
Dewayne Hart
From Navy Chief to cyber strategist, Dewayne Hart helps organizations anticipate threats, foster cyber resilience, and lead with confidence in the evolving security landscape.
From Navy Chief to cyber strategist, Dewayne Hart helps organizations anticipate threats, foster cyber resilience, and lead with confidence in the evolving security landscape.
A former U.S. Navy leader and acclaimed author, Dewayne Hart delivers powerful keynotes that transform cybersecurity into a business advantage. He equips executives and teams with actionable strategies, resilience frameworks, and foresight to anticipate threats, adapt with confidence, and turn digital risk into lasting growth opportunities.
Keynote Speaker Dewayne Hart is a trusted authority in cybersecurity, leadership, and organizational resilience. With over two decades of military service as a U.S. Navy Chief Petty Officer and extensive experience advising Fortune 500 companies and federal agencies, he delivers unmatched insights into today’s most urgent digital challenges. Known for translating complex technical threats into clear, actionable strategies, he equips executives, leaders, and teams with the tools to build a proactive security mindset.
As the founder of Secure Managed Instructional Systems (SEMAIS), Dewayne has helped organizations like PwC and Kaiser Permanente strengthen cyber readiness, compliance, and risk management. He is also the author of The Cybersecurity Mindset and Cybersecurity Leadership, two highly regarded works that redefine how leaders approach cyber defense. His thought leadership, featured by the Forbes Technology Council and amplified through The Chief of Cybersecurity podcast, has made him a globally recognized voice in cyber strategy.
When you book Dewayne Hart for your event, you gain more than a speaker you secure a partner who empowers your organization to anticipate risks, adapt with resilience, and transform cybersecurity from a reactive defense into a strategic business advantage. Whether addressing executives, technical teams, or industry audiences, Dewayne’s keynotes inspire action, strengthen culture, and deliver measurable value in today’s high-risk digital landscape.
Keynote by Dewayne Hart:
Artificial Intelligence, or AI, has become a buzzword. But how much of what we hear is truth, and how much is myth? There is a sheer misunderstanding of AI, and many fears are developing. Facts have proven that AI can accelerate thinking and bring efficiency into the human ecosystem. Many also believe AI is capable of human-like reasoning and emotions. AI operates through algorithms and data patterns, lacking proper understanding or feelings.
Another myth is that AI will replace all human jobs. While AI will automate specific tasks, it’s also creating new opportunities and roles that never existed before. The future of AI holds incredible potential, with anticipated advancements in healthcare, education, and climate change solutions. Ethical considerations will be crucial to ensure its benefits are realized equitably. This session will shift through the myths and focus on the truth as we shape AI for a better future.
You will leave with:
Understanding the position AI affords to our daily lives through social-technical environments
Facts that demonstrate how AI provides solutions and challenges with its implementation
Information on how labor markets will change and what benefits will be offered through AI
Seeing how the future state of technology, human lives, and eco-system will operate
Keynote by Dewayne Hart:
Cybersecurity is a significant concern for businesses. With the constant threat of cyber attacks, many are unsure if they can outperform hackers and risks. The patch-and-fix methodology is not solution-centric, and incidents continue to escalate. The question we all face is: who is winning the cyber war? Citizens and businesses alike are shifting blame, raising doubts about whether we can ever truly develop cybersecurity or if we will always fall prey to hackers.
Despite spending millions of dollars on tools, ransomware and breaches have left business owners wondering how to implement cyber protection and whether they will ever become genuinely cyber-safe. This presentation will remove the mentioned concerns, help facilitate cyber protection as a business model, and remediate issues such as "Hackers" winning the cyber war. Attendees will also be positioned to understand that cyber protection is a holistic approach requiring a combination of different objectives.
You will leave with:
Gain ideas to transition security leadership from a technical necessity to a boardroom asset.
Understand why leaders must strategize emerging technologies into security and business objectives.
Discuss how successful leaders embrace adaptability, cyber visibility, and operational resilience to achieve business success.
Keynote by Dewayne Hart:
The cybersecurity landscape is increasingly complex and dynamic. Cybercriminals are leveraging sophisticated tools and adopting innovative strategies, making it essential for organizations to evolve their cybersecurity practices and build winners.
Organizations must cultivate a mature cybersecurity culture that goes beyond mere prevention; it requires a comprehensive understanding of existing capabilities and an awareness of security gaps. But first, do we have a capable workforce, and are we positioned to change the game? Dewayne has you covered! He will have your workforce development program winning against the cyber war! This topic is one that “Hackers” fear the most!
They are all on the run – but let's not get too comfortable. The cybersecurity workforce is experiencing significant changes partly due to advancements in technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI), which are reshaping work processes. Enough said, so join Dewayne and learn how to build cyber defenders!
You will leave with:
Align cyber workforce requirements and business needs as a single entity
Determine effective strategies to align cyber defenders' role to career decisions
Knowledge of which cyber tools that draw in top talent!
Streamline recruitment and labor assessment based on technical needs
Identify key challenges and means to improve daily workforce engagements
Keynote by Dewayne Hart:
Don't let hackers catch you off guard! Protecting your business from cyber threats requires a proactive approach. Cybersecurity leadership is vital to prevent attacks that compromise data, reputation, and profits. Effective security capabilities help organizations identify vulnerabilities and mitigate risks in a rapidly evolving threat landscape.
This in-depth training is designed to help executive managers and decision-makers deploy security measures and strategize cybersecurity into a working model. Attendees will learn how to utilize leadership as a tool and practical techniques to mature cybersecurity programs. Additionally, the training will help executive managers understand cyber visibility, operational resilience, and key strategies to drive cyber protection. This webinar will also help leaders reduce problematic issues that are self-induced and preventable and reinstate a cyber-focused attitude.
You will leave with:
• Information to advance career paths and implement cybersecurity leadership to protect environments
• Effective strategies to integrate risk management and business into a single entity
• Tactics to effectively communicate board-level protection plans and earn trust from the C-Suite
Keynote by Dewayne Hart:
Numerous challenges have been aimed at defeating hackers' aggression. The methodologies work well for some, but others often fall prey by opening a revolving door that destroys the cybersecurity shield. The risk outcomes carry far more implications due to soft targets, threat vectors, and lapses in safeguards.
Despite knowing that hackers are soft target-driven, many organizations struggle to communicate that "Feeding Hackers' Appetite" is a risk-enabling concept. This speaking session explains why hackers' target exploitation is the weakest link, gateways pose additional risks, and survive when the cybersecurity shield becomes defeated.
You will leave with:
Knowledge of how hackers operate and their aggression.
Ideas to increase individual protection when using social media and electronic devices.
Key strategies for businesses to adopt cybersecurity and implement a "Hacker's Hat" culture
Keynote by Dewayne Hart:
Critical systems and applications must remain available as organizations digitally modernize and onboard technologies. Typical failures are supposed to withstand cyber stress and sustain availability, since proper planning, vulnerabilities, attacks, and risk states should be known. Traditional cybersecurity measures are no longer enough to protect organizations from persistent, high-level attacks. This is where cyber resilience provides advanced protection.
The cybersecurity landscape is changing, inducing more complex security requirements, and adding technologies have shifted protection. Cyber risks are no longer isolated into network boundaries. We are in a critical state where cyber risks activate across every technology platform and require higher protection standards – this is why "Cyber Protection Needs Attention."
Many businesses fail to succeed because they believe structuring a cyber protection program is challenging. They have spent millions of dollars and often face identical risks. What's unknown is that hackers and risks are always active, meaning organizations must become tactical and strategically develop protection. It's similar to developing a puzzle – how and what parts work together. This could require various strategies, technologies, or even specific labor categories. There are easier approaches!
You will leave with:
Understand your cyber threat landscape and capabilities
Why you need human firewalls and a strong security culture
Why a risk-based attitude supports a "hackers mindset"
Effective strategies to developing A Cyber Visibility program