Thursday, September 24, 2026
1:30 PM – 6:30 PM EDT
Boston Cloud Connect Summit: The IT Odyssey
About this event
A half day IT leadership summit at the WGBH studios, themed around the interaction of data, security and AI. Speakers include Draper's Head of AI and a WPI researcher on human and AI interaction. Free with the Boston AI Week code, and worth two ISACA continuing education credits.
The Boston edition of the Cloud Connect Summit series, presented by FirstLight, is themed The IT Odyssey: the quest for synergy between data, security and AI. It is a vendor-neutral half day pitched at people who run infrastructure.
Speakers
- Troy Lau, Director of the Digital Technologies and Sciences Division and Head of AI at Draper
- Dr. Erin Solovey, Associate Professor of Computer Science at WPI, on human and AI interaction research
- Matt Farry, Chief Product Officer at Cyflare
- Derek Boczenowski, Chief Compliance Architect at Compass IT Compliance
Themes and format
Sessions cover cybersecurity preparedness, AI, enterprise networks, compliance, and what cyber-insurance claims now require. Doors at 1:30pm, sessions through 6:30pm, then a cocktail reception with appetizers.
Be clear on scope: AI is one of three named pillars and half the speakers are AI-specific, but this is broadly an IT leadership event rather than a pure AI conference. The audience is CIOs, CEOs, CFOs, CISOs, IT directors, sysadmins and security professionals, 18 and over.
Practical notes
Two ISACA-approved continuing education credits are available, and parking in the WGBH garage is free. Sponsors include Ciena, Veeam, Cyflare and Compass IT Compliance.
Organized by
Regional half-day IT leadership summit series presented by network and cloud provider FirstLight. Programmes pair vendor-neutral expert sessions with a networking reception, and the Boston edition offers ISACA-approved continuing education credits.