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CIOXDallas

17 Sep 2025

Gaylord Texan Resort & Convention Center

Welcome to CIOXDallas, the premier event exclusively designed for accomplished CIOs across Dallas. Step into the forefront of strategic technology leadership as we navigate the evolving post-pandemic landscape and unlock unparalleled opportunities for enterprise success. Join us at CIOXDallas, where visionary CIOs converge to engage in transformative discussions, gain strategic insights, and address the pressing challenges shaping the world of enterprise technology.

intro

Speakers

Accelerate your network growth

Secure up to twelve exclusive meetings with relevant leads at CIOXDallas maximising your opportunity to forge valuable connections and drive business growth.

Become a sponsor

Learn from industry titans

Immerse yourself in thought-provoking discussions, as top leaders share their expertise and provide you with invaluable insights to propel your strategic initiatives forward.

Forge meaningful Connections

Engage with industry peers, thought-leaders, and solution providers to foster meaningful connections and explore collaborative opportunities that drive innovation and growth.

Agenda

Discover what awaits you at CIOXDallas.

Registration & Networking Breakfast

Welcome & Opening Remarks From EDS Connects

OPENING KEYNOTE PANEL: Technology at the Core: Driving Business Growth Through Tech Leadership

  • Fred Clayton
    CISO Akumin
  • Justine Tran
    CIO Dallas County
  • Jason Taylor
    CTO/CIO RS Group
  • Cheryl Nifong
    CISO The University Of Texas At Arlington

As digital strategy becomes inseparable from business strategy, the roles of CIOs and CISOs are undergoing a fundamental shift, from operational executors to strategic co-pilots of enterprise transformation. This session explores how today’s technology leaders can redefine their influence by aligning IT and security with board-level priorities, driving agility, growth, and resilience across the organization. We’ll unpack how to break down silos between technology and the business, translate complex technical initiatives into board-relevant insights, and foster shared accountability for digital success across departments. Attendees will gain practical strategies for leading with a “business-first, tech-smart” mindset while navigating the growing intersection of IT, ESG, compliance, and customer experience. It’s time to reframe technology leadership not as a support function, but as a core driver of organizational value.

Application Modernisation and Legacy System Migration

The Inside Story: AI in Action - How We Scaled AI for Real-Time Business Impact

  • Mark Alvarado
    CISO, Executive Director of IT Security & Compliance Academy Sports + Outdoors

Academy Sports + Outdoors set out to solve a critical challenge: how to harness AI to drive real-time business impact across retail operations, security, and customer experience. In this session, Mark Alvarado, CISO and Executive Director of IT Security & Compliance, shares how the company successfully scaled AI enterprise-wide—transforming fragmented data into actionable insights that improved decision speed, reduced risk, and elevated performance. From optimizing inventory forecasting and automating cybersecurity threat detection to enabling real-time analytics through a unified data platform, the journey was anchored in practical use cases and measurable results. Attendees will gain an inside look at how Academy reduced out-of-stock events by 15–20%, automated nearly 40% of security alerts, and accelerated decision-making across multiple departments by 30%. Mark will also explore how a cross-functional AI Center of Excellence and agile implementation approach helped drive adoption, compliance, and innovation, offering a real-world blueprint for enterprise leaders looking to turn AI ambition into operational advantage.

AM BREAK & 1:1 Xchange

ROUNDTABLE XCHANGES: Discussions on Shared Challenges

  • 1. Enhancing Incident Response and Recovery Plans

    Discuss strategies for enhancing incident response and recovery plans to mitigate the impact of unforeseen disruptions in organizations. Through proactive measures such as thorough risk assessments, clear communication protocols, and regular training, businesses can bolster their resilience and minimize downtime, ensuring continuity and safeguarding against potential threats.
  • 2. Vendor Management: A Route To Build a Holistic Third-Party Management Program

    Explore the strategic significance of vendor management as a pivotal route towards establishing a comprehensive third-party management program. By emphasizing collaboration, risk mitigation, and performance optimization, organizations can effectively navigate the complexities of vendor relationships, ensuring alignment with overarching business objectives and enhancing overall operational resilience. In this roundtable we’ll cover the 6 questions, debate if they are the right questions to ask, understand if and how they fit into a changing cybersecurity landscape, and ask if a change of cybersecurity paradigm is needed in light of continued cyber incidents and breaches.
  • 3. Communicating the Attack Surface to the Board

    Effectively communicating the concept of the attach surface to the board is crucial for ensuring informed decision-making and strategic planning regarding cybersecurity. Discuss strategies for conveying the complexity and significance of the attack surface in a concise and comprehensible manner to facilitate board-level understanding and action.
  • 4. Leveraging Future Tools for IT Strategy Empowerment

    This discussion explores the strategic utilization of emerging technologies to empower IT strategies, focusing on their potential to enhance operational efficiency, innovation, and competitive advantage. By leveraging future tools such as AI, blockchain, and IoT, organizations can unlock new pathways for optimizing processes, anticipating market trends, and fostering sustainable growth in the digital landscape.

In this interactive session, our event partners will take the lead in initiating and facilitating conversations centered on challenges and solutions within the industry. Attendees can expect dynamic discussions where diverse perspectives are shared, fostering collaborative problem-solving and the exploration of innovative solutions to common industry hurdles.

Responsible, Accountable and Liable: How GRC is Raising the Stakes for Tech Leaders

  • Jon Garza
    CISO, Global Director of IT Security & Compliance PSA BDP

With increasing regulatory demands and heightened board oversight, PSA BDP found itself at a crossroads: traditional compliance efforts were reactive, siloed, and lacked strategic integration. CIOs and CISOs risked being seen merely as enablers, rather than accountable business units, especially as nearly 80% of security leaders feel pressured to downplay risks in board discussions. Under Jon’s leadership, PSA BDP instituted a mature GRC program anchored in transparency, alignment, and shared ownership: Established cross-functional governance structures to unify IT, security, legal, and operational teams. Defined clear accountability metrics that mapped key risks to responsible roles, including CIOs and CISOs. Developed risk dashboards and KPIs translated into board-friendly metrics (e.g. mean time to detect, risk-adjusted incident projections), enabling data-driven governance decisions. Launched training programs, tabletop exercises, and compliance certifications to reinforce a culture where liability is acknowledged and managed responsibly. The outcome? PSA BDP’s strategic shift delivered measurable impact: Board confidence improved dramatically, with risk metrics cited as “highly reliable and transparent” in quarterly reviews. The organization achieved internal risk consensus across departments, reducing conflict and duplication in control measures. Regulatory compliance audits (SOX, GDPR, industry-specific) were completed with zero major findings. Crucially, CIO and CISO roles evolved beyond execution becoming recognized as strategic risk partners with formal liability accountability baked in. Join this session to gain both the strategic vision and tactical tools needed to lead responsibly in today’s high-stakes tech environment.

Aligning IT Strategy with Business Goals and Objectives

The process of aligning IT strategy with business goals and objectives is vital, due to the synergistic relationship between technology initiatives and organizational success. Through insightful analysis and practical strategies, attendees will gain invaluable insights into maximizing the strategic impact of IT investments to drive sustained business growth and competitive advantage.

LUNCH & 1:1 Xchange

QUICK TECH TALE: AI Starts with Data: Laying the Foundation for Trustworthy and Effective AI

  • Georgeo Pulikkathara
    CIO & CISO US Army

As AI adoption accelerates, the true foundation for success lies in trusted, high-quality data. Lt Col Georgeo Pulikkathara shares how the U.S. Army is transforming its AI strategy by prioritizing data governance, transparency, and continuous validation to ensure robust, explainable, and secure AI systems. Addressing challenges like fragmented data and poor quality, the Army’s approach includes enterprise-wide stewardship, federated learning, and audit-ready model tracking. The result: improved AI performance, reduced false positives, and greater trust from commanders and stakeholders. This session provides practical insights for tech leaders seeking to shift from model-centric to data-centric AI, building systems that are both effective and responsible.

MASTERMIND CHAT: How CIO's & CISO's Can Drive Value Creation through Private Equity and Investments

  • Deepak Sachdeva
    CIO United States Air Force
  • Fred Clayton
    CISO Akumin

Join Deepak Sachdeva, CIO of the U.S. Air Force, and Fred Clayton, CISO of Akumin, for an enlightening session on how CIOs and CISOs can drive substantial value creation through private equity and strategic investments. Sachdeva brings a unique public-sector perspective, supporting innovation through investments in emerging tech companies like i2i, driving modernization and mission readiness across Air Force operations. Clayton provides a private-sector vantage point: after Akumin’s 2021 acquisition by private equity, the company achieved dramatic financial turnaround, with full-year revenue increasing by 78% to $749.6 million and adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization climbing 115% to $144 million in 2022.

This session will unpack how technology leaders can evaluate and execute strategic investments, align IT and cybersecurity initiatives with broader business goals, and transform their functions into engines of innovation, revenue growth, and long-term value, even amidst complex equity environments.

Key Takeaways:
– How to assess and execute strategic equity investments that foster innovation, whether in-house or via external startups.
– Best practices for aligning IT and security investments with organizational goals to unlock new revenue streams and drive cost efficiency.
– Real-world outcomes: from pilot-stage investments like i2i that seed innovation, to post-acquisition cybersecurity integrations at Akumin that support PE-driven growth.

QUICK TECH TALE: Flipping The Script - How We Turned a Security Incident into an Opportunity

  • Russell Scott
    CISO Tarrant County

In early 2025, Tarrant County found itself in the crosshairs of a sophisticated ransomware attack orchestrated by the Medusa cybercrime syndicate. The breach, which impacted the Tarrant Appraisal District’s systems, exposed sensitive data and forced a rapid operational shutdown. Rather than retreat into damage control, Russell Scott, Chief Information Security Officer of Tarrant County, led a bold response that transformed a crisis into a catalyst for long-overdue change. In this session, Russell recounts how his team navigated the immediate threat, working with federal agencies, launching incident containment measures, and addressing ransom demands, while also laying the foundation for long-term resilience. The county responded by investing over $1 million in cloud infrastructure, including the migration to Microsoft Office 365, enhanced backup systems, and proactive threat detection tools. The attack ultimately accelerated a broader modernization effort and positioned Tarrant County as a case study in cyber recovery and innovation. Attendees will gain a behind-the-scenes look at how a public sector organization flipped the narrative, transforming a security breach into an opportunity for reinvention, collaboration, and renewed trust with the community.

What’s Next? Compliance & Resilience in a Disruptive Landscape

Explore the intersection of compliance and resilience amidst disruptive forces, charting a path forward for organizations navigating uncertain landscapes. Through case studies and strategic insights, attendees will gain actionable strategies to fortify their operations and adapt to the evolving regulatory and environmental challenges.

PM BREAK & 1:1 Xchange, Community Conversations

  • Mayank Kumar
    Director AI Strategy UHG
  • Rameshwar Balanagu
    Chief Enterprise Architect, CTO Office UNFI
  • Corrina Taylor
    CISO Southern Methodist University
  • Lawrence Wells
    Director Information Security Optum
  • 1. Recipe For Enterprise AI Strategy – From Pilot to Production to Value Generation - Many AI initiatives stall after pilots, struggling to scale and deliver measurable business value. Discuss how to successfully transition AI projects into full production and value generation. Key takeaways: Strategies to scale AI from pilot to production, Aligning AI efforts with business objectives, Building trust with transparent AI governance, Overcoming technical and organizational barriers to adoption
  • 2. Sustainability as Innovation: How Eco-Conscious IT Accelerates Transformation - Join this discussion to explore how eco-conscious IT practices can reduce environmental impact while accelerating agility and growth. Discussions will focus on integrating green technologies, optimizing resource efficiency, and aligning sustainability with digital transformation goals. Key takeaways: Implementing energy-efficient infrastructure and cloud strategies, Aligning sustainability initiatives with business/digital transformation goals, Measuring and reporting the impact of eco-conscious IT investments, Overcoming challenges in embedding sustainability across IT operations
  • 3. The Human Firewall: Driving Behavior Change Through Security Awareness Training- Human error is a top cause of cybersecurity incidents. This roundtable brings together security leaders to explore how impactful security awareness programs can turn employees into a strong defense layer. Discussions will focus on designing engaging training, measuring its effectiveness, and fostering a culture of security. Key takeaways: How to create engaging, effective security awareness training, Methods for measuring and sustaining behavior change, Strategies to embed security awareness into organizational culture
  • 4. Thriving Under Pressure: Leading Teams and Supporting Wellbeing in High-Stress Environments - On this table, IT and security leaders unpack the unique mental health challenges of high-stakes roles and share strategies for building resilience, balance, and supportive team cultures from the top down. Share approaches for managing stress, maintaining team performance, and fostering mental health in demanding workplaces. Key takeaways: Techniques for effective leadership under pressure, Strategies to support employee mental health and resilience, Building a culture that balances performance and wellbeing

Take a break, engage in meetings or join a discussion roundtable! During this PM Power Break, fellow enterprise leaders will guide discussions on their favorite topic, fostering an environment of open exchange, exploration of diverse perspectives and experiences. Attendees can grab a coffee and anticipate engaging conversations through 1-2-1 meetings and roundtables. Conversations will be driven by shared challenges and interests, offering valuable insights and opportunities for collaborative learning and networking.

Navigating Human-Centric Risk: Unveiling the Four Elements

This presentation offers a comprehensive exploration of the intricacies surrounding human behaviour in risk management, dissecting the crucial elements that shape decision-making processes within organizations. By unveiling these four key components, the presentation provides actionable insights to fortify strategies and mitigate risks effectively in an ever-evolving human-centric landscape.

CLOSING PANEL: People, Power & Platforms: Solving the Talent Crisis in Tech Leadership

  • Melissa Kraft
    CIO City of Frisco
  • Mike Madero
    VP of Information Security Mr. Cooper

In today’s high-stakes digital landscape, IT and Security departments sit at the epicenter of both innovation and risk. Yet, building and retaining the leadership and technical talent required to secure and scale the enterprise is more challenging than ever. From cloud migrations and zero-trust architectures to AI governance and platform modernization, the demand for adaptable, skilled professionals is skyrocketing. But the talent pool isn’t keeping up. This closing keynote panel brings together senior IT and security leaders to address the tough questions: Should we invest in upskilling our internal teams? When does reskilling make sense? And where do we draw the line between insourcing and outsourcing in a threat-driven, resource-constrained environment?

The discussion will cover:
The growing complexity of talent needs in IT and cybersecurity
How to balance internal capability-building with smart external sourcing
Creating sustainable upskilling programs for future-ready teams
Managing burnout, retention, and leadership gaps in hybrid work environments

Closing Remarks

Drink Reception

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Location

Gaylord Texan Resort & Convention Center, Gaylord Trail, Grapevine, TX, USA

Gaylord Texan Resort & Convention Center, Gaylord Trail, Grapevine, TX, USA

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FAQs

Who attends?

Attendance is reserved for C-Suite executives and Senior Executives within IT, including Chief Information Officers, Chief Technology Officers, and other senior IT decision-makers from a wide array of industries. Joined by our select sponsor partners, enriching networking opportunities and offering cutting-edge solutions.

What does my delegate pass include?

Thanks to our sponsors, your access is entirely complimentary, providing you with full-day access to all presentations, exclusive networking sessions, personalised one-to-one meetings, delectable catering, and an open bar for added networking.

What are the one-on-one meetings?

These 25-minute meetings provide invaluable opportunities to discover new solutions and expand your network with leading innovative providers that can help solve your current or future complex challenges.

What is the dress code?

Professional business attire is appropriate.

Do I need to prepare anything?

No preparation is needed on your part. We take care of all the final details. Simply arrive at the specified time, date, and location, and we’ll handle the rest to ensure you have a seamless and enjoyable experience.

Why attend?

Our events offer unparalleled experiences where interactive sessions spark innovation, keynotes unveil insights from industry luminaries, and exclusive one-on-one meetings with best-in-breed solution providers unfold in some of the world’s most prestigious venues. This unique format ensures that your challenges are addressed directly, providing invaluable insights, connections, and maximising value for your time. With a compact schedule featuring a variety of presentations, you’ll gain a comprehensive view of the latest innovations and have ample opportunity to network with like-minded peers—all under one roof, and in just one day. This fosters collaboration and forges invaluable connections among executives with a genuine influence, setting the standard for elite gatherings in the industry.

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