Lance is a Strategic Account Manager with Juniper Networks, who leverages his 10+ years as a Network Architect and Sale Specialist experience to help enterprise customers in Kansas and the Kansas City Metro with their digital transformation journey.

Paul is a CNCF Ambassador, GoBridge Ambassador, and a Developer Advocate at Grafana Labs. In this role, he encourages developers and testers alike to “shift left,” bringing reliability testing earlier in the software development.

Certified Cybersecurity professional with an excellent record of e-mail analysis, Open Source Intelligence(OSINT), malware identification and analysis, and threat detection analysis.

Adam Cass is a Systems Engineer at Veeam. Adam has almost a decade of real-life experience as a data center and backup engineer in healthcare and finance. In addition, his work as a managed services delivery engineer allowed him to broaden his knowledge and focus on Veeam deployments to help clients streamline their BU/DR systems.

Paul is a highly accomplished IT professional with over 21 years of experience in the field of Information Technology. He began his career as a field engineer, gaining hands-on
experience with SMB, Mid-Market, and Enterprise networking, storage, data center virtualization, cybersecurity, disaster recovery, cloud solutions, and infrastructure management, eventually building, managing, and selling multiple VAR and Managed IT (MSP) practices. Over the years, Paul has demonstrated a proven track record of success in delivering innovative and effective IT solutions to a diverse range of clients. Currently serving as a Channel Systems Engineer for HPE Aruba Networking, Paul has honed his expertise in designing and implementing robust and reliable IT infrastructures. With his keen abilities and deep understanding of the IT landscape, Paul has been a key player in driving business growth and success by being deeply committed to identifying and resolving complex technical challenges and assisting many organizations seeking to build more effective and efficient IT infrastructures.

As Sales Engineering Manager at Varonis, Jack oversees a diverse team of 5 Sales Engineers across 4 states: Missouri, Iowa, Nebraska, and Kansas. Jack is responsible for building out the team, helping improve their pre-sales and account management abilities and techniques. Additionally, Jack is responsible for delivering sales presentations, presenting technical information about Varonis’ products and services, as well as providing guidance on new company initiatives. In his 20+ year career, Jack has worked across various industries as a developer, Consultant, Solution Engineer, Delivery Manager, Project Manager, and as a Sales Engineer. Jack holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Computer Science from DePauw University in Greencastle, Indiana, and graduated from New Trier High School, just outside of Chicago, Illinois.

Luke brings a seasoned perspective to cybersecurity, with 12 years in IT and nine laser-focused on the ever-evolving threat landscape. His cybersecurity experience honed his ability to thrive in agile, smaller teams, where they mastered resourcefulness, adaptability, and cross-functional collaboration.

This experience fuels his passion for Incident Response, Human Behavior, and Social Engineering. He’s excited to share their insights and practical strategies to help you fortify your defenses and stay ahead of the curve.

Todd Zeiler is a Senior Client Executive at TierPoint, a leading provider of Managed Infrastructure and Data Center solutions. With over 8 years of experience in the Greater St. Louis Area, Todd specializes in delivering tailored Cloud, Disaster Recovery and Colocation services to meet clients’ diverse IT needs. His expertise lies in forging strong client relationships, leveraging a depth of services unmatched in the industry. Todd’s consultative approach ensures that organizations receive focused support and innovative solutions to achieve their business goals effectively.

Scott’s passion for technology began when he explored data center architectures and virtualization strategies. He quickly realized that technology isn’t just about hardware and software—it’s about empowering people and organizations.

When Scott isn’t speaking at tech events, you’ll find him tinkering with Raspberry Pi projects or exploring the latest cybersecurity trends.

Scott’s ability to bridge the gap between tech jargon and human motivation makes him a sought-after speaker in the IT world. Connect with Scott on LinkedIn to stay updated on his tech insights.

Before joining Palo Alto Networks, Askia Howell graduated from MIT with a Bachelor’s in Electrical Engineering in 2004. Since then, Askia has executed roles as an Account Manager, Sales Engineer, Systems Engineer, and a Consultant. Askia is an IEEE Member, CISSP certified since 2015, PMP certified, and has earned several technical certifications from multiple manufacturers including Palo Alto Networks, Cisco, HPE/Aruba, Juniper, and Brocade. As a bootstrapped Founder of his consulting company in 2013, Askia led a team that built and secured Next Generation Networks and Zero Trust Networks by integrating multiple technologies for a variety of public and private organizations across the United States. In his personal time, Askia enjoys spending time with his wife and children, watching or playing sports, and fishing.

A Senior Systems Engineer with ExaGrid, has been training and providing pre-sales and technical briefings for customers and strategic partners for over 10 years. Prior to joining ExaGrid, Sean worked at Pure and Commvault where he ran customer evaluations and developed sales strategies. Sean holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Accounting/Computer Information Systems from Missouri State University.

Preston Snyder is a Solutions Architect, with a rich background of over fifteen years in network engineering across various domains such as Data Center, Wireless, Networking, and Security. Beyond his technical expertise, Preston emphasizes the importance of cultivating strong client relationships. His exceptional customer service skills, coupled with his extensive IT knowledge, drive his commitment to empower clients in reaching their ambitious goals.

Ken is a highly motivated, outside the box thinker, that has plenty of IT experience working with the DoD and Commercial Industry. His focus is Voice and Video over IP solutions and he absolutely loves his career. Picking up new challenges and juggling multiple projects is a common occurrence. He is able to think quickly on his feet and is very comfortable dealing with high pressure situations and customers.

Experienced Security System Engineer with a demonstrated history of working in the information technology and services industry. Skilled in Alcatel, Cisco IOS, NXOS, Juniper, Brocade, Palo Alto, LAN/WAN technologies, VMWare server virtualization and storage technologies, with a focus on network security/cybersecurity best practices. Strong information technology professional with a BCS focused in Software Engineering from Colorado Technical University, and CCNP, CCDP, CCNP Sec+, and CompTIA Security+ certifications.

Pete has 33 years of IT and MSSP experience and has been a hands-on CISO for the last 19 years, 2.5 years ago joined Check Point as Field CISO of the Americas.  Pete’s experience and leadership were leveraged most recently at Cybraics Defense as CISO. This company is an advanced Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning Analytics formed as a DARPA-funded project. Pete is also the former CISO of Hertz Global, successfully protecting the brand in over 150 countries, 20,000 employees, and 10,000 locations. Pete led Virtustream’s (now a Dell company) efforts as CISO to achieve FedRAMP and NIST 800-53 certification in record time. He hosted dozens of US Federal Agencies, including the FBI, Whitehouse, Department of Commerce and others on its most secure cloud design and MSSP services. Pete started the MSSP, security consulting, Global Incident Response Teams, (Incident Commander for over 120 incidents) Pen/Vulnerability Testing Teams as VP of Security engineering at Terremark and successfully guided these services migration in the Verizon purchase and then managed the global operation. In 2017, Pete was honored to be selected as the “Top 100 Global Chief Security Officers.”   Garter has rated Pete’s cloud security deployments and designs as #1 and #2 in the world and he literally “wrote the book” on secure cloud reference designs as published in Intel Press: “Building the Infrastructure for Cloud Security: A Solutions View.”  Pete’s expert commentary and advice have been featured on Good Morning America, Nightline, Fox Business, CBS News, Bloomberg and the BBC.

As an Account Executive at Verkada, Joseph delivers value to various stakeholders in the commercial space through Verkada’s suite of security and building automation products. Verkada is the world’s largest cloud-based physical security platform provider, helping enterprises operate safer, smarter buildings. Joseph is passionate about protecting people, property, and privacy with Verkada’s modern and simple approach.