Each year, as we prepare for the Team8 CISO Village Summit, we challenge ourselves with a simple question: What do security leaders need to talk about today to shape tomorrow?
The answer isn’t found in headlines or hype cycles. It comes from ongoing, daily conversations with CISOs, startup founders, government advisors, and enterprise partners. It’s shaped by what we’re seeing in the field, across our portfolio, and at the intersection of innovation and risk. That’s how we choose the themes for our Summit.
Listening First, Then Leading
Over the years, the CISO Summit has grown into one of the most influential gatherings in our industry. But the format hasn’t changed: this is a community-first forum, driven by trust, substance, and candor.
The Summit is not a stage for broadcasting polished narratives or celebrity appearances. It’s a working space for operators, where the most experienced security leaders come to speak openly, learn from one another, and stress-test ideas that can’t be discussed elsewhere.
Introducing our 2025 Theme: Cyber Resilience at Machine Speed – AI as Your Force Multiplier
We treat theme-setting as a strategic exercise. Not just about what’s trending, but about where the industry is going and what leaders need to prepare for.
This year’s theme reflects what we’re hearing across the board: that the speed and scale of AI are changing the game.
Defensive cycles are shrinking. Threats are moving faster. Expectations are higher. Security leaders need to adapt—and AI is both the risk and the remedy
In 2025, we’re focusing on how leaders can keep pace with resilience that operates at machine speed. Here’s how we’re thinking about the 2025 content tracks:
- Security in a Bipolar World – Geopolitical fragmentation, state-sponsored threats, and regulatory alignment.
- The AI Governance Layer – Risk frameworks, model reasoning, and securing AI pipelines.
- The Human Attack Surface – Social engineering, insider risk, and the blurring of physical/digital vulnerabilities.
- Tomorrow’s Innovations – Practical takeaways from startups both across the Team8 ecosystem and outside of it.
Why Our Format Works
We’ve deliberately moved away from one-way, 40 minute lectures. Instead, the Summit is built on participation, and content that frankly ‘get’s to the point’. From unconference sessions to interactive simulations, we prioritize formats that encourage depth and dialogue through action rather than overanalysis.
The CISO Summit is where leaders test ideas, benchmark with peers, and walk away with real insight—not soundbites or a pretty Linkedin post.
The Village Model in Action
The CISO Village isn’t just a community. It’s part of how we build companies at Team8.
Unlike most investors, we don’t stop at just providing capital. We ideate and launch companies with entrepreneurs, CISOs, and domain leaders and the Summit plays a critical role in that process. It helps identify mutually challenging pain points, validate urgency, and pressure-test early solutions before a company is even formed.
This connection between community insight and company creation is a core part of our model—and it’s one reason our Summit themes matter beyond the event itself.
Looking Ahead
The goal of the Summit is simple: to help the best security leaders stay ahead of what’s next and help them keep our world more secure.
We don’t claim to have all the answers. But by curating the right conversations and bringing the right people into the room, we aim to move the industry forward, together.
See you in the Keys.
