Security Journey Announces Second Annual Security Champions Summit

Two-day virtual event explores the next evolution of security champion programs as AI changes how organizations build, work and manage risk.

RALEIGH, N.C., Oct. 6, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Security Journey, a leader in secure code training and secure development education, today announced the return of its annual Security Champions Summit, which will explore champion engagement, practical secure development, and the evolving role of AI in security. Building on the success of last year's event, the virtual summit, taking place October 15-16, will bring together security leaders, engineers, and program owners to explore how they can inspire action and create lasting change.

As software development accelerates and AI reshapes the way organizations work, Gartner has found that 81% of CIOs believe generative AI skill gaps will prevent them from meeting business objectives. Organizations are realizing that giving employees access to new technologies is only the first step and long-term success hinges on enabling them to use those technologies effectively and securely. Security champions have long played a critical role in driving that change within engineering teams, and the Security Champions Summit will explore how those same principles can be applied more broadly to build organizational capability and support secure AI adoption.

Building Security Programs That Last

The two-day summit will examine how organizations can build and scale security champion programs that demonstrate measurable impact. Day one will focus on the practical realities of running successful champion programs, with dedicated tracks for program leaders and security champions covering topics including participation, measurement, secure development and peer influence.

Day two will explore how the champion model is evolving as AI becomes embedded across organizations. Sessions will examine how organizations can adapt existing programs to support AI-assisted development and how to expand champion networks beyond engineering to include stakeholders across product, data, legal, compliance and leadership.

"AI is changing too quickly for organizations to treat enablement as a one-time training exercise," said Michael Burch, VP of AI Adoption and Acceleration at Security Journey. "Security champions have already proven their ability to influence behavior and build trust within engineering teams, and applying that same approach across the organization represents a real opportunity to give an entire workforce capabilities that were once limited to a select few."

Featured sessions and speakers include:

• Michael Novack, Principal Engineer, DevAltus - Security Is Everyone's Job, So Why Doesn't It Feel Like It?
• Michael Burch, Vice President of AI Adoption and Acceleration, Security Journey - Same Champion, New Playbook: Folding AI into Your Security Champions Program
• Anthony Pipia, Senior Application Security Consultant, Optiv Consulting - Security Champions as an SDLC Force Multiplier: Building Security Maturity Without Building a Security Team 
• Hiral Humal, AI Governance & Risk Specialist, HH Consulting - Operationalizing AI Governance: Translating Responsible AI Policies into Champion-Led Workflows 
• AD Edwards, AI Governance, Cybersecurity & Risk Leader, Center for AI & Cyber Excellence - If They Can't Say No, Why Are They Accountable? 
• Sabrina Lavi, Security Champions Community Lead, Thales  - Beyond Participation: Measuring What Security Champions Actually Change 
• Kriti Faujdar, Lead Product Manager, Yelp - Between Policy and Pull Requests: The AI Champion as Translator 
• Scott Norberg, President & Founder, Opperis Technologies LLC - There's Never Enough Time — Lessons Learned From Building Two Security Champions Programs 
• Akshay Manchanda, Product Manager, Engineering, Cisco Systems - The Breach Is in 2032. The Meeting Is Tuesday. 
• Brett Crawley, Principal Application Security Engineer, Mimecast - What AI Threat Modelling Does and Doesn't Do for Security Champions 
• Michael Morgensten, Partner, DayBlink Consulting - Wait, Champions Need to Learn Identity Now Also? 
• Priya Balasubramaniam, Head of the Innovation Center for Product & Application Security, Ciena - From Gatekeepers to Accelerators: How AI is Transforming Security Culture at Ciena
• Nariman Aga-Tagiyev, Cybersecurity Architect, SecureHabits - The EU Cyber Resilience Act: No Compliance, No Market 
• Katelyn Falk, Lead Product Security TPM, DocuSign - From Fatigue to Force Multipliers: Making Security Champions Stick  

Registration for the Security Champions Summit is now open. For more information and to register, visit: https://www.securityjourney.com/scs-summit2026

About Security Journey

Security Journey is the Enterprise AI Training & Capability Platform, helping organizations build the skills to use AI better and more securely. With deep roots in secure code training and secure development education, Security Journey now brings role-based, hands-on AI learning to the entire workforce, from developers building software with AI to teams across the business transforming how they work with it. Leaders gain visibility into where skills are growing, where risk is emerging, and where successful AI practices are ready to scale.

SOURCE Security Journey