AI Florida AI & Security Symposium
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🍊 Cybersecurity Awareness Month 2026 Lakeland, Florida

Florida AI & Security Symposium

A half-day gathering for the IT and security leaders shaping Florida's next decade — where the AI-era threat landscape gets real, and the leaders facing it compare notes.

Reserve your free seat → View the agenda
Date
Fri, Oct 9, 202610:00 AM – 2:00 PM ET
Venue
Catapult LakelandThe Assembly · Downtown
Admission
FreeStudents & IT leaders
Format
In personTalks · demos · lunch
Why we're gathering

AI changed the threat model. This is where Florida's leaders catch up — together.

Today's threats generate flawless phishing lures, automate ransomware, and use everyday system tools and AI scripts to slip past signature-based defenses. The Florida AI & Security Symposium brings CIOs, CISOs, and their teams into one room for a focused morning of practical intelligence — no fluff, no hard sell, just the conversations that matter for Cybersecurity Awareness Month.

🍊

AI-powered threats

How AI-generated phishing lures and AI-based ransomware actually work — and what holds up against them.

🎭

Social engineering

Credential theft and social engineering are being used to strip technical controls. See the playbook.

🛡️

Beyond signature defense

Why AV and signature-based tools give minimal defense now — and where to invest instead.

⚙️

Governing AI

Emerging policy and governance for enabling AI innovation while managing real security risk.

🎯

Autonomous pentesting

A live look at how autonomous penetration testing differs from traditional vulnerability assessments.

🤝

Peer roundtables

Real relationships with the leaders running security at Florida's banks, hospitals, campuses, and governments.

On the table

Topics we're building the day around 🍊 To be confirmed

The ThinkTank surfaced more than a four-hour morning can hold, so we're picking the best of these. Final sessions, speakers, format, and running order are still being set — expect a mix of short talks and a live demo or two, with one panel discussion.

01

AI-powered threats

AI-generated phishing lures and AI-based ransomware — how they work now, and what actually holds up against them.

Panel · proposed
02

Evading modern defenses

Credential theft, trusted system tools, and AI scripts used to mask activity — why AV and signature-based products offer minimal defense, and how social engineering is used to strip technical controls.

03

Autonomous penetration testing

A demonstration of how autonomous pen testing differs from a traditional vulnerability assessment.

Demo · proposed
04

Incident response for AI workflows

A tech demo of emerging tooling for responding when AI-driven systems are the target.

Demo · proposed
05

Governing AI

Emerging policies and practices for enabling AI innovation while managing risk and security — and keeping the humans in the loop.

06

Lessons from building & orchestrating AI agents

What real-world teams have learned putting AI agents into production, from the practitioners doing it.

🍊 Entire agenda is to be confirmed — topics drawn from the ThinkTank's planning input. The morning runs 10:00 AM–2:00 PM ET with lunch provided.

Who should attend

Built for the people accountable for security — and the students who'll inherit it

Admission
Free tickets

for students and IT leaders across Florida.

  • Full-time and part-time students (with valid .edu or student ID)
  • IT & security leaders — CIO, CISO, Director, and VP roles
  • Lunch, coffee, and materials included
Claim your free seat →

You'll fit right in if you're a…

CIOCISOVP of IT Director of IT / SecurityNetwork & Security Engineer IT ManagerGRC / Compliance Deputy / Public Sector ITStudent in CS / Cyber / IT

Drawn from Florida's banks, hospitals, universities, logistics, manufacturing, and county & city government — including the leaders behind Polk County's IT ThinkTank and beyond.

Reserve your seat

Register free

Students and IT leaders attend at no cost. Grab your ticket below — it takes about 30 seconds.

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Presented by

Made possible by Florida's security community

Three teams who spend their days keeping Florida organizations safe — together underwriting a day of open, no-cost learning.

Interested in sponsoring or speaking? Get in touch →

Where

Catapult Lakeland — The Assembly

Catapult Lakeland

502 E. Main St, Lakeland, FL 33801

Held in The Assembly, Catapult's largest gathering space in the heart of downtown Lakeland — an innovation hub built for founders, technologists, and the community that supports them. Free and paid parking is available nearby throughout downtown.

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📍
Downtown Lakeland
502 E. Main St · 33801

Seats are limited. The room is not.

The Florida AI & Security Symposium is intentionally intimate — reserve your free seat before it fills.

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