Executive Dinner
Cybersecurity in the AI Era: From Board Priority to Operational Resilience
October 20, 2026 at 5:30 pm | Palio Restaurant | San Francisco
Cybersecurity strategy is being reshaped by board-level scrutiny and AI-driven threats. According to IDC research, only 29% of organizations recovered from a 2025 ransomware attack without paying a ransom, down from 43% in 2024.
Investment is rising, with nearly half of organizations increasing cybersecurity funding and more than a third accelerating investment in datacenter, cloud, and IT operations resiliency. Yet a critical gap remains: only about one in five organizations continuously test and optimize their cyber-resilience plans, despite most having one in place.
As boards increasingly treat cyber resilience as an operational-continuity priority, IDC and Sophos will convene senior security and IT leaders in San Francisco for an evening of insights and peer benchmarking. The discussion will explore how to close the gap between investment and real-world resilience, identify what is actually working, and translate insights into concrete, near-term action.
Advanced cybersecurity is now
the #2 global CEO investment priority for the next 12–24 months, second only to AI.
2026 Worldwide Security Spending by Technology Category – Enterprises (1000+ Employees)
Among enterprises with 1,000+ employees, managed security services and project-oriented (consulting and integration) spending dwarf every other security category in the 2026 forecast, together outpacing every individual product category. Large organizations are outsourcing execution and expertise rather than simply buying more point-product licenses, with identity, security analytics, and cloud security rounding out the fastest-growing lines.
The signal for senior IT leaders is clear: resilience is being built through services and integration as much as through software, and the vendors and internal teams that can operationalize that shift will define the next phase of enterprise security spending.
Discussion Themes
Four Conversations Every Security and Risk Leader Should Be Having Right Now
Facing Down AI-Driven Threats and Ransomware
Attackers are moving faster and adapting to AI just as quickly as defenders are. This conversation explores how security leaders are adjusting detection, response, and recovery strategy to keep pace with an evolving threat landscape.
Turning Budget Into Resilience
Security investment is rising, but spend alone doesn’t guarantee better outcomes. Leaders will compare how they are prioritizing dollars across prevention, detection, and recovery, and where that spending is paying off.
Governance, Metrics, and the Board Conversation
Cyber risk is now a standing board topic, which means security leaders need a different kind of scorecard. This theme digs into how organizations are strengthening governance and translating technical risk into language the board acts on.
From Peer Insight to Practical Next Steps
The fastest way to improve a security program is often learning what’s already working somewhere else. This conversation focuses on turning peer experience and benchmarking into concrete, near-term changes.
What To Expect
An executive dinner led by a skilled moderator
An intimate gathering of senior IT leaders from diverse industries, grappling with similar issues
A secure, private conversation open only to a carefully vetted group
Your hosts
Grace Trinidad
Research Director, AI Security and Trust
IDC
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Grace Trinidad
Ratnesh Saxena
VP, Product Management
Sophos
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Ratnesh Saxena
Agenda
IDC Executive Dinner in partnership with Sophos, San Francisco
Tue, Oct 20
Networking Reception
A private reception bringing together senior executives and industry analysts to connect, exchange perspectives, and set context for the evening’s discussion.
Dinner & Discussion
A moderated, off‑the‑record discussion over dinner focused on real‑world execution challenges, emerging industry priorities, and their implications for enterprise leaders.
Event Concludes
The evening concludes with brief closing remarks and informal follow‑up conversations, reinforcing key takeaways and ongoing peer engagement.
Partner
Sponsored By
Sophos
Sophos is a cybersecurity leader defending 600,000 organizations globally with an AI-driven platform and expert-led services. Sophos meets organizations wherever they are in their security maturity and grows with them to defeat cyberattacks. Its solutions combine machine learning, automation, and real-time threat intelligence with frontline human expertise from Sophos X-Ops to deliver advanced, 24/7 threat monitoring, detection, and response. Sophos offers industry-leading managed detection and response (MDR) alongside a comprehensive portfolio of cybersecurity technologies — including endpoint, network, email, and cloud security, extended detection and response (XDR), identity threat detection and response (ITDR), and next-gen SIEM. Together with expert advisory services, these capabilities help organizations proactively reduce risk and respond faster, with the visibility and scalability needed to stay ahead of evolving threats.
