SpiceWorld Agenda

Fuel up before your jam-packed day of learning, networking with vendors and peers, and fun!

Generative AI is changing the cybersecurity game, says cybersecurity CEO Tarah Wheeler. On the offensive side, AI has enabled better tuned, carefully crafted, devastatingly dangerous spear-phishing attacks. On the defensive side, AI can integrate with your SOC tools to give you fewer and more effective notifications (what she calls “less, better, info”).

Either way, you can’t ignore it—you have to understand and leverage it today. Drawing on her years of experience in cybersecurity with Microsoft, Harvard, and more, Tarah takes you through both the offensive and defensive sides, illuminating what you need to know and why you need to know it.

In today’s rapidly evolving tech and business landscape, encouraging and supporting women in IT has never been more crucial.

Join us for an engaging open dialogue where we’ll explore the unique challenges faced by women in the field and share practical strategies to address them. This session is open to everyone who believes in creating a more inclusive and diverse tech industry.

No one wants to get hacked, but at least every dark cloud has a silver lining. The lessons learned from a breach can be valuable teaching tools to help everyone in IT prevent future disasters.

This session will explore how to spot the early signs of a breach, how to use backups to understand a threat actor's intentions, why Zero Trust actually works, reasons to check your firewall configurations at the door, and other key lessons learned from a security breach.

Most tech marketers believe network automation can do anything from “fix performance problems before they even start” to “do all your laundry” and “stop the polar ice caps from melting.” But is it really the golden child or just another over-hyped tech marketing buzzword?

Join us for a no-holds-barred panel discussion that cuts through the nonsense and gets real about network automation. We’ll be joined by two networking experts from Auvik and an IT pro from the Spiceworks Community.

Think a password manager is just about remembering logins? Think again. Today’s SMBs are adopting password managers not only to lock down security but to equally boost productivity and collaboration. Join LastPass to explore how password managers streamline the future of work, empower your team, all while protecting your business from cyberattacks. Let’s rethink password management together and turn it into your SMB’s most loved app!

The rapid adoption of SaaS applications has revolutionized business operations, but it has also introduced hidden challenges. Unchecked SaaS sprawl leads to security risks, inefficiencies, and significant financial waste, with up to 25% of SaaS licenses going unused. Many IT teams struggle with visibility and control over their SaaS environments, resulting in escalating costs and operational complexity. Join Josys in exploring how to effectively manage SaaS sprawl and protect your bottom line.

Learn about the essentials of setting up and configuring Git for efficient version control. You'll learn how to install and use the posh-git module, a versatile Git integration for PowerShell.

This session will illustrate concepts such as repositories, commits, and pull requests—and show how they all fit together. We'll also discuss the process of forking a repository and cloning it to your local machine. These essential skills will enable you to contribute to projects and collaborate effectively with others.

As businesses increasingly rely on SaaS platforms for critical operations, the risks of cloud-based breaches and data loss are rising. This session will cover essential insights for business leaders and IT admins, highlighting the shared responsibility model of SaaS platforms like Microsoft and Google. We will discuss the limitations of native data retention policies, the growing threat of ransomware in the cloud, and the need for external backup solutions to ensure data security, compliance, and proper incident response.

Dive into how artificial intelligence can empower small and mid-sized organizations along their growth journey. Through real-world examples and insights into customer readiness, we address common challenges and demonstrate how Dell's solutions empower SMBs to harness the full potential of AI. From Microsoft Copilot+ PCs to an AI-ready datacenter to the cloud, maximize your potential and learn how to securely integrate AI for all your organization’s needs.

Joey will cover a variety of solutions (both DIY and 3rd party) for exploiting recent advances in AI to handle lower-tier support requests that should help increase overall IT efficiency by freeing your folks from the ballast of basic questions. This session may include a surprise guest appearance from Ziff Davis' Technology Media Divisional CTO, Josh Schulz.

It doesn't matter how small your business is—you must take cybersecurity compliance seriously. Even if you run a tight ship, it doesn't mean that your vendors and customers do. This session will provide real-world examples and lessons that apply to your business and help keep it safe.

Ransomware attacks are increasing at a near exponential velocity. To not just survive the onslaught, but to get ahead you need to use all the tools in your IT kit to the fullest. The industry is not properly leveraging the power of their endpoint management and security solutions to combat ransomware.

Join Kaseya to learn tips and tricks for fighting ransomware, improving security, and reducing costs simultaneously. We’ll cover both software-based and process-based tips for hardening, securing, and protecting your data, network, and users from attack.

Grab some delicious grub, check out sponsors’ booths, and make new friends.

The world is adopting generative AI technologies at a rapid pace and realizing benefits in real time. But does AI present a new cyber threat to a company’s most prized information assets? The answer is both yes and no. Data governance is not a new concept, but breakthroughs in natural language processing and large language models (LLMs) require a new approach to effective data governance.

Attend this session to understand the emerging security risks from using generative AI technologies, as well as techniques for reducing the risk of data spillage, which can have real regulatory compliance impacts.

We've got game-changing news for you: PDQ Connect can now find and remediate your vulnerabilities in one click!

Designed to streamline your vulnerability scanning and remediation process, PDQ Connect is an instant power-up! It enables you to quickly detect, prioritize, and patch vulnerabilities across your network, ensuring your systems are always up to date and secure. With its automated patching and remote access, PDQ Connect simplifies the remediation process, reducing manual effort and improving security.

Daily struggles with technology cost money and a lot of patience. Unnoticed by IT teams, a buildup of small issues keeps end users from working efficiently. What if you could predict and prevent tech problems before they surface? We'll show you how Digital Employee Experience combined with Unified Endpoint Management can drastically improve user experience as well as simplify troubleshooting processes - all while reducing traditional help desk tickets. Looking to transform the way your IT operates? This is the session for you!

Feeling drained by keeping up with tech innovation and planning your organization's future? Join a panel discussion on AI, cybersecurity, remote workforce support, and small business tech challenges, moderated by ZDNET's Jason Hiner. Gain insights into overcoming infrastructure hurdles and preparing for the future with practical strategies to keep your organization ahead. Panelists include Aberdeen's IT expert Jim Rapoza, along with IT pros Brian Wolters and Cynthia Chillemi.

Unlock the potential of cross-platform connectivity by installing and configuring SSH for PowerShell, tools that allow you to establish secure and standardized connections across diverse technology stacks that allow you to execute commands, transfer files, and manage remote systems efficiently and securely.

Join us to learn the prerequisites and considerations for a successful installation, explore how PowerShell SSH cmdlets streamline administrative tasks, and delve into the advantages of key-based authentication for SSH. By the end of this session, you’ll be equipped with the knowledge and practical insights needed to elevate your remote administration capabilities.

For over two decades, Excel Micro has guided organizations in selecting and managing email security solutions. Our session will cover the evolving cyber threat landscape, stressing that modern threats like phishing and ransomware require more than just a security license—they need expert partnership. Excel Micro offers tailored, flexible strategies that go beyond “check-the-box” solutions, providing choice, adaptability, and the human touch to software distribution.

Like a double-edged sword, Being a neurodivergent individual can be incredibly valuable in the tech field; However, it can also be a challenge when an environment doesn't match your work style.

Join us for a panel on mental health and neurodiversity, where we'll discuss tips and tricks for taking advantage of your "NeuroSpicy" superpower and how to handle it when it becomes your arch-nemesis.

Whether you're upgrading or buying new, provisioning and managing your Windows 11 devices might seem like a daunting task, at first. But making the switch can set a strong foundation for cloud-centric Windows management going forward.

This session will cover new Windows 11 capabilities, useful tools (both free and paid), and best practices that can make your life easier when provisioning Windows 11. We'll go through your options step-by-step and evaluate the pros and cons and tradeoffs of each choice along the way.

Learn how to easily deploy and maintain compliance benchmarks for CIS, NIST, DISA, CMMC, and HIPAA across your Apple devices, integrating seamlessly with your existing MDM. Discover a straightforward approach to auditing, enhancing, and achieving full compliance.

In today's evolving threat landscape, SMBs are increasingly targeted by sophisticated cyberattacks, often exploiting human vulnerabilities. This session helps IT leaders and practitioners shift from reactive to proactive with an intelligence-driven cybersecurity mindset. You'll learn how social engineering attacks unfold, understand criminal tendencies, and gain practical steps to build a threat intelligence mindset, strengthening your organization's defenses against evolving threats.

The claims for what generative AI can do continue to push the limits of believability and businesses are adding AI bots to every conceivable interface and product. In this session, Aberdeen Strategy & Research will cut through the hype by offering real-world insights to help set the record straight.

We'll share recent findings from our studies that reveal where businesses and IT departments are actually investing money and resources in AI. We'll also discuss which use cases are worth pursuing and which ones you might want to hold off on.

Moving into management can be a daunting but rewarding career change. However, it also requires understanding the human side of things, which IT professionals (admittedly) aren't known to excel at.

This session will explore the journey into IT leadership, how to achieve it, and steps to take to become an effective leader. We'll focus on developing soft skills, having difficult conversations, the concept of servant leadership, and why all of this is cool.

Ever wondered about the difference between refurbished and remanufactured solutions, off-lease gear, demo equipment, and used products? Join us as we explore the facts, clear up misconceptions, and discuss benefits of using remanufactured compute solutions to optimize your infrastructure and budget.

You'll learn about cost savings, rigorous remanufacturing processes, order configuration flexibility, support options, integration and applications, and upgrade options that keep the OEM warranties intact. We’ll also showcase real-world examples of how small businesses and large enterprises are leveraging remanufactured solutions to enhance operations and achieve fiscal responsibility.

Understanding and addressing human behavior is crucial for
effectively mitigating cyber risks. The Golden Circle Methodology, which outlines the importance of starting with the "why" to foster a sense of ownership and commitment among participants, can help to drive sustainable risk management practices.

Join us for a practical security session featuring a case study that highlights a successful integration of the Golden Circle methodology and cyber risk remediation. We’ll also explore tips for evolving cybersecurity practices in a dynamic environment, including a discussion on the human influence on AI and the need for responsible use and oversight.

A world-renowned visionary and futurist named one of the world’s 10 most influential thinkers by MIT, Douglas Rushkoff has written over a dozen bestselling books about technology and how it has fundamentally changed our world for the better (and sometimes for the worse).

He has spent three decades thinking and writing about emerging technologies like AI, giving him an unparalleled perspective on how to use these new tools to unleash our full human potential. In his SpiceWorld keynote, Ruskoff will discuss the implications of recent computing advancements and the important role we, as IT professionals, can play in a society grappling with rapid change by setting the agenda for how and why emerging technologies are used by everyone else.

As the conference concludes, we'll gather one last time to connect with friends, reflect on our time together, and review what we've learned. And what SpiceWorld would be complete without slinging awesome raffle prizes and sweet swag?

Remember, to be eligible for the raffle, you must have completed and turned in your Passport to Prizes. Also, you must be present during the session to win!

Level Up Your Night by joining us for the after party at Central Machine Works
Sponsored by baramundi!

Experience an unforgettable evening

- Live Music: Dance to DJ tunes and a live band.
- Signature Cocktails: Enjoy expertly crafted drinks.
- Swag: Score awesome branded gear and surprises.

A night to celebrate with your favorite SpiceHeads, new and old!

**SpiceWorld badge required for entry**

The first bus pick-up is at 6:15 PM