FirstLight Opens Registration for Boston Cloud Connect Summit, Featuring AI and Cybersecurity Experts from Draper, WPI

Lineup includes presenters from Draper, Cyflare, Compass IT Compliance, and WPI

ALBANY, N.Y., Aug. 18, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- FirstLight, a leading provider of digital infrastructure and technology solutions in the Northeast, announced its latest Boston Cloud Connect Summit, which will take place at WGBH Studios' Yawkey Theater on September 24^th.

This year's event arrives as organizations across the Northeast race to adopt AI while facing tighter cybersecurity and insurance compliance requirements, a tension this year's speaker lineup addresses head-on.

"For over a decade, the Cloud Connect Summit has brought together the people actually building and securing IT infrastructure across the Northeast," said Lorenzo Leuzzi, Chief Revenue Officer at FirstLight. "This year's lineup reflects where real conversations are happening right now: AI adoption, cybersecurity, and compliance, and we're glad to give that conversation a stage."

The summit will feature presentations by esteemed experts in cybersecurity, artificial intelligence, and insurance/compliance. FirstLight is the premier sponsor of the event, with additional support from Veeam and Ciena.

Speakers include:

• Troy Lau is leading one of the more ambitious enterprise AI rollouts in the region: bringing AI tools to Draper's 2,600-person workforce, an organization whose systems support NASA and the U.S. military. As Director of Digital Technologies & Sciences and Head of AI at Draper, Lau will share hard-won lessons from that rollout: what worked, what didn't, and what he'd do differently.
  
  
• With over 20 years in IT, Derek Boczenowski has spent his career helping organizations spot the security gaps that turn into compliance failures and insurance claim denials. As Chief Architect at Compass IT Compliance, he'll walk through the roadblocks that most often trip up organizations when a claim or an audit is on the line. 
  
  
• How well do humans and AI actually work together? That's the question driving Dr. Erin Solovey's research at Worcester Polytechnic Institute, where she is Associate Professor of Computer Science specializing in human-AI interaction. She'll present findings from her latest study on human-AI collaboration and what they mean for how organizations deploy intelligent systems. 
  
  
• Cyberattacks don't stop at 5pm… and neither should your defenses, says Matt Farry, Chief Product Officer at Cyflare. Farry will explain how a managed Security Operations Center (SOC) can help organizations optimize their cybersecurity stack, maintain 24/7 protection, and stay ahead of increasingly stringent insurance requirements. 

The Cloud Connect Summit has been held in major cities across the Northeast for nearly a decade, and attracts CIOs, CEOs, CFOs, CISOs, IT directors, system administrators, and other IT practitioners.

New this year, summit attendees are eligible to earn Continuing Professional Education (CPE) credits recognized by the Information Systems Audit and Control Association (ISACA).

To register, visit www.cloudconnectsummit.com. For a limited time, use code "NEWS" to waive the registration fee.

About FirstLight

FirstLight is a regional digital infrastructure provider that owns and operates a high-performance fiber network across the Northeast and mid-Atlantic. Headquartered in Albany, New York, the company delivers business-grade connectivity, data center, cloud, security, and unified communications services for organizations with mission-critical IT needs.

FirstLight's owned fiber network spans more than 20,000 route miles and reaches over 125,000 serviceable locations, enabling low-latency, reliable connectivity for enterprise and carrier customers. By controlling its network infrastructure, FirstLight is able to deliver consistent performance, faster issue resolution, and tightly integrated services across fiber connectivity, SD-WAN, SASE, cloud, data center, and unified communication solutions.

FirstLight serves a broad range of customers, including national wireless and wireline carriers, healthcare systems, financial institutions, manufacturers, research organizations, educational institutions, and local and state governments throughout the region.

For more information about FirstLight, visit www.firstlight.net or follow the company on X, LinkedIn and Instagram.

Media Contact:

John Romagnoli
[email protected]

SOURCE FirstLight