2026 Southern Colorado Regional Cybersecurity & AI Conference

Join us at Colorado State University Pueblo (CSU Pueblo) for the 2026 Southern Colorado Regional Cybersecurity & AI Conference.

This annual conference is free for attendees and brings together cybersecurity, information technology, artificial intelligence, and business professionals from across Southern Colorado to learn, collaborate, and explore emerging threats, technologies, and best practices.

Featuring expert-led presentations, hands-on workshops, and networking opportunities, the conference will cover topics including cybersecurity, AI, risk management, critical infrastructure protection, cyber resilience, workforce development, and real-world technology solutions.

• High school seniors interested in cybersecurity, AI, and technology careers
• College students in CIS, Computer Science, Cybersecurity, AI, or IT
• IT, cybersecurity, and business professionals from:
• Government agencies
• Healthcare organizations
• Educational institutions
• Utilities and critical infrastructure
• Libraries
• Private-sector businesses

Whether you're an experienced professional, student, educator, or organizational leader, this conference offers valuable insights, practical knowledge, and opportunities to connect with others who are helping shape Southern Colorado's digital future.

Learn. Collaborate. Innovate. Secure the Future.

Info: Attendee Sign-in

Info: This is a hands-on 2.5-hour workshop is designed to take participants from beginners to confident users of Google’s NotebookLM. Unlike standard AI chatbots, NotebookLM acts as a personalized, AI-powered research assistant grounded entirely in the user's own trusted documents. This session guides attendees through initial setup, document ingestion, advanced synthesis techniques, and utilizing multimedia outputs to accelerate learning and workflow productivity. No prior AI experience is required. Just bring your laptop, your Google account login, and your curiosity. You’ll leave with practical skills you can start using right away.

Info: In this engaging and interactive session, participants will enhance their cybersecurity preparedness by playing the FEMA Cybersecurity Tabletop Exercise Game. Designed by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), this game presents a series of realistic cyber incident scenarios that challenge teams to think critically, make rapid decisions, and navigate the complexities of cyber crisis response. Participants will take on key organizational roles such as IT, legal, communications, and executive leadership, and collaborate to respond to evolving threats like phishing attacks, ransomware, data breaches, and system outages. No prior AI experience is required. Just bring your curiosity and leave with skills you can use immediately.

Info: Join Adam Pocius, Executive Director of IT at CSU Pueblo and Director of IT Support & Services for the CSU System, for an engaging, hands-on workshop designed to help attendees get the most out of today's AI tools.
Whether you're new to AI or have only experimented with tools like ChatGPT, Copilot, Gemini, or Claude, this session will teach you how to move beyond basic questions and create effective prompts that generate more useful, accurate, and actionable results.
Participants will learn practical prompting strategies, common pitfalls to avoid, and real-world use cases for education, business, research, productivity, and everyday work. By the end of the workshop, you'll have the confidence and skills to use AI more effectively in both your professional and personal life.
No prior AI experience is required. Just bring your laptop, curiosity, and a willingness to learn.

Info: This session explores how locally hosted agentic AI can support cyber incident response and disaster recovery when cloud services and internet connectivity are unavailable. Participants will learn about current AI technologies, agentic AI frameworks, local deployment considerations, and take part in a hands-on cyber investigation exercise comparing AI-assisted and traditional log analysis techniques. No prior experience is required. Just bring your laptop, curiosity, and a willingness to learn.

Info: Summary: TBD

Conference Sponsor: Lunch

Info: Lunch provided by Optiv American Cybersecurity Advisory and Solutions.

Info: This is a hands-on 2.5-hour workshop is designed to take participants from beginners to confident users of Google’s NotebookLM. Unlike standard AI chatbots, NotebookLM acts as a personalized, AI-powered research assistant grounded entirely in the user's own trusted documents. This session guides attendees through initial setup, document ingestion, advanced synthesis techniques, and utilizing multimedia outputs to accelerate learning and workflow productivity. No prior AI experience is required. Just bring your laptop, your Google account login, and your curiosity. You’ll leave with practical skills you can start using right away.

Info: In this engaging and interactive session, participants will enhance their cybersecurity preparedness by playing the FEMA Cybersecurity Tabletop Exercise Game. Designed by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), this game presents a series of realistic cyber incident scenarios that challenge teams to think critically, make rapid decisions, and navigate the complexities of cyber crisis response. Participants will take on key organizational roles such as IT, legal, communications, and executive leadership, and collaborate to respond to evolving threats like phishing attacks, ransomware, data breaches, and system outages. No prior AI experience is required. Just bring your laptop, curiosity and leave with skills you can use immediately.

Info: Join Adam Pocius, Executive Director of IT at CSU Pueblo and Director of IT Support & Services for the CSU System, for an engaging, hands-on workshop designed to help attendees get the most out of today's AI tools.
Whether you're new to AI or have only experimented with tools like ChatGPT, Copilot, Gemini, or Claude, this session will teach you how to move beyond basic questions and create effective prompts that generate more useful, accurate, and actionable results.
Participants will learn practical prompting strategies, common pitfalls to avoid, and real-world use cases for education, business, research, productivity, and everyday work. By the end of the workshop, you'll have the confidence and skills to use AI more effectively in both your professional and personal life.
No prior AI experience is required. Just bring your laptop, curiosity, and a willingness to learn.

Info: This session explores how locally hosted agentic AI can support cyber incident response and disaster recovery when cloud services and internet connectivity are unavailable. Participants will learn about current AI technologies, agentic AI frameworks, local deployment considerations, and take part in a hands-on cyber investigation exercise comparing AI-assisted and traditional log analysis techniques. No prior experience is required. Just bring your laptop, curiosity, and a willingness to learn.

Info: This session brings together IT and cybersecurity professionals for an open, peer-to-peer exchange on the toughest challenges facing our organizations today. From AI-driven threats to evolving compliance demands, attendees will have the opportunity to share insights, ask questions, and explore practical solutions with subject matter experts and presenters. Whether you're looking to strengthen your incident response, refine access controls, or understand emerging risks, this is your chance to pick the brains of experienced professionals and build meaningful connections across institutions.

Info: Room: OSC South Ballroom

Info: Room: OSC South Ballroom

Info: Sponsor: Coffee, Tea, Water
Welcome from CSU Pueblo & the Hasan School of Business (HSB)

Info: Summary:
AI has made capability abundant, but judgment scarce. The people best positioned to benefit from AI aren’t necessarily the people who understand the technology best. They’re the people who have spent years learning what problems matter, what good looks like, and what’s worth doing. Learn the landscape and how you can learn, influence positive behaviors, keep thinking for yourself, and adopt new ways to approach AI in the coming year.

Info: Join representatives from the FBI for an overview of the latest cyber threats and trends impacting organizations across the United States. This session will discuss the current threat landscape, including ransomware, business email compromise, cybercrime, nation-state activity, and emerging attack techniques targeting both public and private sector organizations.
Attendees will gain valuable insights into how threat actors operate, what the FBI is seeing across the country, and practical steps organizations can take to strengthen their cybersecurity posture and reduce risk.

Info: How to implement and track our globally recognized set of prioritized cybersecurity best practices to help defend against the most prevalent cyber threats. Our Controls provide specific, actionable safeguards broken into Implementation Groups (IGs) to help organizations build a defense-in-depth strategy and streamline compliance efforts, with a focus on fundamental security hygiene first, making them a prescriptive and simplified starting point for improving cybersecurity posture.

Info: Lunch sponsor presentation: OPTIV American Cybersecurity Advisory and Solutions

Info: Pack Cafeteria (OSC) Lunch provided by: Optiv American Cybersecurity Advisory and Solutions.

Info: Sponsor - Morning Danishes and Afternoon Cookies
Summary: Compliance frameworks provide organizations with a structured approach to managing cybersecurity risk, protecting sensitive information, and strengthening operational resilience. More than just a regulatory requirement, compliance helps organizations establish clear security practices, build trust with customers and stakeholders, reduce the likelihood of cyber incidents, and demonstrate due diligence in an increasingly complex threat landscape.

This session will explore how compliance frameworks can serve as practical roadmaps for improving security, supporting business continuity, and aligning cybersecurity efforts with organizational goals. Attendees will leave with a better understanding of why compliance matters and how it can help organizations create a stronger, more resilient security posture.

Info: Summary: TBD

Info: Session Summary: Building the Future: AI Chatbots & Agents in 2026 explores how artificial intelligence is evolving from simple chatbots that answer questions to intelligent agents that can take action, automate workflows, and support business operations. Participants will gain practical insights into AI adoption trends, security and governance considerations, cloud versus local deployment options, and the technologies driving modern AI solutions. The session also highlights real-world use cases, emerging risks, and open-source tools that organizations can use to begin their AI journey. Attendees will leave with a better understanding of how to responsibly implement and leverage AI in 2026 and beyond.

Info: Session Summary: This closing session brings together the key lessons from today’s conference and provides space for open discussion. Attendees are encouraged to ask questions, share insights, and connect ideas to their own work. By the end of this forum, we aim to leave everyone with a stronger sense of community, practical takeaways to support daily work, and a renewed commitment to advancing cybersecurity awareness and resilience across our campus and beyond.

Event venue & nearby stays

Colorado State University-Pueblo, 2200 Bonforte Blvd, 2200 Bonforte Boulevard, Pueblo, United States

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