Conference Description
Key Takeaways
- The Atlanta Technology Summit is a regional B2B conference for IT executives and cybersecurity leaders across Georgia, taking place on 21 July 2026
- The fourth annual event centres on the theme “Future-Ready: Where AI, Systems, and Culture Unite”
- Sessions address AI governance, identity security, zero trust architecture, quantum-safe cryptography, and ransomware defence
- Executive roundtables and VIP forums provide dedicated discussion spaces for CIOs, CISOs, and senior technology leaders
- Sponsors include BeyondTrust, Hitachi Vantara, Netwrix, Splunk, One Identity, and Torq
Introduction
The Atlanta Technology Summit returns for its fourth year on 21 July 2026, bringing together IT executives, cybersecurity directors, and technology leaders from across Georgia to examine the convergence of artificial intelligence, enterprise security, and organisational culture. Hosted at the Atlanta Marriott Perimeter Center, the single-day conference addresses the operational and strategic challenges facing organisations as they integrate AI capabilities while defending against increasingly sophisticated cyber threats. The timing reflects a critical inflection point for enterprise technology teams: AI adoption is accelerating across industries, yet governance frameworks, security architectures, and operational models have not kept pace with deployment velocity.
About the Atlanta Technology Summit
Organised by Machaon Corporation, the Atlanta Technology Summit operates as part of a broader series of regional technology conferences across the United States. The event format combines keynote presentations, technical sessions, executive roundtables, and an exhibit hall featuring cybersecurity and infrastructure vendors. This year’s theme, “Future-Ready: Where AI, Systems, and Culture Unite,” signals a deliberate shift beyond purely technical discussions toward the organisational and cultural dimensions of technology transformation.
The governing body guiding the summit’s content includes practising CISOs and technology executives from organisations such as Aptos Retail, Vensure Employer Solutions, Paradies Lagardere, and Lyric, alongside representatives from professional associations including InfraGard Atlanta and Cyversity Atlanta Chapter. This practitioner-led approach shapes an agenda grounded in operational realities rather than theoretical frameworks.
AI Governance and the Challenge of Agent Sprawl
Several sessions directly confront the governance gap emerging as organisations deploy AI agents across departments and workflows. The conversation has moved beyond whether to adopt AI toward how to govern it effectively at scale. A session led by ivision’s Field CTO for Microsoft Strategy examines Microsoft’s Agent 365 and the broader operational disciplines required to manage AI agents as enterprise assets rather than isolated automation projects. The presentation addresses visibility, ownership, security, and lifecycle management—capabilities that many organisations lack as AI deployments multiply.
Netwrix contributes a session on unified data and identity security for AI governance, introducing a six-pillar framework encompassing discovery, identity governance, data security, data loss prevention, behavioural monitoring, and zero standing privilege. The framework responds to a practical reality: enterprises are deploying AI agents faster than they can govern them, creating security gaps that traditional controls were not designed to address.
The phenomenon of shadow AI—unsanctioned AI tool usage by employees—receives dedicated attention in a session from Atakama examining browser-based security blind spots. As workers increasingly interact with AI tools, SaaS applications, and cloud workflows through browser sessions, sensitive data moves through channels that security teams often cannot monitor or control.
Identity Security and the Privilege-Centric Approach
Identity remains central to enterprise security strategy, and the summit dedicates substantial attention to evolving approaches. BeyondTrust’s Chief Security Strategist presents on modern identity security, arguing that organisations must adopt a privilege-centric approach that extends beyond traditional privileged access management to address identities with paths to privileged access. The session examines how cloud environments, non-human identities, and agentic AI expand the attack surface in ways that fragmented security strategies cannot adequately defend.
One Identity’s Principal Identity Architect addresses a related challenge: governing access consistently across expanding application portfolios that span SaaS, on-premises, and legacy systems. Rather than expecting a single identity tool to solve every governance problem, the session advocates for an integrated identity fabric approach that applies appropriate controls based on application risk and technical constraints. The framework helps organisations prioritise applications, select provisioning strategies, and improve auditability without increasing complexity.
Quantum-Safe Readiness and Operational Resilience
Hitachi Vantara’s Global Quantum and Cybersecurity Director presents a session that challenges prevention-only security models. The Three-Lane Response Framework integrates classical cybersecurity, quantum-safe cryptography, and operational resilience into a unified strategy designed to address threats ranging from current ransomware campaigns to future cryptographic vulnerabilities posed by quantum computing. The session acknowledges that when cyber events become business crises, the difference between collapse and continuity depends on framework design rather than perimeter defences alone.
Backup and disaster recovery receive focused attention as the last line of defence against ransomware. Object First presents on immutable backup storage and zero-trust data resilience, addressing the reality that the majority of ransomware attacks specifically target backup infrastructure. When attackers eliminate recovery options, ransom payment becomes the only alternative—a dynamic that makes backup security a business-critical concern rather than a purely technical one.
Digital Resilience in AI-Driven Environments
Splunk’s Field CTO examines digital resilience for organisations operating in increasingly distributed, intelligent, and fast-moving environments. As AI accelerates innovation and reshapes digital experiences, organisations require strong observability to understand system behaviour while integrating security to manage risk without impeding progress. The session explores how leading organisations balance observability and security to strengthen resilience and adapt in real time.
TierPoint’s session on AI integration security addresses a fundamental question for IT leaders: as AI strategy expands, is security posture keeping pace? The presentation provides a framework for evaluating security implications of AI investments and identifying blind spots that traditional security controls cannot detect.
Executive Forums and Practitioner Discussions
The summit includes dedicated executive roundtables addressing topics that extend beyond technical implementation. Discussions on cybersecurity burnout acknowledge the human dimension of security operations, while sessions on the AI accountability gap and security operating models examine governance and organisational challenges. A CXO forum led by Lumen Technologies’ VP of IT focuses on rethinking operating models to benefit business outcomes—a recognition that technology transformation requires organisational change alongside technical implementation.
The closing panel, moderated by Edge Solutions’ CISO and Cybersecurity Principal Consultant, brings together executives from Ameris Bank, Southern Poverty Law Center, GFT, and AFCEA Atlanta Chapter for an audience-driven discussion addressing unanswered questions from the day’s sessions.
Who Should Attend
The Atlanta Technology Summit targets IT and information security executives, including CIOs, CISOs, cybersecurity directors, principal consultants, and solutions architects, along with their direct reports. Attendees represent organisations across industry verticals including finance, healthcare, retail, government, and technology, spanning mid-to-large enterprises, public sector organisations, and managed service providers. The event serves professionals responsible for securing digital transformation initiatives, managing identity and access in hybrid environments, defending against advanced threats, and bridging gaps between IT, security, and business strategy.
Sponsors and Exhibitors
BeyondTrust serves as platinum sponsor, with gold sponsorship from Hitachi Vantara, Netwrix, and Splunk. One Identity sponsors the lunch session, while Torq sponsors the networking happy hour and MGT provides beverage sponsorship. Silver sponsors include Glean, Imply, QTS, Synack, and ThreatLocker. Presentation sponsors Atakama, ivision, Object First, and TierPoint deliver technical sessions alongside their exhibit presence.
The exhibit hall features additional vendors including BigID, Concentric AI, Nasuni, Oxide Computer, RAKI, and Tevora. Community partners supporting the event include AFCEA Atlanta Chapter, Blacks in Technology Atlanta, BDPA, Cyversity Atlanta, InfraGard Atlanta, ISACA Atlanta Chapter, ISC2 Atlanta, ISSA Atlanta, SIM Atlanta, and WiCyS Georgia Affiliate.