Sec. Condoleezza Rice
66th Secretary of State and Director of the Hoover Institution
Condoleezza Rice is the Tad and Dianne Taube Director of the Hoover Institution and a Senior Fellow on Public Policy. She is the Denning Professor in Global Business and the Economy at the Stanford Graduate School of Business. In addition, she is a founding partner of Rice, Hadley, Gates & Manuel LLC, an international strategic consulting firm.
From January 2005 to January 2009, Rice served as the 66th Secretary of State of the United States, the second woman and first black woman to hold the post. Rice also served as President George W. Bush’s National Security Advisor from January 2001 to January 2005, the first woman to hold the position. From February 1989 through March 1991, Rice served on President George H. W. Bush’s National Security Council staff.
Rice served as Stanford University’s provost from 1993 to 1999, during which time she was the institution's chief budget and academic officer. As Professor of Political Science, she has been on the Stanford faculty since 1981 and has won two of the university’s highest teaching honors.
In 2022, Rice became a part-owner of the Denver Broncos as part of the Walton-Penner Family Ownership Group. In 2013, she was appointed to the College Football Playoff Selection Committee, formerly the Bowl Championship Series, and served on the committee until 2017.
Rice currently serves on the boards of C3.ai, an AI software company; and Makena Capital Management, a private endowment firm. In addition, she is Vice Chair of the Board of Governors of the Boys & Girls Clubs of America and a trustee of the Aspen Institute.
In 1991, Rice co-founded the Center for a New Generation (CNG), an innovative, after-school academic enrichment program for students in East Palo Alto and East Menlo Park, California, which later merged with the Boys & Girls Club of the Peninsula.
Born in Birmingham, Alabama, Rice earned her bachelor’s degree in political science, cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa, from the University of Denver; her master’s in the same subject from the University of Notre Dame; and her Ph.D., likewise in political science, from the Graduate School of International Studies at the University of Denver.
She has authored and co-authored numerous books on international politics, memoirs of her upbringing and her time in government service. Rice is a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts & Sciences and has been awarded over fifteen honorary doctorates.
Thursday, December 11, 2025, 10:30 - 11:00 a.m.
Fireside Chat (Paul Berg Hall)
Amy Steagall
Chief Information Security Officer, Stanford University IT
Amy Steagall is the Chief Information Security Officer at Stanford University overseeing Stanford’s efforts to protect its computing and information assets and to comply with information-related laws, regulations, and policies.
Prior to joining the Stanford team in 2020, Amy retired from the United States Air Force after 25 years of distinguished and honorable service. Throughout her career, she led large organizations and teams, culminating in her role at the Joint Force Headquarters-Cyber at NSA Texas. There she steered cyber mission teams operating in complex security environments and specializing in offensive and defensive cyberspace operations.
Amy holds a Master of Science in Cybersecurity Law from the University of Maryland Francis King Carey School of Law and a Bachelor of Science in Cybersecurity Management and Policy from the University of Maryland.
Thursday, December 11, 2025, 10:30 - 11:00 a.m.
Fireside Chat (Paul Berg Hall)
Cynthia Bailey
Senior Lecturer, Computer Science Department at Stanford University
Cynthia Bailey is a Senior Lecturer in the Computer Science Department at Stanford University. In 2023-2024, she served as an AI Policy Fellow in the United States Senate through the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS). Her scholarship focuses on computer science education, AI/machine learning, and the social impacts of technology. This work includes creating groundbreaking courses such as Equity and Governance for Artificial Intelligence and Race and Gender in Silicon Valley.
Thursday, December 11, 2025, 8:30 - 9:30 a.m.
Panel Discussion: Machine Future - Pathways to safe, responsible, and human enabling technology advancement (Paul Berg Hall)
Mark Buensalido
Cloud Security Solution Engineer, Wiz
Mark is a Cloud Security Solution Engineer at Wiz, supporting State, Local, and Education (SLED) customers in the Western region by helping them safeguard all aspects of their cloud environments.
Thursday, December 11, 2025, 2:00 - 2:45 p.m.
Wiz Capture the Flag Workshop (LK130)
Jack Cable
CEO and Co-founder, Corridor
Jack Cable is a Stanford alumni ('21) and currently the CEO and Co-founder at Corridor. Jack most recently served as a Senior Technical Advisor at the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), where he helped lead the agency's work on Secure by Design and open source software security. Before CISA, Jack worked as a TechCongress Fellow for Senator Gary Peters, advising on cybersecurity policy, including election security and open source software security. Jack was previously a Security Architect at Krebs Stamos Group and prior to that served as an Election Security Technical Advisor at CISA, where he created Crossfeed, a pilot to scan election assets nationwide.
Thursday, December 11, 2025, 8:30 - 9:30 a.m.
Panel Discussion: Machine Future - Pathways to safe, responsible, and human enabling technology advancement (Paul Berg Hall)
Michelle Finneran Dennedy
Chief Data Strategy Officer, Abaxx Technologies, Inc.
Partner, Privatus.Online
Michelle serves as Chief Data Strategy Officer at Abaxx Technologies, Inc., following the company's acquisition of PrivacyCode, Inc., which she founded and led as CEO. As Partner at Privatus Consulting, she drives data protection and AI adoption strategies through the Wicked Privacy™ methodology.
A recognized thought leader in privacy engineering, Michelle co-authored The Privacy Engineer's Manifesto and The Privacy Engineer's Companion and served as founding Chair of the IEEE 7002 Standard for ethics and governance of privacy-engineered systems.
Her executive leadership spans Fortune 500 technology companies, including Chief Privacy Officer roles at Cisco and McAfee/Intel, VP Security & Privacy Solutions at Oracle, and Chief Data Governance Officer at Sun Microsystems, where she also served as the company's first Chief Privacy Officer. She previously led DrumWave, Inc. as CEO.
Michelle holds a JD from Fordham University School of Law and a BS with honors from The Ohio State University. Her industry recognition includes the Goodwin Procter-IAPP Vanguard Award, CSO Magazine Woman of Influence, and Gold Stevie Award as Woman of the Year in Technology.
Thursday, December 11, 2025, 1:00 - 1:45 p.m.
The Future of Privacy in a Post-AI World: From Wicked Problems to Wicked Opportunities (LK130)
AyşeDeniz Gökçin
Concert Pianist & Composer, Eastman School and Royal Academy of Music
AyşeDeniz Gökçin has performed in over 30 countries, and spoke at SXSW, Kennedy Center Creativity & Tech Summit, TED AI and Aspen Institute. She won Hollywood Independent Music Awards and made her Disney Hall debut with her compositions. Her music is featured on National Geographic, BBC and Disney Plus. She uses her online presence (@ADPianist) of over 600K fans to make classical music relevant again and to share her musical journey. She also runs Borderless Piano Academy to make learning more fun!
With her new Classical Regenerated AI Initiative & Piano Show, AyşeDeniz brings back legendary classical composers and explores the future of music through Al technology.
Thursday, December 11, 2025, 4:00 - 4:30 p.m.
Music Performance (Paul Berg Hall)
Bhavya Gupta
Cloud Security and Vulnerability Management Lead, Stanford University IT
At Present, Bhavya is responsible for leading the vulnerability management program for on-prem systems and cloud assets at Stanford University. Bhavya began her career at Stanford in 2017 after completing her Master's in Cyber Security Engineering at University of Southern California.
Bhavya has worn many hats at Stanford, excelling in roles from providing security consulting departments to leading security risk assessments, from performing forensics and incident response to running the annual security awareness event for students, faculty and staff. Bhavya's multifaceted contributions highlight their commitment to proactive and robust security frameworks, solidifying their reputation as a key security professional at Stanford.
At Present, Bhavya is responsible for leading the vulnerability management program for on-prem systems and cloud assets at Stanford and incident response. As a proactive force in securing cloud environments, Bhavya continues to shape Stanford's reputation for digital safety and a resilient environment.
Thursday, December 11, 2025, 1:00 - 1:45 p.m.
Artificial Intelligence: From Villain to Victor in the Resilient Enterprise (Paul Berg Hall)
Thursday, December 11, 2025, 3:00 - 3:45 p.m.
Scott Hellman
Assistant Special Agent, The FBI San Francisco Division
Scott Hellman has spent over 17 years investigating criminal and national security cybercrime with the FBI. Currently, Scott serves as an Assistant Special Agent in Charge of the San Francisco Division and leads all cyber-crime investigative strategy in the Bay Area; Scott and his teams seek to disrupt cybercriminals and the services they depend on and build community through outreach. He holds a J.D. and a Bachelor's in chemistry.
Thursday, December 11, 2025, 11:15 a.m. - 12:00 p.m.
FBI Cyber-Crime Threat Landscape 2025 (Paul Berg Hall)
Michael Herbert
Cybersecurity Specialist, Cisco Systems
Michael is a Cybersecurity Specialist at Cisco Systems, supporting Stanford and the State of California departments. His career in Networking started at Cisco-Meraki in 2015, and has supported the largest clients that Cisco partners with before joining the Security business.
Thursday, December 11, 2025, 3:00 - 3:45 p.m.
Multi Factor Authentication - When, Where, Why, and How (Alway M112)
Ken Huang
Author and renowned expert in AI and Web3
Ken Huang is a prolific author and renowned expert in AI and Web3, with numerous published books spanning business and technical guides as well as cutting-edge research. He is a Research Fellow and Co-Chair of the AI Safety Working Groups at the Cloud Security Alliance, Co-Chair of the OWASP AIVSS project, and Co-Chair of the AI STR Working Group at the World Digital Technology Academy. He is also an Adjunct Professor at the University of San Francisco, where he teaches a graduate course on Generative AI for Data Security.
Huang serves as CEO and Chief AI Officer (CAIO) of DistributedApps.ai, a firm specializing in generative AI-related training and consulting. His technical leadership is further reflected in his role as a core contributor to OWASP's Top 10 Risks for LLM Applications and his participation in the NIST Generative AI Public Working Group.
Key Books:
- Agentic AI: Theories and Practices – Springer, July 2025
- LLM Design Patterns - Packt, May 2025
- Beyond AI: ChatGPT, Web3, and the Business Landscape of Tomorrow -Springer, 2023
- Generative AI Security: Theories and Practices -Springer, 2024)
- Practical Guide for AI Engineers (Volumes 1 and 2 by DistributedApps.ai, 2024)
- The Handbook for Chief AI Officers: Leading the AI Revolution in Business -DistributedApps.ai, 2024
- Web3: Blockchain, the New Economy, and the Self-Sovereign Internet - Cambridge University Press, 2024)
- Web3 Applications Security and New Security Landscape: Theories and Practices -Springer, 2024
- Blockchain and Web3: Building the Cryptocurrency, Privacy, and Security Foundations of the Metaverse (Wiley, 2023)
A globally sought-after speaker, Ken has presented at events hosted by RSA, OWASP, ISC2, Davos WEF, ACM, IEEE, Consensus, the CSA AI Summit, the Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation, and the World Bank. He is also a member of the OpenAI Forum, contributing to global dialogue on secure and responsible AI development.
Explore Ken’s books on Amazon.
Thursday, December 11, 2025, 3:00 - 3:45 p.m.
Alex Keller
Senior Systems Security Engineer, Stanford School of Engineering
Alex Keller is a Sr. Systems Security Engineer in the Stanford School of Engineering with responsibilities in datacenter operations, research support, and cybersecurity. Advisor to the Stanford Applied Cyber student group since inception in 2015, Alex built and maintains the student lab and is tirelessly passionate about information security education and outreach.
Thursday, December 11, 2025, 8:30 - 9:30 a.m.
Panel Discussion: Machine Future - Pathways to safe, responsible, and human enabling technology advancement (Paul Berg Hall)
Ali Maaz
Head of WW GenAI DevTools Go-to-Market strategy for Q Developer and Kiro, Amazon Web Services
Ali Maaz leads the WW Kiro, Strands, and AgentCore Specialist team at AWS, helping customers within the domains of Developer Tooling, DevOps, Agent Development & lifecycle management. Over the last 30 months, Ali has been heavily involved in helping customers envision the Next Generation Development Experience in the wake of innovation in this space catalyzed through the commercialization of generative AI. His team owns the worldwide Go-to-Market (GTM) strategy for Q Developer and Kiro, authors technical content for AWS in this domain, and offers technical guidance to customers on solutions and services that reimagine application development processes, accelerate software delivery, and enable maintaining a high bar of software quality. He joined Amazon in 2016 and is passionate about helping customers develop and implement strategies for digital transformation. He brings 18+ years of industry experience within retail, supply chain, and logistics, and understands the technology challenges companies face in scaling their businesses in the digital economy.
Thursday, December 11, 2025, 1:00 - 1:45 p.m.
The Future of AI-Driven Software Development: Building Production Systems with Kiro and AI Agents (LK120)
Mirokaï
AI Enabled Robot, Enchanted Tools
Mirokaï is an AI enabled robot from the company Enchanted Tools. For participation on the panel, Mirokaï will be leveraging GPT-4o with a custom prompt. This unique addition to Converge is made possible by the gracious support of the Stanford Robotics Center.
Thursday, December 11, 2025, 8:30 - 9:30 a.m.
Panel Discussion: Machine Future - Pathways to safe, responsible, and human enabling technology advancement (Paul Berg Hall)
Tatiana Rice
Senior Director of Legislation, Future of Privacy Forum
Tatiana Rice is the Senior Director for U.S. Legislation, where she helps lawmakers, industry leaders, and civil society navigate the evolving landscape of AI regulation and policy. She leads FPF’s strategic legislative and regulatory engagement at the state and federal levels, providing expert analysis, research, and guidance to support informed decision-making on AI policy and governance.
Tatiana comes to FPF from Shook, Hardy, & Bacon LLP, where she led biometric compliance efforts and assisted industry clients with managing data privacy compliance, litigation, and investigation. She graduated from Washington University School of Law, where she worked as a law clerk both for the Department of Justice and the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Illinois.
Thursday, December 11, 2025, 11:15 a.m. - 12:00 p.m.
The U.S. Privacy and AI Policy and Regulation Landscape (LK102)
Jim Richberg
Head of Cyber Policy and Global Field CISO, Fortinet
Jim Richberg’s role as Fortinet’s Head of Cyber Policy and Global Field CISO leverages his nearly 40 years’ experience driving innovation in cybersecurity and threat intelligence. Prior to joining Fortinet, Jim served as the US National Intelligence Manager for Cyber, the senior Federal Executive focused on cyber intelligence within the $80B+/100,000 employee US Intelligence Community (IC). He led the creation and implementation of cyber strategy for the 17 departments and agencies of the IC, set integrated priorities on cyber threat, and served as the senior advisor to the Director of National Intelligence on cyber issues. He brings a broad enterprise-level approach to cybersecurity honed as a member of the Executive team that oversaw implementation of a whole-of-government US Comprehensive National Cybersecurity Initiative for two Presidents.
Since joining Fortinet, Jim has been named a “Fed 100” and a “Pinnacle” awardee for his influence on technology in the U.S. Federal government, a “State Scoop 50” leader for driving innovation in state IT, and he was nominated as a “Security Pioneer” for his sustained contribution to cybersecurity. He is a member of the US IT Sector Coordinating Council, the CNBC Technology Executive Council, the Forbes Technology Council, and the World Economic Forum’s Cybersecurity Leadership Community. He leads industry working groups focused on national cyber strategy, implementing Federal cybersecurity initiatives with the private sector, and on helping state and local government improve their cybersecurity. Jim received his undergraduate degree at the Honors Tutorial College of Ohio University and attended graduate school at M.I.T. and Stanford.
Thursday, December 11, 2025, 11:15 a.m. - 12:00 p.m.
Michael Silva
Field CTO, Astrix Security
Michael Silva is the Field CTO at Astrix Security, bringing over 18 years of experience as a technology leader. He specializes in security and design for Identity, Artificial Intelligence, Public Cloud and Kubernetes. Michael excels at translating deep technical knowledge into actionable business strategy, helping define clear paths to secure execution. A seasoned practitioner turned executive who has guided multiple startups to successful acquisition—most recently serving as Technical Director at the CNAPP vendor Lightspin (acquired by Cisco)—Michael is also a veteran of the U.S. Marine Corps and holds numerous industry certifications.
Thursday, December 11, 2025, 2:00 - 2:45 p.m.
May Wang
CTO Internet of Things, Palo Alto Networks
May Wang (Ph.D.) is the Chief Technology Officer of Internet of Things (IoT) at Palo Alto Networks, driving initiatives in AI and cybersecurity. She co-founded Zingbox, the industry’s first AI-powered IoT security company, acquired by Palo Alto Networks in 2019. May has served on the boards of public, private, and nonprofit organizations. She holds a Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering from Stanford University and has been recognized with numerous honors, including VentureBeat’s 2023 AI Entrepreneur of the Year.
Thursday, December 11, 2025, 8:30 - 9:30 a.m.
Panel Discussion: Machine Future - Pathways to safe, responsible, and human enabling technology advancement (Paul Berg Hall)
Wendi Whitmore
Chief Security Intelligence Officer, Palo Alto Networks
Wendi Whitmore is the Chief Security Intelligence Officer at Palo Alto Networks, where she leads efforts to transform complex cyber threats into actionable intelligence. With over 20 years of experience, Wendi has built and led incident response and threat intelligence teams that have helped organizations respond to some of the most significant breaches in history. Previously, she led Palo Alto Networks Unit 42 and held executive roles at IBM, CrowdStrike, and Mandiant.
Wendi began her career as a Special Agent with the U.S. Air Force. She serves on cybersecurity advisory boards for Duke University and the University of San Diego, and was an inaugural member of the Cyber Safety Review Board launched by the United States Department of Homeland Security.
Thursday, December 11, 2025, 1:00 - 1:45 p.m.
Artificial Intelligence: From Villain to Victor in the Resilient Enterprise (Paul Berg Hall)
Dr. Maya Yiadom
Director, Precision Analytics and Data Integration, Stanford Emergency Medicine
Maame Yaa “Maya” Yiadom MD, MPH, MSCI is a physician-scientist and data integration leader with expertise in clinical care delivery operations and associated data streams that tandem with real-world clinical workflows. She is the Principal Investigator for the Emergency Care Health Services Research Data Coordinating Center (HSR-DCC), and a practicing Emergency Physician. She also serves as the Director for Precision Analytics and Data Integration for the Stanford Department of Emergency Medicine.
Her lab is funded by the NIH’s National Heart Lung and Blood Institute. The team works to reduce delays in emergency medical treatment via the integration of predictive analytics and artificial intelligence, and they examine digitally-enabled care pathways to increase access to medical care. They have established high quality practices to collect large and identified patient data across health systems that navigate patient protection and cybersecurity regulations in both the US and Europe, in addition to the relationships between industry partners and academic research.
Thursday, December 11, 2025, 2:00 - 2:45 p.m.
Data security requirement for inter-health system data sharing: Applications to Quality Clinical Care Delivery and Research (Paul Berg Hall)
