Tan Parker is a businessman, who grew up in North Texas working in his family’s restaurants while volunteering in his community. He married his college sweetheart, Beth, and they moved to Flower Mound, raising their daughters, Lauren and Ashley. While family comes first, Tan considers working for the betterment of Texas the highest honor of his professional life.

Previously serving in the Texas House, Tan held leading committee roles on policy matters vital to our state. His leadership was instrumental in the unanimous election by his colleagues as chair of the House Republican Caucus during the 84th and 85th legislative sessions.

Tan Parker is a businessman, who grew up in North Texas working in his family’s restaurants while volunteering in his community. He married his college sweetheart, Beth, and they moved to Flower Mound, raising their daughters, Lauren and Ashley. While family comes first, Tan considers working for the betterment of Texas the highest honor of his professional life.

The rules of engagement in cyberspace have changed. Autonomous offensive AI is no longer a theoretical threat horizon; it is an operational reality rewriting the speed, scale, and sophistication of attacks against government networks right now. AI-driven adversaries are scanning, probing, and exploiting vulnerabilities in minutes, not days — faster than any human-speed security operation center can detect, triage, and respond.

In this keynote, David Luber — former Director of Cybersecurity at the National Security Agency — brings a rare, career-forged perspective to one of the most consequential shifts in the history of cyber defense. Drawing on decades at the leading edge of national-level cybersecurity operations, Dave will walk through what autonomous offensive AI actually looks like in the wild: how AI-driven tools are being weaponized to discover vulnerabilities at scale, chain exploits autonomously, and adapt in real time to evade even sophisticated defenses. He will examine what this tectonic shift means for state and local government agencies — most of which were architected to defend against human-paced attackers in a fundamentally different threat era.

But this session doesn't stop at the threat picture. The core of this keynote is practical and actionable: what does a modern AI-augmented defensive posture actually look like, and what can government security leaders do right now? Dave will also share hard-won lessons from a career spanning some of the most consequential moments in U.S. cyber history — offered here for the benefit of the Texas public sector security community.

Attendees will leave with a sharper understanding of the machine-speed battlefield, a clearer view of where defensive gaps exist, and concrete steps for building resilience before the next campaign arrives.

The machines are already fighting. The question is whether your defenses are ready.

The 21^st century has delivered remarkable innovation—from smartphones to generative AI—while introducing new risks, from Y2K-era legacy constraints to today’s AI-enabled deception and "hallucinations."

This session traces how cybersecurity in state and local government has evolved across this millennium: the inflection points that changed the threat landscape, the practices that proved durable, and the hard lessons learned while protecting critical infrastructure, services, data, and residents.

It then looks ahead to what’s next—zero trust, identity-first security, and the rise of agentic AI—so attendees leave with practical guidance they can apply immediately: what to prioritize, what to modernize, and how to communicate risk and investment needs to leadership.

Grounded in candid, real-world stories from the front lines, the presentation is delivered through the lens of a former State Government CISO, three-time author, and award-winning weekly blogger—bringing a fresh, actionable perspective for public-sector cyber leaders and practitioners.

Daniel J. Lohrmann is an internationally recognized cybersecurity leader, technologist, keynote speaker and author. During his distinguished career, Dan has served global organizations in the public and private sectors in a variety of executive leadership capacities, receiving numerous national awards including: CSO of the Year from SC Magazine, Public Official of the Year from Governing Magazine and Computerworld Premier 100 IT Leader.

Michael Fitch is a resident of the Austin area and has more than 30 years of experience spanning enterprise cybersecurity and IT services for customers in federal, state & local government. He brings an understanding of the unique needs of state agencies and the requirement for strong communication and collaboration to achieve success. Mr. Fitch holds a master’s degree in Cybersecurity and Information Assurance (MSCIA), a bachelor’s degree in business administration, and multiple professional certifications, including PgMP, ITIL 4 Strategic Leader and Managing Professional, CISSP, CISSP-ISSMP, HCISPP, CCSP, C-CISO, CEH, and GSLC.

Aaron Thalman is an accomplished cybersecurity leader with over 27 years of experience in the technology field, including 15 years dedicated to cybersecurity within higher education and K–12 environments. He holds a Bachelor’s degree in Computer Information Technology and maintains industry-recognized certifications, including CISSP, CCNA, and additional credentials focused on network penetration testing and incident response.
Aaron’s expertise has been highlighted in multiple industry case studies and most recently featured in EdTech magazine. Throughout his career, he has successfully built and led security programs across both higher education institutions and K–12 school districts, bringing deep, hands-on experience in addressing the unique challenges of resource-constrained environments.
At IDEA Public Schools, Aaron leads enterprise security strategy, incident response, risk management, operational security, and security awareness initiatives, safeguarding the data of thousands of students and staff.

Jeremiah Clifton is a senior cybersecurity and digital risk leader with more than fifteen years of experience leading enterprise security programs in complex public-sector environments.

He currently serves as the Interim Chief Information Security Officer (CISO) for the City of Austin, where he leads the enterprise information security program, aligning security, privacy, and digital risk to support citywide technology strategy and resilience.

Previously, he held senior cybersecurity leadership roles at NASA's Johnson Space Center, supporting mission-critical systems for human spaceflight and research.

Jeremiah holds a Chief Risk Officer (CRO) Certificate from Carnegie Mellon University and maintains a broad portfolio of advanced certifications across cybersecurity, privacy, audit, and enterprise risk management.

Steven Pryor is the Chief Information Security Officer (CISO) for the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT), leading statewide efforts to secure Texas’s critical transportation infrastructure. He oversees 24/7 cybersecurity operations, ensures TxDOT systems are built securely, and collaborates with public and private partners to provide trusted, resilient solutions.

With 17 years of cybersecurity experience across the U.S. Air Force, U.S. Department of State, and multiple Texas agencies, Steven brings deep expertise in risk management, assessment, and security governance. Prior to joining TxDOT, he served as a Cybersecurity Assessor for the Department of State and Director of Governance, Risk, and Compliance for Texas Health and Human Services.