CISOLeadership Summit
Apply to Attend

October 16, 2026 · Mesa, Arizona

Where security leaders speak freely.

A select group of CISOs and senior security leaders. One day, among peers, to speak candidly about the work.

Apply to Attend

By application. Seats are limited.

The higher you rise, the fewer people you can talk to.

Security leadership carries a particular kind of isolation. The decisions that matter most are the ones you can't take to your team, or your board, or anyone who hasn't actually sat where you sit.

This is a day built around that gap: a small room of people who carry the same weight, speaking plainly about what's working, what isn't, and what keeps them up at night. Among peers, not an audience.

A day built for candor, not content.

No hour-long keynotes. The day is built around two Decision Labs: a sharp voice opens each one, then the real work happens around the table, where peers push on what's actually working and what isn't. The conversations that only happen when the right people are in the room and no one's performing.

Closed-door sessions

Everything is off the record. What's said in the room stays in the room, under the Chatham House Rule, so people can speak about what's actually happening, not the sanitized version.

Peer-led conversation

The room drives the discussion. Fewer presentations, more exchange; the value is in what your peers are willing to say when they're not on a stage.

Room to connect

Unhurried breaks and a shared table, built for the conversations that continue long after the day ends.

How this started

It started at a table, not a boardroom.

This summit came out of a single table at a leadership retreat, where a handful of security leaders found themselves in the one conversation the rest of the industry doesn't make room for: plain, unguarded, peer to peer. By the end of it, the same thought had gone around the table: this should exist on purpose. So we built it.

The room is the reason to come.

There's no headliner to draw you here. The value is the people in the chairs beside you: a deliberately small group of security leaders who've earned the right to speak plainly and want a room where they can.

From senior security managers to CISOs: the people making the calls, not the ones pitching to them. Every seat is reviewed, so the room stays peer-level, end to end.

Emerging Leader table

One table is set aside for emerging leaders: a small, invited group early in their security careers, seated to learn from the room. It's the one kind of mentorship this room can offer, not a program, just proximity to people who've done the job.

The View at 55th Place event venue in Mesa, Arizona.

The View at 55th Place · Mesa, Arizona

Leading the conversation.

The day is peer-led, but a few voices help shape it. A handful of speakers to open the Decision Labs, and a panel of security leaders to push the discussion where it needs to go.

Speakers
Dean Sapp, Chief Information Security Officer at Filevine.
Getting ahead of a security crisis
Dean Sapp
Chief Information Security Officer, Filevine
Shelby Grossman, Professor of Practice in AI at the ASU Walter Cronkite School of Journalism.
Modern Trust & Safety AI Risk
Shelby Grossman
Professor of Practice in AI, ASU Walter Cronkite School of Journalism
Chris Carlisle, Super Bowl-winning coach and author of Move or Die.
Sustaining drive and performance after reaching the top. An outside perspective for security leaders
Chris Carlisle
Super Bowl-Winning Coach, 3× NCAA National Champion & Author of Move or Die
Chad Butler, former CISO of Amazon Prime Air.
Presence and persistence for your team when you don't have answers, and influencing through privilege escalation
Chad Butler
Former CISO, Amazon Prime Air
Jason Nichols, Vice President, Head of Information Security at 8am.
Beyond the hype: building vs. buying AI security tools
Jason Nichols
Vice President, Head of Information Security, 8am
Panel One
Hosted by the Phoenix WiCyS chapter.

Building influence and getting decisions made when you do not hold formal authority

Moderator
Paige Hanson, Co-founder & Chief Operating Officer of SecureLabs.
Paige Hanson
Co-founder & Chief Operating Officer, SecureLabs
Panelist
Ashley Palms, Head of Enterprise and Cyber Risk at Avalara.
Ashley Palms
Head of Enterprise and Cyber Risk, Avalara
Panelist
Lester Godsey, Chief Information Security Officer at Arizona State University.
Lester Godsey
CISO, Arizona State University
Panelist
Dara Gibson, Chief Information Security Officer at Cyber Ready.
Dara Gibson
Chief Information Security Officer, Cyber Ready
Panel Two

Leading through an active incident, the human and organizational side, not the runbook

Moderator
Joseph Hall, former Director of Threat Intel at Infoblox.
Joseph Hall
Former Director of Threat Intel, Infoblox
Panelist
Tarik Saleh, Chief Information Security Officer at Gemini.
Tarik Saleh
Chief Information Security Officer, Gemini
Panelist
Tonia Dudley, BISO Manager at a financial services company.
Tonia Dudley
BISO Manager, Financial Services Company
Panelist
Andrew Riddle, Senior Manager of IT Infrastructure at Palo Alto Networks Unit 42.
Andrew Riddle
Sr Manager IT Infrastructure, Palo Alto Networks Unit 42
Giving back

The Emerging Leader Table

Brought to You by the Ginger Hacker Institute

Every room like this one is also a chance to build the next. One table is reserved for aspiring leaders, paired for the day with the leaders in the room, to learn from those who’ve done the job. It’s mentorship you can’t get from a course or a certification: a seat beside people who’ve been where you’re trying to go.

For the leaders in the room, it’s a simple way to give back: an hour, a conversation, a door held open for someone coming up behind you.

Jared Hrabak, Consulting Cybersecurity Engineer at cStor.
Table Lead
Jared Hrabak
Consulting Cybersecurity Engineer, cStor

Founding Support

The summit is backed by its founding companies.

LunirMission InfoSecCaliber Security Partners

Partnership Levels

A small number of places at the table.

Prestige Tiers
Founding / Title Partner

Top billing, category exclusive.

1 available
Executive Partner

Premium visibility and placement.

2 available
Leadership Partner

Strong in-room presence.

4 available
Moment Sponsorships
Leadership Lunch

Association with the summit lunch.

1 available
Networking Break / Coffee

Association with the break.

2 available

Partner With Us

Support the room.

A limited number of companies partner with the summit each year, not to sell to the room, but to be part of it. Partners gain meaningful brand association and real relationships with senior security leaders, in a setting built on trust rather than pitches. If that's the kind of presence your company is looking for, we'd like to talk.

In partnership with the security community.

The summit is supported by the professional associations that shape security leadership in Arizona and beyond.

ISSA Phoenix: Information Systems Security Association, Phoenix Chapter
WiCyS: Women in Cybersecurity, Phoenix Arizona affiliate
ISC2 Phoenix Chapter
Cloud Security Alliance Arizona Chapter
OWASP Phoenix Chapter: Open Worldwide Application Security Project
ACTRA: Arizona Cyber Threat Response Alliance
InfraGard Arizona Members Alliance: Partnership for Protection
The Ginger Hacker Initiative

The details.

When
Friday, October 16, 2026
Where
The View at 55th Place · 3633 N 55th Pl, Mesa, Arizona 85215
Who
CISOs and senior security leaders, by application
Included
A full day of sessions, lunch, and hosted networking (no ticket to purchase)
Apply to Attend

Seats are limited and reviewed individually.