IN-PERSON

Phoenix CIO Executive Summit

October 24, 2023 | JW Marriott Scottsdale Camelback Inn Resort & Spa

October 24, 2023
JW Marriott Scottsdale Camelback Inn Resort & Spa

Collaborate with your peers

Get together with Phoenix's top CIOs 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 CIOs today:

Mitigating risks within cybersecurity strategies

Aligning technology with the entire organization to improve business outcomes

Creating a culture of innovation to improve processes and efficiencies

Phoenix CIO Governing Body


The Governing Body Co-Chairs shape the summit agenda, ensuring that all content is driven by CIOs, for CIOs.

Governing Body Co-Chairs

Gary Desai

Discount Tire
CIO

Ed Dzadovsky

Circle K
CTO

Arun Kumar Bhaskara-Baba

Honeywell Aerospace
Chief Digital and Information Officer

Raghu Santanam Ph.D.

Arizona State University
Sr Associate Dean, W. P. Carey School of Business

J.R. Sloan

State of Arizona
CIO

What to Expect

Interactive Sessions

Hear from CIO 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 Phoenix CIO community.

Peer-to-Peer Meetings

Connect with like-minded peers in a private, one-on-one setting through Evanta's Peer-to-Peer Meetings. You will be matched with peers in your community based on your shared interests and priorities.

Agenda


October 23, 2023

October 24, 2023

6:00pm - 8:30pm  Governing Body Welcome Reception

CIO & CISO Royale — Casino Night and Governing Body Welcome Reception

Compete in games of chance and skill at the Paradise Terrace during the Phoenix CIO & CISO community's first Governing Body Welcome Reception of 2023!

7:45am - 8:30am  Registration & Breakfast

8:30am - 9:15am  Keynote

The Path to Inner Peace and Increased Productivity

Dr. Sheri Riley headshot

Dr. Sheri Riley

Empowerment Speaker, High Performance Life Coach, Award-Winning Author

Guest Speaker

Achieving optimal health and wellness requires more than drinking enough water and taking a certain number of steps each day. As a leader, your emotional and mental well-being is vital for success. Join guest speaker Dr. Sheri Riley, as she discusses the importance of personal development in achieving professional growth.

During this keynote, you'll discover powerful strategies to:

  • Boost your productivity by sharpening your focus
  • Overcome obstacles that are impeding your progress
  • Fine-tune your vision for the future, so you can achieve even greater success

9:15am - 9:40am  Networking Break

9:40am - 10:25am  Breakout Session

Emerging Technology — Collaboration Across the Enterprise

Robert Wahl headshot

Robert Wahl

CISO

PetSmart

To lead resilient and innovative organizations, CIOs and CISOs must stay up to date with emerging technology. How are you communicating opportunities and concerns across the enterprise when news of new trends hit the headlines?

Join this interactive session to discuss:

  • How new technology movements will impact key stakeholders
  • Ways to bring your business partners through the innovation cycle
  • Strategies for collaboration across the organization

10:25am - 11:00am  Networking Break

10:30am - 10:55am  Peer-to-Peer Meetings

Peer-to-Peer Meetings

Connect with like-minded peers in a one-on-one setting through Evanta’s Peer-to-Peer Meetings. You will be matched with peers in your community based on your shared interests and priorities.

11:00am - 11:45am  Breakout Session

Leading with Digital Sustainability - A Strategy Led by Technology

Connor Poske headshot

Connor Poske

Senior Chrome Enterprise Customer Engineer

Google Chrome Enterprise

Enterprises are under pressure to address multiple challenges impacting the planet, their people and profitability. This is all happening while a recession is looming, quiet quitting is real and climate change is a top concern. Now is the time to position technology leaders as key partners in tackling these issues maximizes sustainable value across the business.

Join this session to explore sustainable strategies for:

  • Reducing efforts in the negative impact your company and products have on the planet (environmental sustainability)
  • How to best champion and manage the impact on your people (social sustainability)
  • Managing the business' fiscal health and future profitability (financial sustainability)

11:00am - 11:45am  Breakout Session

Let’s Brainstorm! Influencing Stakeholders Across the C-Suite

Scott Campbell headshot

Scott Campbell

CISO

City of Tempe, AZ

To lead resilient organizations, CIOs & CISOs must support transformation while communicating with various stakeholders across the c-suite. Rapid changes makes collaborating across departments even more essential to operating a successful business. 

Join this interactive session with CIOs & CISOs to debate and collaborate on influence with various scenarios including:

  • Building emotional connections with key stakeholders through stories
  • Overcoming resistance by seeking to understand and acknowledge
  • Earning a seat at the table by recognizing politics within the c-suite

11:45am - 12:30pm  Lunch Service

12:30pm - 1:05pm  Keynote

Generative AI - Hype Versus Reality

Jamie Smith headshot

Jamie Smith

CIO

University of Phoenix

Arun Kumar Bhaskara-Baba headshot

Arun Kumar Bhaskara-Baba

Chief Digital and Information Officer

Honeywell Aerospace

The hype around generative AI has been centered around opportunities and concerns. Technology executives are now looking at how to shape their businesses with AI, focusing on where AI makes sense in the business and how to accelerate value. Join this fireside chat to discuss specific use cases and how organizations are creating foundational capabilities to set the business up for success in the future.

During this session, speakers will discuss:

  • Practical AI use cases – lessons from the good, the bad and the ugly
  • Critical must haves for successful AI deployment 
  • Talent implications when using AI

1:05pm - 1:30pm  Break

1:30pm - 2:15pm  Breakout Session

Bridging The Gap: Public And Private Sector Similarities

Bianca Lochner headshot

Bianca Lochner

CIO

City of Scottsdale, AZ

Gary Desai headshot

Gary Desai

CIO

Discount Tire

Elizabeth Neeley headshot

Elizabeth Neeley

CIO

Arizona Department of Education

It might seem simple to point out key differences within the public and private sectors, especially when choosing a career or networking. For today's technology leader, it's important to also understand the similarities within these two areas of business. Who knows, there might be a process worth adapting across industries. Whether the topic is innovation, data security, work-life balance or the structure of the c-suite, it's important for IT and security professionals to dispel myths commonly associated with working in the private versus the public sector.

Join this session to discuss:

  • What differences and similarities are found when public and private companies decide to innovate
  • How data security is paramount across industries
  • The role the c-suite's structure plays in relationships and company culture

2:15pm - 2:50pm  Networking Break

2:20pm - 2:45pm  Peer-to-Peer Meetings

Peer-to-Peer Meetings

Connect with like-minded peers in a one-on-one setting through Evanta’s Peer-to-Peer Meetings. You will be matched with peers in your community based on your shared interests and priorities.

2:50pm - 3:35pm  Executive Boardroom

Creating a Culture of Learning

Raghu Santanam Ph.D. headshot

Raghu Santanam Ph.D.

Sr Associate Dean, W. P. Carey School of Business

Arizona State University

J.R. Sloan headshot

J.R. Sloan

CIO

State of Arizona

Bradley Pristelski headshot

Bradley Pristelski

CIO, SW Division

CommonSpirit Health

Traditional training and skills development is falling behind when it comes to responding to future-of-work shifts. Rather than reacting to an organization's need for certain IT skills, organizations are looking within to find employees who value learning and can evolve with the quickly changing landscape. By creating a strategy that elevates current employees through upskilling, business leaders will help create a company culture that values growth and continuous learning.

Join this session to discuss:

  • Supporting a company culture that values learning
  • Creating strategies for easy access and personalized learning plans for employees
  • Pushing for continuous learning as technology evolves

3:35pm - 4:00pm  Break

4:00pm - 4:35pm  Keynote

Innovation: Is There a Clear Path Forward?

Max (LJ) Chan headshot

Max (LJ) Chan

CIO

Avnet

Steve Reese headshot

Steve Reese

VP, CIO

Phoenix Suns

Ed Dzadovsky headshot

Ed Dzadovsky

CTO

Circle K

Mike Lettman headshot

Mike Lettman

Cyber Security Advisor (CSA) Arizona- Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency

Department of Homeland Security

With a rapidly changing technology landscape, innovation becomes increasingly critical to leadership and the enterprise at-large. Not only are companies using advanced technology to reengineer decision making, but to innovate and iterate for the future. How can CIOs & CISOs blaze a trail, across industries, to develop the next cutting-edge trends?

Join this keynote as technology leaders discuss:

  • How IT and security leadership are driving a culture of innovation
  • Strategies for investing in innovative tools and processes
  • What security concerns are emerging and how companies are handling it

4:35pm - 5:00pm  Closing Reception & Prize Drawing

6:00pm - 8:30pm  Governing Body Welcome Reception

CIO & CISO Royale — Casino Night and Governing Body Welcome Reception

Compete in games of chance and skill at the Paradise Terrace during the Phoenix CIO & CISO community's first Governing Body Welcome Reception of 2023!

7:45am - 8:30am  Registration & Breakfast

8:30am - 9:15am  Keynote

The Path to Inner Peace and Increased Productivity

Dr. Sheri Riley headshot

Dr. Sheri Riley

Empowerment Speaker, High Performance Life Coach, Award-Winning Author

Guest Speaker

Achieving optimal health and wellness requires more than drinking enough water and taking a certain number of steps each day. As a leader, your emotional and mental well-being is vital for success. Join guest speaker Dr. Sheri Riley, as she discusses the importance of personal development in achieving professional growth.

During this keynote, you'll discover powerful strategies to:

  • Boost your productivity by sharpening your focus
  • Overcome obstacles that are impeding your progress
  • Fine-tune your vision for the future, so you can achieve even greater success

9:15am - 9:40am  Networking Break

9:40am - 10:25am  Breakout Session

The Most Important Shift for Cybersecurity in a Generation

James Christiansen headshot

James Christiansen

VP, CSO Cloud Security Transformation

Netskope

Bob Schlotfelt headshot

Bob Schlotfelt

CISO

Valleywise Health

John Pontrelli headshot

John Pontrelli

CISO

Discount Tire

We live in a world where everything is hybrid and the blend between personal, corporate, private and public is ever-changing and presents us with a host of new challenges. This has increased and complicated the attack surface and the pressure to converge tools and do “more with less” is at peak levels. We must meet this watershed moment with the right team, plans, and technology.

Join this interactive session to learn:

  • How to build an effective plan for change without adding to the chaos
  • What consolidation approaches save money without sacrificing security
  • Use cases that deliver immediate value and efficiency while improving user experience

9:40am - 10:25am  Breakout Session

Emerging Technology — Collaboration Across the Enterprise

Robert Wahl headshot

Robert Wahl

CISO

PetSmart

To lead resilient and innovative organizations, CIOs and CISOs must stay up to date with emerging technology. How are you communicating opportunities and concerns across the enterprise when news of new trends hit the headlines?

Join this interactive session to discuss:

  • How new technology movements will impact key stakeholders
  • Ways to bring your business partners through the innovation cycle
  • Strategies for collaboration across the organization

9:40am - 10:25am  Executive Boardroom

The Six Biggest Security Nightmares Waiting to Happen to Cloud Applications

Charles Nelles headshot

Charles Nelles

Chief Technology Officer

The Joint Chiropractic

Conor Kelly headshot

Conor Kelly

Leader Customer Strategy

Outshift by Cisco

Daniel Maynard headshot

Daniel Maynard

Chief Privacy Officer & VP, Privacy and Data Risk Management

Early Warning

Over 500 million new cloud native applications will be developed by 2025, enabling widespread adoption of cloud native application architectures. However, these microservice-based architectures also massively increase your attack surface and expose your applications to new vulnerabilities and threats. How do you protect your business from these growing risks?

Join this session to discuss:

  • Identifying organizational exposure to Cloud Application risks
  • Pitfalls peers faced in their cloud adoption journey
  • Educating your workforce on cloud security procedures

9:40am - 10:25am  Executive Boardroom

Communicating and Measuring Cyber Risk More Effectively

Darren Challey headshot

Darren Challey

Director, Global Security Operations Technology

Amazon

Shannon Lawson headshot

Shannon Lawson

CISO

City of Phoenix, AZ

In today’s environment, it is even more challenging for security leaders to communicate and measure their cyber risk and program to their executive board. Being fully transparent about an organization’s weaknesses, strengths, and investments as it relates to cyber risk can be an uncomfortable conversation to have, but it is essential to the overall health of the business.

Join this session to learn: 

  • Metrics that quantify challenges & risks
  • How to create trust with dialogue delivery and engage leadership with non-security terms
  • Using data to communicate and explain the risks and how to best leverage this data

10:25am - 11:00am  Networking Break

10:30am - 10:55am  Peer-to-Peer Meetings

Peer-to-Peer Meetings

Connect with like-minded peers in a one-on-one setting through Evanta’s Peer-to-Peer Meetings. You will be matched with peers in your community based on your shared interests and priorities.

11:00am - 11:45am  Breakout Session

Let’s Brainstorm! Influencing Stakeholders Across the C-Suite

Scott Campbell headshot

Scott Campbell

CISO

City of Tempe, AZ

To lead resilient organizations, CIOs & CISOs must support transformation while communicating with various stakeholders across the c-suite. Rapid changes makes collaborating across departments even more essential to operating a successful business. 

Join this interactive session with CIOs & CISOs to debate and collaborate on influence with various scenarios including:

  • Building emotional connections with key stakeholders through stories
  • Overcoming resistance by seeking to understand and acknowledge
  • Earning a seat at the table by recognizing politics within the c-suite

11:00am - 11:45am  Executive Boardroom

Strategic Pitfalls in Third-Party Risk Management

Bob Schlotfelt headshot

Bob Schlotfelt

CISO

Valleywise Health

Keith Stocks headshot

Keith Stocks

VP, Third Party Cyber Risk Management

State Street

Neal Roylance headshot

Neal Roylance

Director of Security Research

RiskRecon - A MasterCard Company

Managing cyber risk across an enterprise IT infrastructure has never been harder. Remote workers, advancing attack methods, and an ever-expanding vendor network are challenging every firm, as total visibility into threats has become nearly impossible. As digital business strategy matures, more organizations are becoming dependent on the cyber posture and protection of third parties. Third-party risks present a unique challenge because you are depending on vendors and partners to operate securely to keep your data and information safe. How are you mitigating the associated risks and demonstrating this to the business to ensure effective security programs?

Join our session to hear about:

  • Common failings across TPRM programs that led to breach events
  • How executives can provide strategic direction for third-party risk teams
  • Key practices being implemented by leading vendor risk firms to maintain strong supply chain risk management

11:45am - 12:30pm  Lunch Service

12:30pm - 1:05pm  Keynote

Generative AI - Hype Versus Reality

Jamie Smith headshot

Jamie Smith

CIO

University of Phoenix

Arun Kumar Bhaskara-Baba headshot

Arun Kumar Bhaskara-Baba

Chief Digital and Information Officer

Honeywell Aerospace

The hype around generative AI has been centered around opportunities and concerns. Technology executives are now looking at how to shape their businesses with AI, focusing on where AI makes sense in the business and how to accelerate value. Join this fireside chat to discuss specific use cases and how organizations are creating foundational capabilities to set the business up for success in the future.

During this session, speakers will discuss:

  • Practical AI use cases – lessons from the good, the bad and the ugly
  • Critical must haves for successful AI deployment 
  • Talent implications when using AI

1:05pm - 1:30pm  Break

1:30pm - 2:15pm  Breakout Session

Cybersecurity — Evolving with the Trends and Future Threats

Michael Smiley headshot

Michael Smiley

Director – Enterprise Systems Engineering

Fortinet

Enterprises are dealing with more threats and complexity than ever. But how do you evolve as an organization to ensure your network is secure and you are ready in case anything or anyone breaks through.

Join this session to discuss:

  • Identifying trends in the security industry
  • Strategizing to access tools you need despite a lack of resources
  • Training the workforce in cybersecurity forward thinking

1:30pm - 2:15pm  Breakout Session

Bridging The Gap: Public And Private Sector Similarities

Bianca Lochner headshot

Bianca Lochner

CIO

City of Scottsdale, AZ

Gary Desai headshot

Gary Desai

CIO

Discount Tire

Elizabeth Neeley headshot

Elizabeth Neeley

CIO

Arizona Department of Education

It might seem simple to point out key differences within the public and private sectors, especially when choosing a career or networking. For today's technology leader, it's important to also understand the similarities within these two areas of business. Who knows, there might be a process worth adapting across industries. Whether the topic is innovation, data security, work-life balance or the structure of the c-suite, it's important for IT and security professionals to dispel myths commonly associated with working in the private versus the public sector.

Join this session to discuss:

  • What differences and similarities are found when public and private companies decide to innovate
  • How data security is paramount across industries
  • The role the c-suite's structure plays in relationships and company culture

1:30pm - 2:15pm  Executive Boardroom

Navigating the Cyber Risks of Cloud — Evaluating Options

Michael Manrod headshot

Michael Manrod

CISO

Grand Canyon University

John Pontrelli headshot

John Pontrelli

CISO

Discount Tire

Albert Caballero headshot

Albert Caballero

Field CISO, Americas

SentinelOne

The use of cloud technology has become a popular choice for businesses, providing them with numerous advantages but also introducing new threats. Cyber security risks can cause financial and reputational damage if left unmanaged, which is why it is essential to understand all the ways to protect the enterprise.    

In this boardroom we will discuss:              

  • How cyber insurance policies differ                
  • New insights to cloud-based attacks and the impacts 
  • Defenses to financial and reputational damage

2:15pm - 2:50pm  Networking Break

2:20pm - 2:45pm  Peer-to-Peer Meetings

Peer-to-Peer Meetings

Connect with like-minded peers in a one-on-one setting through Evanta’s Peer-to-Peer Meetings. You will be matched with peers in your community based on your shared interests and priorities.

2:50pm - 3:35pm  Breakout Session

Reducing Risk Through the Zero-Trust Paradigm

Jake Lundberg headshot

Jake Lundberg

Field CTO

HashiCorp

Modern application delivery has an extremely diverse set of technologies involved. Many companies use SaaS vendors across a variety of hosting solutions like public and private clouds with workloads spanning several mainframes. This makes strategizing where to add zero-trust controls even more paramount.

Join this session to discuss:

  • Implementing zero-trust security
  • Creating automated, policy-driven infrastructure lifecycle management
  • Reducing toil for developers, operators and consumers

2:50pm - 3:35pm  Executive Boardroom

Transforming Network Security with AI-Powered SASE

Jason Georgi headshot

Jason Georgi

Field Chief Technology Officer for Prisma Access

Palo Alto Networks

Vauda Stanfield headshot

Vauda Stanfield

Director of Enterprise Security Architecture

Freeport-McMoRan

Paul Wolf headshot

Paul Wolf

SVP & CISO

Tivity Health

Recent Advancements in Artificial Intelligence (AI) are creating new ways of working and creating new business opportunities. Leveraging AI/ML in cyber and network security delivers much better outcomes for today’s technology leaders. Join us in this exclusive roundtable to hear about:

  • Why a unified SASE approach maximizes the potential of AI
  • How AI/ML are delivering better security, network and operational outcomes
  • Best practices for delivering business value with SASE

3:35pm - 4:00pm  Break

4:00pm - 4:35pm  Keynote

Innovation: Is There a Clear Path Forward?

Max (LJ) Chan headshot

Max (LJ) Chan

CIO

Avnet

Steve Reese headshot

Steve Reese

VP, CIO

Phoenix Suns

Ed Dzadovsky headshot

Ed Dzadovsky

CTO

Circle K

Mike Lettman headshot

Mike Lettman

Cyber Security Advisor (CSA) Arizona- Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency

Department of Homeland Security

With a rapidly changing technology landscape, innovation becomes increasingly critical to leadership and the enterprise at-large. Not only are companies using advanced technology to reengineer decision making, but to innovate and iterate for the future. How can CIOs & CISOs blaze a trail, across industries, to develop the next cutting-edge trends?

Join this keynote as technology leaders discuss:

  • How IT and security leadership are driving a culture of innovation
  • Strategies for investing in innovative tools and processes
  • What security concerns are emerging and how companies are handling it

4:35pm - 5:00pm  Closing Reception & Prize Drawing

October 23, 2023

October 24, 2023

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


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

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

Caroline Wharton

Program Manager

971.978.5045

caroline.wharton@evanta.com