Cybersecurity Defense Ecosystem Summit 2026 – Canada (Redesign Draft)

Arrive from 8:00 AM for breakfast, coffee and time to meet peers, speakers and sponsors. The program starts at 9:00 AM sharp.

What to prioritize, what to cut, and how to turn cybersecurity from a cost sink into a value driver. Drawing on his book Cybersecurity's Dirty Secret: Why Most Budgets Go to Waste, Ross shares practical templates and frameworks to right-size spend, fix boardroom ROI metrics, cut labour costs with automation and AI, and decide when to switch, double down on or drop a tool.

He'll also cover managing application vulnerabilities as powerful AI platforms raise the stakes, then join the afternoon Town Hall. Signed copies of his book available on site.

A live demonstration of autonomous AI hacking: agents that research a target (including on the dark web), plan the attack, abuse stolen identities and slip out undetected. Hacking-as-a-Service at this level is now available to anyone.

Stolen credentials are still the number-one way in, and AI agents make the identity problem worse. The panel explains what vulnerability prioritization really means and how MSP, MSSP and CISO teams decide together what to fix first.

Cyber and fraud have converged into one fast-moving threat. Criminals now use AI to scale and personalize phishing, social engineering and impersonation that ends in financial loss and damaged trust. Why siloed defences fall short, and what a unified strategy looks like.

AI and cybersecurity are becoming regulated in more countries, and ignorance is no longer a defence: companies will be held liable, and insurance claims denied, when compliance isn't defensible. Defensible compliance is also becoming a condition of doing business with more organizations and governments.

A practical discussion on how Canadian organizations choose and apply frameworks without turning security into checkbox compliance, plus self-help tools to assess where you stand.

The latest data on today's attacks, including how deepfakes and AI agents keep changing the game.

Cybersecurity is a team sport. MSPs, MSSPs, SOCs, CISOs, CIOs and the C-suite come together on balancing business needs with cyber risk in the age of AI.

Humans can't defend at AI speed. See a solution that detects anomalies and remediates them in real time.

ERP sits at the centre of the business and holds some of its most valuable data, and AI raises the stakes for security, governance and resilience. Is your ERP maintainable, resilient, governed and ready for AI?

See how modern, industry-specific cloud ERP from Infor helps manufacturers and other industries modernize securely, and why ERP is a natural new practice for MSPs, MSSPs, cyber firms and integrators: new capabilities, customer relationships and revenue.

Almost every company is deploying AI fast. The critical requirements of AI governance, the risks that come with adoption, and how to mitigate them while capturing the benefits.

Cyber vendors and service partners get two minutes each to pitch. Get a fast overview of what's new, then vote for your favourite. Meet the vendors in the expo all day.

Lunch and networking with sponsors and peers in the Solutions Expo.

Cybersecurity is a team sport. How do you balance business needs against cyber risk, and AI adoption against security? Every stakeholder at one table, finding common ground to grow the business, protect clients and prevent breaches.

With 6,000+ security products and limited budgets and staff, how multi-vendor platform consolidation delivers better protection.

How today's security leaders are shaping Canada's cyber future, and the people, skills and resources we need now to defend tomorrow.

Panel: Jon Rohrich (Avanade), Vivian Odii (IAM, RBC), Mario Alejandro Matiz Zambrano (Vulnerability Management, CIBC) and Camille Kloppenburg (Application Security, CIBC).

Your questions set the agenda. Choose from 15 expert-hosted roundtables, or start your own topic. Everything said stays confidential.

Topics include: Shadow AI and data leakage · Should I vibe-code my own cyber tools? · Measuring ROI on cyber tools · Private LLMs · LLM/AI poisoning · Non-human identity management · PAM · Red teaming · Pen testing · Supply chain security · Shadow IT · Human resources · Insider threats · Awareness training in the era of deepfakes · and more.

Close the day with conversation in the expo. Registered attendees will hear about invite-only dinners hosted by sponsors, and the conversation usually carries on in the hotel bar.

Please don't drink and drive: hotel rooms and rideshare are available.

The program ends at 5:00 PM, but we'll be around until 7:00 PM for anyone who wants to keep networking.

No single event can answer every question before the game changes again. The CDE helps you build a year-round ecosystem of peers, experts and tools: virtual sessions, local chapter events, and Mastermind peer groups and pods.

Join the CDE: https://cybersecuritydefenseecosystem.com/
Peer groups and pods: https://www.channelpartneralliance.com/
Ask us about hosting a local CDE chapter.