture and standards she brings to every team she joins.

When she is not building marketing strategies, you will find her exploring new restaurants because life is too short to cook, and at her local yoga studio whenever it is time to decompress and reset.

Mariana Padilla is the Community Evangelist at Harmonic Security, where she drives pipeline by creating authentic connections and standout events. She champions community-led growth as the B2B world’s most underrated—and most powerful—growth engine.

She is the former Co-Founder and CEO of HACKERverse.ai, a platform that is redefining how cybersecurity software is evaluated. Her authentic personal brand and ability to cultivate meaningful networks were the company’s strongest drivers of pipeline and growth.

Mariana’s work has earned her a spot on the front cover of the 2025 Most Innovative Cincinnati Startups to Watch and features on over two dozen industry podcasts. She was also named a “Woman to Watch in Cybersecurity” by Authority Magazine and received scholarships from WiCyS and WISP for her leadership in driving diversity in tech.

She specializes in go-to-market, sales strategy, and inclusive innovation—and is passionate about making the cybersecurity space more transparent, efficient, and engaging for both buyers and vendors.

I am the Head of Product Marketing at Hack The Box, leading the marketing and growth for our 4-million-strong global cybersecurity community. Throughout my career scaling international growth, building functions from scratch, and managing 8-figure revenue targets, I’ve learned that there is only one way of doing marketing: human-to-human. I'm here to talk about how community marketing can bring authentic communication and revenue goals together.

Maisa Fernandez is a global marketing leader with extensive experience across partner marketing, demand generation, ABM, and go to market strategy within the enterprise technology and cybersecurity markets. She currently serves as Senior Director of Global Partner Marketing at Palo Alto Networks, where she focuses on helping drive partner led growth and strengthening global ecosystem engagement.

Before joining Palo Alto Networks, Maisa spent more than seven years at ServiceNow in a variety of marketing leadership roles spanning global campaigns, ABM, partner marketing, and ecosystem strategy. Over the course of her career, she has built a reputation for creating collaborative marketing programs that align sales, partners, and marketing teams to drive measurable business impact.

Maisa is passionate about the future of partner marketing, AI driven engagement, and the growing role ecosystems play in helping companies build stronger customer relationships and accelerate growth.

From law to venture capital to cybersecurity, Madeline Lawrence has taken the scenic route to securing the interwebs. Now, as CGO at Aikido Security, she’s on a mission to make security clear, accessible, and - in her own words - "no bullsh*t"

Lexi Croisdale is a marketing leader whose passion is rooted in visual storytelling, B2B content marketing, and organic growth. As the Director of Global Content Marketing at Varonis, she has scaled the company's LinkedIn and YouTube channels, editorial engine, and creator/influencer marketing programs. She also leads an organic growth team and function that spans thought leadership, social media, video production, brand narrative, AEO, and more, including spearheading marketing for Varonis Threat Labs. YouTube program. She brings a fresh perspective on what it actually takes to lead creative teams and earn executive buy-in for “brand awareness” initiatives.

Krissy Camacho is a marketing strategist and GTM operator with more than 20 years of experience helping B2B companies turn buyer insights into predictable revenue. Known for blending creative storytelling with analytical rigor, she has built and scaled win/loss programs, ICP frameworks, and AI‑enabled workflows for startups and global enterprises alike.

Her recently published book, A Marketing Detective’s Guide: AI‑Powered Win/Loss Decoding for Modern GTM Teams, distills two decades of hands‑on experience into a practical, detective‑style system for understanding why deals are won or lost and how those insights can transform targeting, messaging, enablement, and growth.

As a Marketing Operations professional, I specialize in translating strategy into scalable systems and actionable insights. My work centers on optimizing processes, leveraging automation, and enabling teams to deliver high-impact marketing programs.

At Varonis, I’ve led key initiatives to improve efficiency, strengthen data governance, and align marketing and sales operations across global teams. I bring a structured, collaborative approach that balances technical precision with strategic thinking.

Keith Ward is a veteran technology journalist, editor, and analyst with over 17 years of experience documenting the rapid evolution of enterprise IT, data center environments, and cloud infrastructure. Known for his technical depth and engaging presentation style, he currently serves as a webinar moderator and analyst for ActualTech Media (a Future B2B company), where he bridges the gap between complex enterprise technologies and actionable business strategies.

Kat Lewis serves as Chief Marketing Officer at OPSWAT. In this role, she leads a team of 80 global marketers in field marketing, revenue marketing, creative and brand, and corporate communications teams, driving pipeline growth, elevating brand awareness, and aligning go-to-market strategies and campaigns across more than 60 countries.

With over 20 years of experience in sales, marketing, and corporate communications within cybersecurity and government organizations, Kat brings a proven track record of delivering measurable business results. She is recognized for her ability to translate detailed insights into strategic initiatives, her passion for excellence, and her skill in navigating the complexities of the evolving cybersecurity landscape.

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I build revenue engines with a narrative-first approach

Kate Turchin is the Senior Director of Growth at Atico ATX and an advisor to early-stage cybersecurity startups struggling to turn positioning into pipeline. She specializes in helping companies clarify what they do, who they serve, and how to translate that narrative into real revenue.

With experience building and fixing go-to-market strategies in cybersecurity, Kate has seen firsthand how poor positioning – not poor execution –holds companies back. Her work focuses on helping teams cut through “everything platform” messaging and define a sharp, differentiated position they can win with through campaigns, events, and programs.

Katelyn shapes strategic communications programs that help disruptive brands stand apart and lead their categories. With over two decades of PR experience, she has guided companies through milestone moments including acquisitions, national media recognition and executive visibility on some of the world’s biggest stages and publications. Her work has supported brands ranging from global enterprises to emerging technology innovators.

In addition to client leadership, Katelyn oversees V2’s content practice, helping teams integrate content strategy, executive thought leadership and social storytelling into campaigns that drive measurable impact.

As Chief Marketing Officer at Veracode, Karen Buffo brings more than 18 years of global security expertise, with a proven track record of developing and executing marketing strategies that deliver value to customers, partners, shareholders, and employees alike.Prior to joining Veracode, Karen held leadership positions at MixMode, Anomali, The Symantec Enterprise Division of Broadcom, and Oracle. Throughout her career, she has defined and implemented comprehensive global marketing initiatives that strengthen brands and drive worldwide growth. Karen’s multifaceted background in strategy, business enablement, and global marketing provides her with a holistic perspective on companies’ distinctive capabilities, opportunities, and growth drivers—resulting in sustainable business value.A recognized industry keynote speaker, mentor, and active contributor to the cybersecurity community, Karen holds a Bachelor’s degree in Consumer Science and Business Administration.

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 Juliana Slye is theFounder and CEO of Government Business Results, LLC (GBR), a nationwide firmheadquartered in Virginia. Tech companies rely on GBR for the Go-To-Marketservices (strategy, marketing, content, enablement) and staffing support theyneed to more effectively market and sell to government agencies. Recently, GBRwas named one of the Fastest-Growing Private Companies by Inc.

   Juliana has 20 years ofexperience in various business, sales and marketing roles helping techcompanies achieve success in government markets. Prior to founding GBR in 2010she managed strategy, marketing, enablement and solution development for globalgovernment industry teams at tech titans like Autodesk, Adobe, Macromedia andSilicon Graphics (SGI). She is the current Chair of the GAIN 2026 ExecutiveCommittee and engaged in various leadership levels across different industryorganizations and communities. Juliana is a sought-after speaker, and regularlydelivers training, seminars and panels on government marketing and industrygrowth topics.

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Joyjit Roy is a technologyand program management leader specializing in digital transformation, cloudmodernization, and applied artificial intelligence. With over two decades ofexperience across financial, insurance, and eCommerce sectors, his work bridgeslarge-scale enterprise delivery with AI and ML-driven automation.

 He currently serves as aLead Principal Technical Program Manager and AI/ML Cloud certifiedprofessional, leading modernization initiatives that integrate machinelearning, automation, and agile delivery frameworks. His writing and researchexplore how emerging AI technologies such as generative models, multimodalsystems, and agentic architectures can optimize enterprise operations anddecision-making.

 His key interests includeapplied AI research, agentic systems, cognitive automation, cloud-nativearchitectures, and responsible AI adoption in large organizations.

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Joy Hays is an experienced speaker who has taken the stage at SXSW, the Social Media Practitioner Summit (socialmedia.org), and corporate events for Fortune 200 companies including AT&T, Texas Instruments, and Capital One. Her talks sit at the intersection of brand storytelling and digital strategy: translating complex marketing challenges into honest, actionable conversations that resonate with both practitioners and leaders. Known for blending sharp analytics with creative instinct, Joy brings the same candor to the stage that she brings to her campaigns: no theory, no fluff, just what actually worked and why.

Joseph supports security and risk professionals, helping clients develop security strategies and make informed decisions to protect against cyberattacks. As a research director for Forrester, he leads the analyst team researching security leadership, the role of the CISO, infrastructure and operations, detection and response, and Forrester’s Zero Trust model of information security. His own research focuses on insider risk management, security operations, and security management.

Joseph has presented at industry events, been quoted in the media, and written on a variety of security topics. His almost 20 years of cybersecurity experience include marketing leadership and product marketing roles at Solutionary, McAfee, Vigilar, and IBM (ISS), where he focused on managed security services, consulting services, email security, network security, and compliance. As a marketing leader, Joseph helped align client needs with marketing strategy, messaging, and go-to-market activities while educating users about security strategy.

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John Knightly is a seasoned marketing leader with 20+ years of experience in cybersecurity, AI, infrastructure software, and more. Before joining Netwrix, he served as Zscaler’s SVP Portfolio Marketing, leading their transformation from a product-centric organization to a leader in Zero Trust platform solutions and helping more than double ARR from $1B to $2.5B. He’s also held CMO and executive roles at BlueJeans, HPE, Adobe, and BEA. With roots in sales and product management, John blends marketing strategy with technical insight. He holds a bachelor’s in statistics from Princeton University and an MBA from UCLA. He’s worked all over the world, including the US, Europe, and Asia, but now calls San Francisco home.

Joe Cicero led Microsoft engineering teams that scaled endpoint protection to over 10 million devices and built one of the company’s first managed security services. Now an alliance strategist and AI innovator, he bridges technical depth with business growth, driving $10M+ in new cybersecurity revenue through data-driven partnerships and emerging tech.

VP, Strategic Communications | B2B Tech, Cybersecurity & AI | Executive Advisor | Building Brands, Trust & Visibility Touchdown PR - a Ruder Finn company Central Michigan University

Jocelyn VerVelde is Vice President at Touchdown PR, where she leads communications strategy for cybersecurity, AI, and B2B technology companies. She works closely with founders and security leaders to turn complex innovation into credible, insight-driven narratives that resonate with media, buyers, and the market.

Jessica Ray is the Chief Marketing Officer at DTEX, where she leads global marketing strategy and growth for one of cybersecurity's leading innovators in behavioral intelligence and AI risk management. She has spent more than a decade building high-growth marketing organizations that transform technical innovation into compelling market narratives across the enterprise cybersecurity industry.

Before joining DTEX, Jessica held senior marketing leadership roles at Shift5, Tanium, and Armis, helping scale category-defining cybersecurity companies through brand strategy, go-to-market execution, and demand generation. Throughout her career, she has focused on translating complex technologies into differentiated market positions that accelerate growth and build lasting customer trust.

Jessica began her career with the U.S. Department of State, serving at U.S. embassies overseas and earning a Top Secret security clearance. That experience continues to shape her perspective on the intersection of national security, technology, and business. Today, she is passionate about helping cybersecurity companies simplify complex stories, build category-defining brands, and navigate the rapidly evolving AI landscape.

Hi, I'm Jeanette! I'm passionate about all things signals-based GTM + ABX + demand gen. Building full-funnel strategies that consistently create demand, capture it, and convert it is my bread and butter.

Over my career, one thing has stood out: I love helping founders and early teams build demand gen engines from scratch. Ones that create sustainable pipeline, respect cybersecurity buyers, and does it all in a tasteful way.

My #1 on StrengthsFinder is belief. When I really believe in something, I embed it into everything I do. And I believe the now and future of marketing is signals-based GTM.

Yasmine Ozeri is the VP of Marketing at Orchid Security, where she leads the company's global marketing strategy, brand, demand generation, product marketing, communications, and events. She is passionate about building bold marketing programs that not only capture attention but also deliver measurable business impact.Prior to Orchid Security, Yasmine spent four years at Wiz, where she built and led the company's strategic events program during its hypergrowth journey. She was behind many of Wiz's most recognized conference experiences, transforming industry events into memorable brand moments that generated significant pipeline and became benchmarks for creative B2B marketing.With more than 15 years of experience in B2B technology marketing, spanning startups and global technology companies, Yasmine combines creativity with data-driven execution to help marketing teams rethink how events contribute to revenue.

Jasmine Wong is a cybersecurity creator and practitioner behind CyberJasBytes on Instagram, LinkedIn, and YouTube. She explains the security risks people should understand when using AI, as well as the questions teams face when adopting AI.

Drawing on experience across software engineering, identity and access management, and application security, Jasmine brings a practitioner’s perspective to conversations with builders, founders, and security professionals about secure AI adoption and implementation. She also founded Bytes Over Tea, an in-person community where people learn practical security skills and discuss AI security.

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Jade Hill is the SeniorDirector of Corporate Marketing at Drata, where she leads brand, content,communications, web, and customer advocacy. She's currently repositioning Dratain a crowded GRC market, integrating a major company acquisition, and buildingan AI-powered marketing operating system designed to extend her team'sjudgment—not just their output.

 She has nearly a decade ofexperience in marketing for cybersecurity, spending more than four years atAbnormal AI scaling the content and communications program across a period of1,000%+ revenue growth. During that time she led content strategy, publicrelations, analyst relations, and a team spanning content marketers, commsmanagers, social media strategists, and agencies—earning coverage in WSJ,Bloomberg, Fortune, WIRED, and Dark Reading. Prior to Abnormal, she built andled the content and brand function at Agari, and spent time at Facebook as aContent Strategist.

 She speaks and writesabout the things corporate marketing leaders rarely say out loud: how to earninternal credibility when your work doesn't generate MQLs on a Tuesday, what itcosts to build a brand that actually resonates, and what you learn about yourown leadership when you try to teach AI to replicate it.

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Jaakko Jalkanen brings more than 15 years in digital marketing and demand generation to cybersecurity. He leads marketing at WithSecure (formerly F-Secure for Business), one of Europe's longest-established cybersecurity companies, founded in 1988, and previously worked at the NATO-awarded cyber range company CybExer Technologies.

Ingrid Velasquez-Woodley is Senior Director of Revenue Strategy at 38North Security. She oversees the company’s go-to-market architecture, revenue operations, partnerships, and practice growth—building repeatable systems that turn deep technical capability into scalable revenue. At 38North, she has helped drive the Practice Lead operating model, supported the launch of Compliance Engineering as a distinct offering, and contributed to the productization of LaunchPad as a compliance accelerator. She also leads thought leadership efforts that translate evolving frameworks like FedRAMP 20x into practical guidance for cloud providers navigating continuous validation.

Idan Gol is a cybersecurity marketing executive and CMO at OX Security. He leads the company’s global marketing efforts, including brand, demand generation, product messaging, events, and communications. Idan is passionate about building strong teams, simplifying complex technology stories, and helping security companies stand out in crowded markets.

Hiten Sethi is Director of Product Marketing for AI Security at Palo Alto Networks, leading messaging and category strategy for Prisma AIRS and AI security initiatives. Previously at AWS, VMware, and Cisco, he focuses on AI security, platform narratives, and executive storytelling. Hiten is a published author and researcher who has written white papers and ghostwritten thought leadership on AI, cybersecurity, and digital transformation, including work tied to the Digital Vortex research program.

Heather Daval has spent her career helping companies communicate clearly when the issues are complex and the stakes are high. She now leads public relations at Pentera.Previously, as an SVP at FleishmanHillard, Heather advised Salesforce, Cisco and GM on corporate reputation, media strategy and executive communications. Her work included AI, autonomous driving and other technologies that were moving faster than public understanding.Heather brings that same perspective to crisis response. A strong plan matters, but reputational threats rarely follow a script. The companies that respond best are the ones prepared to adapt quickly while staying clear about who they are and what they stand for.

Head of Performance at AdConversion, a paid media agency specializing in B2B SaaS.We've worked with recognizable brands in the space, including Rippling, Brinqa, DigitalOcean, Checkr, and ActiveCampaign.Before AdConversion, I worked as a Performance Marketer at Metadata, where I gained visibility into the strategy and performance of a wide range of B2B SaaS ad accounts.

Gianna Whitver is Co-Founder and CEO of the Cybersecurity Marketing Society and Co-Host of the BreakingThrough in Cybersecurity Marketing Podcast.Gianna advises on marketing & GTM for cybersecurity and technology companies. She speaks publicly on marketing and entrepreneurial topics, having presented at RSA Conference 365, (ISC)2, InfoSec World, and others. Previously, she worked in marketing and operations at cybersecurity, tech, and commercial RE companies.

Gerald Auger, PhD is the founderof Simply Cyber, a cybersecurity education and media company built on oneunglamorous habit: showing up. Since December 2021 he has hosted the DailyCyber Threat Brief live every weekday morning, 1,237 consecutive mornings, andwon the SANS Difference Makers Award for Podcast of the Year in 2024 doing it.

What began as a livestream becamea community: more than 275,000 subscribers on YouTube, 75,000 followers onLinkedIn, and 17,000 members in a Discord server where practitioners trade jobleads and hard-won advice every day.

He holds a PhD in cyber operations from Dakota StateUniversity, has spent more than twenty years in governance, risk, andcompliance, teaches as an adjunct professor at The Citadel, and has taught GRCto more than 11,000 students through Simply Cyber Academy. He is at his bestexplaining why a risk matters to someone who did not ask for a lecture.

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Gary Robbins is the Founder and CEO of FOURCORTERS, a B2B marketing agency focused on helping cybersecurity and enterprise technology companies leverage an extensive network of independent analysts and firms to build credibility, create meaningful industry conversations, and drive pipeline through executive engagement, content, and events.

Gary works closely with marketing and business leaders across the cybersecurity industry, helping brands connect with buyers in more authentic and trusted ways. He also leads weekly executive roundtables designed to surface and address some of the most pressing challenges facing today’s marketing leaders across demand generation, partner marketing, product marketing, ABM, content, field marketing, and overall marketing leadership.

Before founding FOURCORTERS, Gary spent more than 27 years at Frost & Sullivan helping technology companies strengthen their market presence, sharpen their messaging, and accelerate growth through strategic marketing and analyst engagement.

Fari Banimahd-Mansur is a cybersecurity marketing leader with more than 15 years of experience building global demand generation, integrated marketing, and go-to-market programs for some of the industry's leading technology organizations. Throughout her career, she has helped high-growth startups and enterprise cybersecurity companies—including CrowdStrike, Palo Alto Networks, Xage Security, and Silver Peak—scale pipeline growth, launch emerging solutions, and transform how marketing organizations operate.

Fari specializes in developing integrated campaign strategies that align Product Marketing, Sales, Brand, Field Marketing, and Marketing Operations around unified customer journeys and measurable business outcomes. Her expertise spans demand generation, executive engagement, campaign orchestration, lifecycle marketing, and building scalable operating models that connect marketing strategy to revenue impact.

Passionate about simplifying complexity, Fari is known for helping organizations evolve from product-centric marketing approaches to solution-led go-to-market strategies that better reflect how modern cybersecurity buyers evaluate, purchase, and adopt technology.

A field marketer with 15+ years of experience driving pipeline through in-person experiences, executive events, and ABM programs, now leveraging AI to shift field marketing from activity-based to impact-driven field marketing at Snyk, a platform for developers to build cloud native applications securely in a DevOps environment.

Eran Kinsbruner is Vice President of Product Marketing at Checkmarx and a recognized thought leader in software quality, secure development, and DevSecOps. With over 20 years of experience in engineering, product marketing, and developer advocacy, he helps global enterprises modernize pipelines and strengthen AppSec in the AI era. A frequent keynote speaker, author, and advisor, Eran bridges the gap between AppSec and engineering by promoting shift-left practices, developer-first security, and the use of agentic AI to enhance code quality without slowing innovation. He has contributed to leading industry reports, whitepapers, and open-source projects, and authored several books on continuous testing and secure software delivery. Today, Eran focuses on advancing next-generation AppSec powered by agentic AI—helping modern software teams build faster, stay secure, and deliver with confidence.

Emily Rosenfield is theMarketing Director at Fig Security, with over a decade of experience scalinghigh-growth tech brands. A veteran of the cybersecurity space, she has alsoworked at Cymulate and JFrog. Emily specializes in bridging the gap between creativebrand strategy and technical operational excellence to build scalable marketingengines.

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Deepika D’Souza is a Senior Marketing Communications Manager at Endor Labs, where she leads influencer and community programs for one of the fastest-growing AppSec companies.

She has built Endor Labs’ influencer program from the ground up, partnering with podcasts, creators, and technical communities to reach security and developer audiences.

Her work focuses on turning trusted voices into measurable business impact, tying influencer efforts directly to demo requests, pipeline, and revenue outcomes.

Deepika brings an operator’s perspective on what it actually takes to make influencer marketing work inside a B2B organization.

Deb Wolf is the Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) at Dataminr responsible for elevating the company’s brand, driving customer engagement, and supporting growth goals.

Prior to Dataminr, Deb served as CMO at Lookout, where she pivoted the company from B2C to B2B, expanded its product portfolio from mobile to cloud security, and scaled its go-to-market efforts.

She has 35-plus years of experience growing private and public companies, and has held marketing leadership roles at organizations such as Workday, Integrate and BetterUp.

Deb has a BA in English from California Polytechnic State University, and advises CEOs at three early-stage venture-backed companies in the AI, leadership development and data industries.

David Spark is the founder and executive producer of the CISO Series, a media network for cybersecurity professionals. He also co-hosts many of our shows. Spark is a veteran tech journalist who’s appeared in many media outlets such as eWEEK, Wired News, Forbes, PCWorld, Clearchannel, and TechTV (formerly ZDTV). Spark is the author of "Three Feet from Seven Figures: One-on-One Engagement Techniques to Qualify More Leads at Trade Shows." Outside of tech, security, and marketing, Spark squandered over a dozen years working as a touring stand-up comedian, a San Francisco tour guide, and a comedy writer for The Second City in Chicago.

David Koke is Head of Marketing at Intruder, a UK-based exposure management platform. With a decade of experience in marketing and customer-facing roles at early-stage tech startups, from Seed through Series B, David has a deep understanding of what it takes to build and scale GTM motions with limited resources and high ambition.

David J Ebner is the President and Founder of Content Workshop, a story-first content agency. While in graduate school, he assembled a collective of storytellers whose sole purpose was to use their storytelling skills to help brands create and convert an audience. That idea became Content Workshop in 2013. After graduating from the University of Tampa with an MFA in Creative Writing, he authored the Amazon Best Seller–Kingmakers: A Content Marketing Story. Today, David runs Content Workshop from the headquarters in Clearwater, Florida, where he lives with his wife and two children.

Impactful Intelligence

Previously Vice President of Marketing at Cyberint, and now Director of Marketing, Exposure Management division @ Check Point software.

Based in Israel. Rich history in the software and internet industry, specifically focused on cybersecurity for the past 15 years or so.

Hold graduate degrees in Business and Psychology.

Brand = Pipeline. Prove me wrong.

Danielle Guetta is the first marketer at Jazz, the AI-native DLP platform that took the cybersecurity industry by storm with its DLP Sucks campaign. Before Jazz, Danielle was the second marketer at Astrix Security, where she led product marketing and helped build the Non-Human Identity (NHI) category from the ground up — defining the language, narrative, and positioning that the entire market now uses. Before Astrix, she spent years at Check Point Software (joining through an acquisition), giving her nearly a decade of cybersecurity marketing experience across stealth-stage startups, category-defining scale-ups, and global enterprise. Danielle specializes in turning complex security problems into bold, contrarian brand moments that move pipeline.

Cyrus J. Walker III is the Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Data Defenders, a civic cybersecurity firm serving municipalities, counties, nonprofits, and healthcare organizations. He brings thirty years of practitioner experience across cybersecurity operations, network architecture, digital forensics, and critical infrastructure protection.

Cyrus serves on the U.S. Department of Homeland Security's CISA Critical Infrastructure Partnership Advisory Council (CIPAC) as a member of the Election Infrastructure Subsector Coordinating Council, working directly with federal partners on threat intelligence and joint incident response capabilities for election infrastructure. He is an internationally recognized expert in electronic voting system security and holds a certificate from MIT's Smart City Design program.

Earlier in his career, Cyrus served as a Subject Matter Expert in Cyber Terrorism Defense and Incident Management at the University of Arkansas's Cyber Defense Analysis Center under DHS funding, where he trained more than 5,000 federal, state, and local law enforcement professionals, including personnel from the NSA, FBI, U.S. Navy, U.S. Air Force, and U.S. Secret Service.

Under his leadership, Data Defenders serves as the operational architect of Aurora, Illinois's regional cybersecurity operation, which has detected and mitigated 35,331 threats, eliminated 351 high-severity threats, declared zero major security incidents, and delivered those results at 77% below the cost of an equivalent in-house Security Operations Center.

Courtney Chatterton is a Marketing Manager at Miscreants, where she runs full-funnel demand generation and campaign operations for cybersecurity brands. With four years in the industry, she's built a reputation for a practical, no-fluff approach to campaign strategy. She’s known for turning jargon-filled messaging into programs that actually convert with security buyers. Courtney co-hosts monthly marketing meetups with the Cybersecurity Marketing Society and has previously presented at CyberMarketingCon 2024.

Confidence Staveley is a multi-award-winning cybersecurity leader, author, and one of the most distinctive voices at the intersection of AI and security. Known for making complex technical concepts land with any audience, she holds the CISSP, CSSLP, and CCISO certifications and serves on the World Economic Forum's Global Future Council on Cybersecurity.Some of her accolades include Top 40 Global Thought Leader in Security and Safety (2024 & 2025), SANS Difference Maker Award: People's Champion of the Year (2024), Cybersecurity Woman of the World (2023), Top 25 Leader in Cybersecurity (2024), SC Media’s Women in IT Security 2024 Power Player, Security Magazine’s 2024 Women In Cybersecurity and recognition among the "150 Fascinating Females Fighting Cybercrime."Confidence is the Founder and Editor-in-Chief of AI Cyber Magazine, a practitioner-focused publication on AI and cybersecurity, and hosts The AI Cyber Podcast. She leads CyberSafe Foundation, a nonprofit democratizing access to cybersecurity and AI Education.A sought-after keynote speaker and board advisor, Confidence brings the rare combination of technical depth, editorial credibility, and the ability to cut through hype, delivering talks that leave audiences better informed and ready to act.

Christine Elswick leads Highwire’s Industries practice and cybersecurity expertise, bringing nearly two decades of experience helping technology and cybersecurity brands build trust, strengthen their reputations and lead through disruption. She advises organizations on high-stakes communications, from navigating breaches and sensitive disclosures to launching new categories and establishing executives as influential industry voices. Her work centers on translating complex technology into clear, compelling stories that build credibility and drive business impact.

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Christine Bartlett is SVP of Marketing at Hack The Box, championing a simple idea: great cybersecurity teams aren’t born in classrooms, they’re forged through continuous, community-validated skills development. She turns HTB’s mission into momentum, shaping the brand and driving growth. With 13+ years in cybersecurity, including senior roles at Cisco and SonicWall, Christine is known for sharp go-to-market leadership, crisp executive comms, and making marketing measurable, earning a spot on Pavilion’s “50 CMOs to Watch in 2024.”

As a four-time CMO, Charles brings more than 25 years of in-the-trenches marketing, product management, and business development leadership experience in high-growth cybersecurity, cloud, and infrastructure software companies. Charles has been instrumental in developing and executing growth strategies at category leaders like ThreatConnect Virtru, Sonatype, FireMon, Progress Software, Red Hat, and others.After ThreatConnect's recent $290M exit to Dataminr, he founded CyberG2M Advisors to help early and growth stage CEOs and revenue leaders to build durable, efficient go-to-market motions.