In-Person

Philadelphia CISO Community

Executive Summit

November 4, 2025 | Convene at City View

November 4, 2025
Convene at City View

Collaborate with your peers

Get together with Philadelphia's top CISOs to tackle shared business challenges and critical priorities facing your role today. Participate in this one-day, local program with peer-driven topics and interactive discussions with your true C-level peers.

Join your peers to discuss the most critical issues impacting CISOs today:

Enhancing cyber resilience to endure and swiftly rebound from threats

Innovating with technology to boost customer engagement and digital growth

Maximizing AI for strategic growth while empowering safe integration for users

Philadelphia CISO Governing Body

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

Governing Body Co-Chairs

Todd Bearman

TE Connectivity
VP, CISO

Mark Eggleston

CSC
CISO

Anahi Santiago

Christiana Care
CISO

Reginald Williams

The Chemours Co
CISO

What to Expect

Interactive Sessions

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

Community Networking

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

Peer-to-Peer Meetings

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

Agenda

November 4, 2025

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

8:30am - 9:15am  Keynote

Opening Keynote

 More details coming soon.

9:15am - 9:40am  Networking Break

9:40am - 10:25am  Breakout Session

Building a Strategy for an AI-First Business

Ravi Malick headshot

Ravi Malick

SVP & Global CIO

Box

The future of business is rapidly evolving — a future where AI agents are part of the workforce, almost any process or workflow can be automated, and customers expect better, more intelligent experiences across their unstructured data. Whether that means automating loans or onboarding employees faster, applying intelligence to your unstructured data can be a pathway to stay ahead of the competition.

Join this interactive session to explore:

  • Practical approaches to building an unstructured data strategy
  • Robust content workflows and use cases including agentic AI
  • Leadership lessons for organizing and upskilling the workforce

9:40am - 10:25am  Executive Boardroom

Executive Boardroom by AppOmni

 

9:40am - 10:25am  Executive Boardroom

Achieving Maximum Impact with Minimal Resources

Nick Falcone headshot

Nick Falcone

CISO

University of Pennsylvania

Security and IT functions are increasingly tasked with delivering greater outcomes while operating with the same or fewer resources—from budgets to headcount. How can CISOs and CIOs ensure that their organizations maintain a strong security posture and achieve strategic IT goals despite these constraints?

Join this session to discuss:

  • Challenges in scaling and keeping pace with business objectives
  • Strategies to allocate tools and resources effectively
  • Methods to communicate the business value of security and IT investment

10:25am - 11:10am  Networking Break

10:35am - 11:00am  Peer-to-Peer Meetings

Peer-to-Peer Meetings

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

11:10am - 11:55am  Breakout Session

Where You Stand — The Evolving Role of the Technology & Security Leader

Greg Driscoll headshot

Greg Driscoll

CIO

Penn Mutual Life Insurance

David Lingenfelter headshot

David Lingenfelter

CISO

Penn National Gaming

 Increased digitization over the past 50 years has transformed CIOs and CISOs from technical leaders to global business executives who leverage technology to achieve enterprise value. As today’s leaders promote the establishment of optimal technology responsibilities and accountabilities, they must also evolve their own roles to deal with evolving obligations and opportunities.

Join this peer chat to explore:

  • What business outcomes you’re trying to drive
  • How you are strategically approaching those drivers
  • Ways to elevate your role for influence across the C-suite and beyond

11:10am - 11:55am  Executive Boardroom

Navigating the New World of Human-Agentic Cybersecurity Teams

Dan Kent headshot

Dan Kent

Field CTO

Cloudflare

Agentic AI is redefining the future of enterprise decision-making, cybersecurity, and human collaboration. While it can drive innovation and streamline operations, it also introduces new risks which require strategic guardrails and protocols.

Join this boardroom to discuss:

  • Assessing agentic AI’s impact on cybersecurity and risk management
  • Establishing robust guardrails for AI-driven decision processes
  • Preparing organizations for human-agent collaboration and new protocols

11:10am - 11:55am  Executive Boardroom

Business Alignment for Enhanced Organizational Performance

David Beltz headshot

David Beltz

VP & CIO

Trinseo

John Critikos headshot

John Critikos

SVP, CIO

Toll Brothers

Organizations that align the technology strategy with the business achieve higher return on assets and equity. Despite the benefits, Gartner found that only 29% of CIOs report their organizations as highly aligned. Developing alignment models that accommodate the dynamic nature of business and technology are key for sustained organizational success.

Join this session to explore:

  • How synchronizing IT capabilities with business objectives can lead to enhanced organizational performance
  • Effective communication between the technology team and business units
  • Practical solutions to common barriers such as cultural differences, misaligned incentives and rapidly evolving technology landscapes

11:55am - 12:25pm  Networking & Meal Service

Women In IT & Security Networking Lunch

Female, non-binary, and allied IT & cyber leaders are invited to eat lunch and connect in our reserved networking space. Those in attendance can freely discuss best practices, key challenges and mission-critical priorities before heading over to the midday keynote. 

11:55am - 12:30pm  Lunch Service

12:30pm - 1:05pm  Keynote

Zero Trust & AI — Strengthening Security, Reducing Complexity, and Driving Innovation

Businesses stand to benefit from AI in unprecedented ways, but only if IT and security leaders overcome transformation challenges. This includes implementing a modern zero trust architecture to protect data and users, embracing AI while managing its risks, and handling the technical and financial implications of ever-expanding environments. A risk-based approach to security ensures CIOs and CISOs deliver a secure, phased transformation.

Join this session to:

  • Understand how zero trust and AI together, unlike firewalls, provide the strongest cyber defense by stopping threat actors from lateral movement within networks
  • Learn strategies for protecting AI applications developed in data centers and the cloud, while preventing data leaks from public AI applications
  • Discover how eliminating costly legacy hardware simplifies environments while cutting network and security costs

1:05pm - 1:30pm  Break

1:30pm - 2:15pm  Breakout Session

AI in Action — Real-World Wins

Vishi Viswanathan headshot

Vishi Viswanathan

SVP & CIO

Day & Zimmermann Group

Why learn from one peer when you can learn from three? In this unorthodox — but highly effective — breakout session, you’ll hear from multiple members of your community. Each speaker will take the floor for 10 minutes to share the most valuable lessons they’ve gleaned from their time in leadership. Get ready for a fast-paced exchange of practical insights, real-world experiences, and actionable takeaways.

1:30pm - 2:15pm  Executive Boardroom

Cyber Resiliency ― Fortifying Now for a Faster Recovery Later

Dave Snyder headshot

Dave Snyder

Cloud Security Architect, Chief Information Security Leader Emeritus

Independence Blue Cross

Leaders must protect their organizations from increasingly sophisticated cyber-attacks by preparing now to limit the impact and allow for as quick a recovery as possible. This requires a great defensive strategy that is practiced, communicated and understood throughout the organization well before any incident occurs. Balancing that preparation with what actually unfolds during an event is what fosters true resilience.

Join this boardroom to explore with peers:

  • Stories of detection and recovery – what strategies worked and which fell short
  • Mutual threat defense – the critical role of collaboration in the cybersecurity community
  • Best practices for organizational communication – before, during and after an incident

1:30pm - 2:15pm  Executive Boardroom

Succession Planning ― Future-Proofing IT Leadership Roles

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

Join this boardroom to strategize on:

  • Establishing a roadmap for leadership transition
  • Assessing current capabilities and providing targeted development opportunities
  • Ensuring leadership continuity and organizational resilience

2:15pm - 3:00pm  Networking Break

2:25pm - 2:50pm  Peer-to-Peer Meetings

Peer-to-Peer Meetings

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

3:45pm - 4:00pm  Networking Break

4:00pm - 4:35pm  Gartner Keynote

Gartner Expert Keynote Session

Daniel Stang headshot

Daniel Stang

VP Analyst, KI Leader

Gartner

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

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

November 4, 2025

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

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

Location

Venue & Accommodation

Convene at City View
More Information

Your Community Sponsors

Global Thought Leader

CIO Thought Leader

CISO Thought Leaders

Key Sponsors

Program Sponsor

Community Program Manager

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

Brittany Dalke

Community Program Manager

brittany.dalke@gartner.com