As one of the nation’s most respected authorities on secured digital transformation, Theresa Payton is frequently requested to advise Boards of Global Companies, CEOs, and Technology Executives. Theresa is a visionary in the digital world leading the way as an inventor of new security designs and has an approved U.S. patent in security. She provides advice drawing from her experience as a technologist first and now veteran cybercrime fighter, entrepreneur, and author.

Theresa started her professional career within the financial services sector during a time when unprecedented merger activity and innovative and creative banking solutions were market differentiators. Theresa went from a developer to the management ranks quickly, running over 60 significant merger integrations as well as deploying several “first ever” platforms for her banking employers such as expert systems, artificial intelligence, mobile banking, and more. She started her career in a Board Room – while in her early 20s, Barnett Bank (now Bank of America) put her in charge of the CEO’s top strategic technology initiative and asked her to brief the Board of Directors.

Theresa was named the first-ever female White House Chief Information Officer with vast responsibilities that extended globally and included other duties such as maintaining the Federal records keeping for the entire operation and building out the first ever 24X7 security operations center.

She continues to practice her craft as the CEO of a leading, profitable cybersecurity company, Fortalice Solutions. She is a thought leader in key areas of importance to management and boards, including combating fraud, insider threat, improving customer experience, operational resiliency, and securing leading-edge technology deployments leveraging blockchain, artificial intelligence, and big data analytics.

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Marykay heads Pearson’s global Digital & Technology organization as CIO and leads the execution of the company’s corporate digital transformation strategy that is driving the shift from print to digital operations, and is the executive sponsor of the Women in Technology (WIT) program. She joined Pearson in 2014 and possesses 30-plus years’ experience planning and executing large-scale technology transformations with high-performing teams. In addition to her membership as part of the Pearson Executive Management team, Marykay serves on the board of Rewriting the Code, Salesforce Advisory Board, Greycroft Technical Council, and the Google Leadership Advisory Committee.  

Andrey Tapekha is the Chief Technology Officer for Deutsche Bank, Russia Development Centre. Andrey has worked in the industry for 20+  years, in or around financial systems development, including positions in program and product management.

He has held various software delivery and management roles in several companies during his professional career. Before joining Deutsche Bank, Andrey spent several years developing software for the International Space Station jointly with engineers from NASA and European Space Agency in Dublin, Ireland.

Andrey holds MA in Information Technology at the Dublin City University.

Chief Digital & Technology Officer with extensive experience establishing organizational vision & mission, defining and articulating business models with marketing plans, crafting digital product roadmaps, architecting innovative digital platforms & solutions fueling omni-channel growth and digital transformation that consistently deliver value for customers and stakeholders.

Kristopher brings 15 years experience at the forefront of innovation in Biotechnology and Pharmaceuticals working for and with amazing teams. Today Kristopher leads the technology function with Mind Medicine as they strive to deliver on the therapeutic potential of psychedelics and other novel compounds to address unmet patient needs in the fields of psychiatry, addiction, pain, and neurology. Previously Kristopher had the opportunity to facilitate the development of an unlimited supply of transplantable organs via building dedicated organ refurbishing facilities, 3D printing organs, growing porcine organs for transplant into humans, developing digital twin pharmacology simulations, pioneering drone delivery solutions for organ transplant, and generaling exploring novel approaches to healthcare via technology while operating the pharmaceutical lifecycle for multiple treatments aimed at addressing unmet need in pediatric oncology and respiratory orphan diseases.

Mr. O’Meara oversees Pfizer's digital business transformation strategy and portfolio of initiatives. He is an innovative, pioneering strategic leader passionate about driving digital innovation in life sciences and healthcare. His team collaborates fluidly with internal and external partners to deliver high impact digital solutions and to drive digital innovation pursuits across the ecosystem.

Jason is a Compliance Leadership Team member at Pfizer. He is a leader in HL7 FHIR Accelerators and Blockchain Collaborations, which provide standards and platforms for electronic information exchange & interoperability.

Jennifer is a Certified Executive Coach who believes that authentic, whole-hearted leadership is the key to discovering professional fulfillment and unlocking the full potential of leaders and their teams. Jennifer partners with executives and high-potential leaders who strive to realize their professional aspirations and live out their personal values.

As a strategic, transformational executive, Jennifer spent 20 years leading organizational and digital transformations by designing and developing high-performance teams. Through her years in leadership, Jennifer discovered true professional fulfillment being in service to others through coaching.

Jennifer received her coach training at the University of California at Berkeley Haas School of Business Executive Coaching Institute, her MBA from the University of North Carolina Kenan-Flagler Business School, holds an PCC Coaching Certification from the International Coaching Federation, and is the President of Scoutenger, LLC.

Robert Reynolds is the Chief Information Security Officer (CISO) for the City of Raleigh, North Carolina. With over 25 years of diverse experience in Information Technology, Robert has held senior leadership positions in corporate, State and Local Government organizations with extensive IT operations and security experience in law enforcement and military high value mission critical environments. Robert specializes in leading IT organizations in both the public and private sector. He has consulted for the federal government and corporate clients as Advisory CIO helping them to improve IT operations, achieve better outcomes, and accelerate their strategic and business plan objectives. Robert also served in the United States Navy.

Robert holds an MBA and a Master of Science in Cybersecurity from the University of Maryland. He also holds the CISSP, GCFA, MCSE and Certified Government Chief Information Officer (CGCIO) certifications. Robert is an active member of FBI InfraGard, and ISSA Raleigh Chapter.

Jared Thomas is a security, cloud, and infrastructure leader and ITIL certified innovator with more than 19 years of experience modernizing the IT landscape to provide world-class enterprise leadership, solutions, and support. He holds dual Master’s Degrees and CISSP, CCNA, and MCSE designations.

He is currently the Chief Information Security Officer and Fractional CIO/CTO with ITSco - Integrated Technical Services, an engineering and consulting services delivered with personnel integrity, engineering excellence and a dedication to customer service. He is a skilled problem-solver and troubleshooter comfortable managing systems, projects, and cross-functional teams in a wide range of IT environments. Earlier in his career, he worked with the Association of International Certified Professional Accountants and Harvard University serving in leadership roles in IT support services.

Wendy builds belonging within people and workplaces. She champions this through her professional speaking and work as the President of Signature Presentations and as an Adjunct Professor of Management and Leadership at Duke University. Wendy helps companies identify, acknowledge, and address barriers to building thriving workspaces with a culture of belonging. She works with individuals and organizational leaders at all levels to create sustainable, safe cultures where employees know they can express 100% of themselves without fear of judgment or exclusion.

Having trained more than 100,000 people over the past 20 years, Wendy is a respected leader in the training industry. She is a past member of the international board of directors for the Association for Talent Development (ATD) and is an advisor/reviewer of ATD’s Talent Development Body of Knowledge. Wendy speaks globally on building belonging, confidence, and powerful presence. She is researching strategies for building belonging at work and her book on the topic is scheduled to be published in the summer of 2023.

Mary Ott (Price) is a seasoned executive recruiter, business consultant, and executive coach with over 15 years of experience working with boards and C-level executives to recruit top talent to support her clients’ business goals and strategic talent objectives. With her 20 years of experience as a technology executive and former CEO, Ott has the insight to help clients develop cohesive leadership teams that can navigate rapidly changing environments caused by today’s global digital transformation.

She started her executive search career at Russell Reynolds Associates in New York, where she was a member of the technology practice and co-led the information officers practice, recruiting CIOs, CTOs, and their teams across all industry sectors, including retail, e-commerce, industrial, pharmaceutical, health services, and financial services. She founded the firm’s financial technology practice in NYC, which focused on global banks, insurance companies, asset management firms, and fintech companies. In 2011, Ott moved to a boutique firm, where she continued to grow her practice to include technology, manufacturing, supply chain, and operations.  She joined Stanton Chase in 2023 to grow their Information Officers practice.

Ott has a degree in engineering from Duke University and a master’s from Stanford.

Mr. Karrenbauer is the EVP and Chief Financial Officer at The Cyber AB. The Cyber AB is the official accreditation body of the Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification (CMMC) Ecosystem and the sole authorized non-governmental partner of the U.S. Department of Defense in implementing and overseeing the CMMC conformance regime. Prior to this role, he served as SVP and Chief Information Officer for IFG Companies, one of the largest privately held insurance groups in North America. In this role, he was responsible for elevating IFG's information technology capabilities and re-engineering the company’s business processes. Prior to that, Mr. Karrenbauer held senior executive positions at Axis Capital Holdings Ltd. and ING Group. He has been a founding partner in several information technology ventures and online businesses, including Cyberian Outpost.

Along his four (4) decades journey as a CIO/CTO, Mr. Karrenbauer has had several notable personal career achievements:

· In 1995, he is credited as having invented the email auto responder. In same year, designed the first Microsoft IIS-based web server farm and established the first web-based free domain registration service.

· In 2003, recipient of the Smithsonian’s Laureate Award and derived works archived into the Smithsonian Institution for technology innovation having developed the first reference-based architecture for information systems.

· In 2018, he was inducted as the 105th member into the CIO Executive Council, CIO Hall of Fame. He is the first and only recipient to have received all three (3) major awards from the Council which include the CIO Ones to Watch (2005) and CIO Top 100 (2006).

He holds a bachelor’s degree in nuclear engineering from the University of Florida, a master’s degree in radiological engineering from Harvard University and a master’s degree in business administration from Cornell University. He additionally holds certifications by ISACA, Carnegie-Mellon, and the prestigious Order of the Engineer.

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