Gary Cox

Gary Cox is the Technical Director for the UK and Ireland at Infoblox, where he has been a key part of the organisation since joining in 2010. Over the course of his career at Infoblox, Gary has held a range of technical and leadership positions, developing deep expertise in network, security, and infrastructure technologies.

With more than 20 years of IT industry experience, Gary has worked across multiple sectors including finance, the public sector, media, and service providers. His broad industry knowledge and practical insights make him a trusted advisor to organisations navigating evolving technology and cybersecurity challenges.

A recognised thought leader, Gary is a frequent speaker at industry conferences, customer events, and webinars, where he shares his expertise on topics spanning cybersecurity, networking, and digital transformation. He is also an active member of ISC2 and has held the Certified Information Systems Security Professional (CISSP) certification since 2016.

Jake Upfield

Security Sales Specialist, Trustmarque Ultima.

Joining Rebecca Taylor from Sophos, Jake will bring a security-focused perspective to the conversation around AI’s evolving role in the threat landscape.

The session will explore how cybercriminal communities are adopting and promoting AI, separating real-world risks from hype, and highlighting what organisations should consider when strengthening their security strategies.

James Holton

Cyber Security Practice Director, Trustmarque Ultima.

James will share insights into what modern cyber resilience looks like in practice, exploring the technologies, strategies, and lessons shaping the future of security.

Through the discussion on Daybreak, Glasswing, and Mythos, James will highlight how organisations can adapt to an evolving threat landscape and build the capabilities needed to stay resilient in an AI-driven world. 

John Spencer

Engineering Director, Northern Europe, CrowdStrike

John Spencer is a seasoned technology leader with more than 30 years of experience in the software industry, leading sales engineering, product and technology teams across both global enterprises and high-growth startups. Throughout his career, he has helped organisations navigate complex technology challenges, driving innovation and customer success across a range of markets.

Prior to joining CrowdStrike, John served as Chief Product Officer for a cyber identity startup and as Chief Technology Officer for Northern Europe at Citrix. Today, he leads CrowdStrike's Sales Engineering team across Northern Europe, overseeing technical engagement and helping customers strengthen their cybersecurity strategies in an increasingly complex threat landscape.

Ray Manash

Ray Manash leads Customer Success at ManageEngine, a role that has given him first-hand experience of hundreds of customer identity environments across a wide range of industries and geographies. He works closely with IT and security leaders on the challenges that define modern identity programmes, including identity governance, privileged access management, and the rapidly growing risks associated with machine and non-human identities.

His experience spans organisations of all sizes and levels of maturity, from teams managing long-established Active Directory environments to global enterprises modernising identity across hybrid and multi-cloud estates.

Throughout that work, he has observed a consistent pattern: the most significant security exposures are rarely the result of sophisticated attacks. More often, they stem from overlooked identity gaps such as orphaned accounts, excessive privileges, unmanaged service accounts and weak recovery processes.

Ray brings a practitioner’s perspective focused on what works in the real world. He helps organisations build resilient, Zero Trust identity ecosystems by balancing security, compliance and operational practicality, ensuring controls are effective without creating unnecessary friction for users.

Rebecca Taylor

Rebecca Taylor is a Threat Intelligence Knowledge Manager & Researcher within Sophos X-Ops, Sophos' cross-functional threat intelligence task force. In her role, she combines intelligence from a wide range of sources, including dark web monitoring, underground forums, threat research, and incident response investigations, to help organisations better understand the evolving cyber threat landscape and the risks most relevant to their business.

A highly respected voice within the cybersecurity community, Rebecca is known for translating complex threat intelligence into practical, actionable insights that enable security teams to make informed decisions and strengthen their defences. Her work focuses on helping organisations stay ahead of emerging threats by providing clear context, analysis, and guidance on attacker tactics, techniques, and trends.

Rebecca is a recognised cybersecurity expert, TEDx speaker, and author. Her contributions to the industry have earned her several accolades, including Computing's Cybersecurity Professional of the Year 2025 (WIT) and recognition as a TechWomen100 winner. Through her research, public speaking, and advocacy, Rebecca continues to help organisations and security professionals navigate an increasingly complex threat environment with confidence.

Simon Bishop

Head of Consulting - Governance, Risk & Compliance, Trustmarque Ultima.

Simon will bring a governance, risk, and compliance perspective to the discussion on modern cyber resilience, exploring how organisations can strengthen their security posture in an evolving threat landscape.

Simon will share insights into the role of governance and risk management in building resilient organisations that are prepared for the challenges of an AI-driven future. 

Tom Frost

Tom Frost leads IBM’s Cyber Strategy & Risk practice in the UK and Ireland. He has over 20 years’ experience in cyber security with a career has spanning technical, industry and consulting roles, giving him experience of cyber from both practitioner and advisory perspectives.

Before joining IBM, he has an extensively across the energy sector security and has delivered complex projects in critical national infrastructure (CNI) environments as a security leader and technical architect. Today, he works with organisations across multiple sectors including financial services, energy and UK government, with a particular focus on providing practical cyber strategy, governance and risk in complex and highly-regulated environments.
Tom is also a security leader within IBM’s UKI Banking and Fintech sector and is passionate about growing the next generation of cyber talent.