Chart Your Course
Welcome to Tech Pro Camp presenter abstracts, where your professional development unfolds! Prepare for an immersive journey into innovation, trends, and expert insights. Our meticulously crafted sessions are designed to ignite your curiosity, expand your knowledge, and empower you to conquer the ever-evolving tech landscape. Please browse through our session abstracts below and chart your course toward success!
The abstracts listed below are in no expressed order and represent presenters who have been accepted and have confirmed their participation. Please refer to the 2024 Agenda page for session periods, with detailed times and room assignments.
Best practices for cloud governance at scale
From startups to enterprises to government agencies, organizations are migrating and accelerating their usage of cloud services. It can be challenging to determine where to start, how to manage hybrid or regulated environments, or how to onboard an entire organization to the cloud. In this session, learn best practices in cloud governance for building a well-architected, scalable foundation, including strategies for permission management, secure workload deployments, and environment governance. Discover insights AWS has learned from organizations that have successfully adopted the cloud.
Presenter: David Gendel
Room: Auditorium
Level: Intermediate
Hands On: No
Takeaway:
- In this session, learn best practices in cloud governance for building a well-architected, scalable foundation, including strategies for permission management, secure workload deployments, and environment governance.
Exploring the Emergence of Gen AI: Evolution, Innovation, and Engineering
This proposal seeks to delve deeply into the essence of Gen AI, endeavoring to uncover its historical roots, highlight its contemporary manifestations such as ChatGPT and Google Gemini, and provide valuable insights into the intricacies of prompt engineering for this groundbreaking technology.
Gen AI represents a fundamental paradigm shift in AI research and development, representing a new breed of algorithms capable of generating diverse and coherent outputs across various domains, including text, images, and music.
At the forefront of Gen AI’s manifestation are language models such as ChatGPT and Google Gemini.
The effective utilization of Gen AI hinges significantly upon proficient prompt engineering, a process that involves crafting precise and contextually relevant instructions to guide the model’s generation process. This proposal aims to illuminate the principles of prompt design, emphasizing the importance of clarity, specificity, and domain expertise in eliciting desired outputs from generative models. Additionally, it will explore various techniques for prompt optimization and fine-tuning to enhance the performance and adaptability of Gen AI systems across diverse applications.
Presenter: Heba Nuseibeh
Room: 220
Level: Beginner
Hands On: Yes
Takeaway:
- Understand the historical evolution of Gen AI, from its inception to contemporary advancements.
- Gain insight into key manifestations of Gen AI, such as ChatGPT and Google Gemini, and their contributions.
- Learn practical techniques for prompt engineering, including design principles and optimization methods.
- Explore potential applications of Gen AI across diverse domains, from conversational AI to creative content generation.
The future of Cloud Computing in shaping society
Vidhya Suresh is a distinguished software engineer and a compelling technology speaker, known for her expertise in a wide range of programming languages and web technologies. In her professional journey, Vidhya has made significant contributions to companies such as PayPal Inc and Atlassian Inc, Her work in improving transaction processing times and developing innovative payment orchestration solutions has been pivotal. As a speaker, Vidhya shares her insights and experiences, focusing on the impact of new technologies in developing user-centric products. Her presentations not only showcase her technical expertise but also inspire innovation and excellence in software development within the tech community.
Presenter: Vidhya Suresh
Co-Presenter: Hareen Venigalla
Room: Auditorium
Level: Intermediate
Hands On: Yes
Takeaway:
- Edge Computing and 5G Synergy: With the advent of 5G technology, edge computing is expected to significantly increase its role in data production, accounting for over 75% by 2025. This shift towards decentralized storage is anticipated to bring about improvements in both efficiency and security.
- AI and Machine Learning Integration: The integration of artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning analytics into cloud computing is projected to greatly enhance application functionality and user experiences. By 2026, these technologies could boost the functionality of cloud applications by more than 40%, addressing the challenges posed by the increasing complexity of data.
- Focus on Sustainability and Security: Amidst these technological advancements, there’s a strong emphasis on data security and sustainability within the cloud computing industry. Over 90% of cloud providers are aiming for carbon neutrality by 2030, highlighting a commitment to sustainable development. Additionally, with global data volumes exceeding 200 zettabytes, there’s an increasing focus on ensuring that the evolution of cloud computing is both responsible and ethically guided.
Enhancing Security Analytics through AI
Utilize AI and machine learning for advanced security analytics. AI can help security teams sift through enormous data logs and identify unusual or suspicious activities faster and more accurately than traditional methods, enabling quicker threat mitigation.
Presenter: Shane Hartman
Room: 219
Level: Intermediate
Hands On: No
Takeaway:
- Learn about machine learning models
- Learn about security analytics
- Learn how to speed up log analysis beyond simple alerting or manual processes
State of the Onion
Discussion from Federal LE point of view regarding current cyber threats/trends as well as a brief ransomware investigation case study
Presenter: Robert Price
Room: Auditorium
Level: Intermediate
Hands On: No
Takeaway:
Working with SSIS "Script Task" Automation Integration
In this session you’ll learn about using the SSIS “Script Task” component for integrating the following technologies:
1. Powershell scripting.
2. VSTO – Visual Studio Tool for Office(Excel) using C# language.
3. Excel .NET Assembly – Microsoft.Office.Interop.Excel.
All put together to accomplish a task at hand. No more Google to figure it out. I’ll show all the tips and tricks to make this happen in the simplest form.
See! How easy it is to integrate these components, so you become a code-agnostic developer building a solution that integrates existing technologies in an SSIS Dtsx package.
Presenter: Maximo Trinidad
Room: 224
Level: Intermediate
Hands On: Yes
Takeaway:
- PowerShell integration in SSIS Package
- Use of VSTO – to read Excel Documents
- Tips and Tricks in setting up these components in the “Script Task”
- Use of C# to work with Excel .NET Objects
D3FEND with ATT&CK
Learn to defend your enterprise from likely attacks in a practice known as Threat-Informed Defense. This session will teach you how utilizing tools like the Top ATT&CK Techniques Calculator, the ATT&CK Framework, and the D3FEND framework can provide a basis for a strong cyber defense.
Presenter: Keith Wilson
Room: 224
Level: Intermediate
Hands On: Yes
Takeaway:
- The building blocks of the ATT&CK Framework (Tactics, Techniques, Procedures, Mitigations, and Detections)
- What those building blocks mean in terms of a threat-informed defense
- How to use the Top ATT&CK Techniques calculator to determine your most likely threats
- How to utilize the D3FEND framework to mitigate against those threats
Case Study: Equipping emerging leaders to navigate the talent-tech equation
The confluence of human talent and technological advancements has emerged as a pivotal nexus driving transformative change in contemporary business and societal paradigms. This case facilitates a comprehensive understanding to equip emerging leaders to navigate the intricate talent-tech equation.
The “Mastering the Talent-Tech Equation” case provides a scholarly framework for comprehending, adapting to, and excelling within the ever-evolving digital landscape. Grounded in academic rigor and enriched with real-world examples, collaborative scholarship, and actionable strategies, it equips emerging leaders with the intellectual tools necessary to thrive in a world where the synergy between human talent and technology represents a driving force behind innovation and sustainable growth.
Presenter: Manuel Rincón
Room: 220
Level: Intermediate
Hands On: Yes
Takeaway:
- Comprehensive Understanding: Participants gain a scholarly and comprehensive understanding of the dynamic landscape where human talent and technology intersect. This facilitates a profound appreciation of the far-reaching consequences of this interplay on contemporary businesses and society.
- Competency Development: Through an academic lens, individuals will methodically identify, nurture, and refine the critical competencies needed to thrive as next-generation leaders in a technology-driven environment, ensuring their capacity to remain adaptive and influential.
- Strategic Acumen: This academically oriented session provides participants with deep insights into effective strategies for integrating human talent and technology to foster innovation and sustainable growth. Drawing from a wealth of scholarly resources, it inspires fresh perspectives and innovative approaches.
- Scholarly Engagement: The academically enriching environment crafted during the session offers participants the unique opportunity to engage with peers and scholars, exchange high-level ideas, share advanced insights, and disseminate best practices. This contributes to the continuous cultivation of their academic and professional knowledge.
- Empowerment through Scholarly Resources: Armed with an array of academic insights and resources, participants are empowered to take measured and well-informed actions in their professional capacities, effectively shaping and advancing their organizations amidst the rapidly evolving digital landscape.
Three Strategies for AI Preparedness in the Microsoft Cloud
This session explores the critical importance of data quality, organization, and governance as foundational elements for any successful AI project. We discuss strategies for cleaning, structuring, and maintaining data, ensuring it is AI-ready, We walk through a checklist to consider in your AI planning. Examples are demonstrated in the Microsoft Cloud, focused on CoPilot and Power Platform. This course is intended for tech enthusiasts ready to jumpstart their AI solutions in the Microsoft Cloud.
Presenter: Kathy Durfee
Room: Auditorium
Level: Beginner
Hands On: No
Takeaway:
- Get Started CheckList: Discover what factors to consider for your rollout and what actions to take to be CoPilot ready.
- Data and Security Preparation: Delve into specific actions you can take to prepare your Microsoft cloud tenant’s data and security for copilot.
- Seeing it in Action: Get equipped with real life demonstrations of CoPilot in practice to help you evaluate which scenarios are best to move forward with. We will take a quick tour of CoPilot user products and introductory look at Azure AI tools for PowerPlatform.
Introduction to Podman
A basic understanding of using Podman and containers. This talk will go over using podman to deploy rootless containers and why using rootless containers improves security. Work on getting multiple containers.
Presenter: James Tilton
Room: 219
Level: Intermediate
Hands On: No
Takeaway:
- What Podman and containers are
- Deploying containers with podman
- Differences between docker and podman
- Deploying multiple containers togetherers to work with each other to deploy an multi-container applicaiton.
Welcome to the Dark Side – A Career with Vendors
Entry-level jobs in cyber security are becoming more difficult to find. In this session, we will discuss an alternative point of entry into a career in cybersecurity – working for security vendors. This talk will also include how transitioning from an experienced career in cybersecurity to working at a cybersecurity vendor is also a viable and often profitable option.
Presenter: Keith Wilson
Room: 219
Level: Beginner
Hands On: No
Takeaway:
- Alternative entry paths to traditional cyber security roles by working with a cyber security vendor
- Different technical roles at cyber security vendors that can translate into a career outside of a vendor
- How those who have a lot of technical experience already can transition into high paying roles like sales engineer
How to redesign and launch your product in less than 8 weeks
Are you interested in enhancing your product development process? In this enlightening session Jorge shares how he revamped and launched a killer product in just 8 weeks, all thanks to combining the already highly efficient Design Sprint methodology with Agile principles.
By the end of this session, you’ll be all pumped up about rapid product transformation and ready to take these tips and tricks to make your own product management dreams a reality.
Presenter: Jorge Castellote
Room: 220
Level: Intermediate
Hands On: Yes
Takeaway:
- Gain insights into how this enhanced Design Sprint framework optimizes product development.
- Take a deep dive into a real-life case study, where he unveils the secret sauce behind the success story.
- Score some priceless insights and cool best practices.
- Walk away with practical tips you can actually use on your own projects.
- Learn how to bring Design Sprints to your company’s toolkit.
- Find out how AI can supercharge your Design Sprints.
An Introduction to Threat Hunting
Threat hunting can be a proactive task used to identify vulnerabilities, misconfigurations, and gaps in the security architecture of the network. In this talk, we will discuss getting a threat hunt program started providing first steps into hunting networks, servers, workstations, and applications.
Presenter: Shane Hartman
Room: 224
Level: Beginner
Hands On: No
Takeaway:
CIS, Cloud Computing and Cyber
In today’s digital landscape, the convergence of Cybersecurity (Cyber), Cloud Computing, and Computer Information Systems (CIS) has become increasingly evident. This session aims to delve into the intricacies of this convergence, exploring how these programs intersect and synergize to address the evolving challenges and opportunities in the tech industry.
Explore the fundamentals of CIS, Cybersecurity, and Cloud Computing, highlighting their distinct yet interconnected roles in modern IT operations.
Offer actionable advice for students and professionals looking to enhance their skills and expertise in CIS, Cyber, and Cloud technologies, including recommended resources and certification pathways.
This session will also include an interactive contest regarding Cyber Security Technology and Science vulnerabilities. The winner will receive a valuable and coveted prize.
Presenter: Kevin MacDougal
Room: 219
Level: Beginner
Hands On: Yes
Takeaway:
- CIS, Cloud Computing and Cyber Program information
Adversary Emulation with ATT&CK
In this session, we will discuss how purple teams or fusion teams are utilizing the ATT&CK framework to emulate the behavior of adversaries likely to target their enterprise.
Presenter: Keith Wilson
Room: 224
Level: Intermediate
Hands On: No
Takeaway:
- The building blocks of the ATT&CK Framework (Tactics, Techniques, Procedures, Mitigations, and Detections)/li>
- What purple teaming is and a general overview of how the process looks
- What the MITRE Center for Threat-Informed Defense Adversary Emulation library is
- How to use the emulation plans in the Adversary Emulation library as part of a purple teaming exercise
Mastering the Art of Extreme Monetization in Emerging Technologies
This session is dedicated to exploring the principles of achieving exceptional success in the realm of emerging technologies. We will focus on key areas such as innovation, the development of disruptive business models, and the adaptability crucial in modern leadership. Attendees will learn strategies for integrating data-driven decisions with intuitive thinking, thereby revolutionizing customer experiences and creating innovative revenue streams. While the session primarily comprises a lecture format, there will be a dedicated segment for audience questions. Tailored for entrepreneurs and business leaders, this session offers insights into transforming ventures into highly successful enterprises, emphasizing the balance between rapid scaling and sustainable growth.
Presenter: Michael Entner-Gómez
Room: 220
Level: Advanced
Hands On: No
Takeaway:
- Exploring unicorn-level success in emerging technologies
- Innovation and disruptive business models
- Leadership adaptability in modern contexts
- Blending data-driven decisions with intuition
- Balancing rapid scaling and sustainable growth
