South Central Regional
Policy Roundtable

Registration & Networking

Check-in and opening networking session.

Welcome & Introductions

From Shared Responsibility to Coordinated Action: The Public-Private Cyber Partnership

Vice Adm. White, Chief, Texas Cyber Command
Fireside Chat

When a cyber incident disrupts essential services, response and recovery depend on capabilities and decisions that cross enterprise, state, and federal boundaries. Shared responsibility requires clear authority, realistic expectations, and resources that match the commitments partners make.

In this fireside chat, Vice Adm. White will use Texas Cyber Command to ground a discussion of why a state-level cyber command is needed, what it is responsible for, and how it works with government and private-sector partners. Drawing on his experience leading military cyber operations, he will explore how intelligence informs coordinated action, how leaders prioritize affordable investments in resilience, and which systemic challenges require collective support.

Takeaway: A clearer understanding of what government and enterprise operators should prepare, fund, and agree upon before a crisis to improve response and recovery.

Who Gets to Decide? Governing the Agentic Enterprise

Helen Oakley

As AI agents move from assisting humans to making decisions and taking action across enterprise systems, organizations face a consequential governance challenge: who is authorized to decide, delegate, and act—and how is that authority bounded, monitored, and revoked?

Drawing on her leadership within the OWASP GenAI Security Project and her former role as SAP’s Vice President of Software & AI Security, Helen Oakley will open a practitioner-led discussion on what good governance should look like inside the enterprise. Members will examine decision authority, delegation, accountability, provenance, human oversight, and the controls required for increasingly autonomous systems.

Takeaway: The beginnings of an NTSC action plan:

Step 1 — Define what good looks like. Develop a practitioner-led governance and risk management model for agentic AI.

Step 2 — Shape the environment that makes it possible. Identify the public-private actions, standards, incentives, and policy priorities NTSC should advance to help enterprises implement that model at scale.

Break

After the Midterms: Washington, Cybersecurity, and the 120th Congress

George McElwee & Chris Sullivan

Just two days after the 2026 midterm elections, this discussion will examine what the results mean for Washington, the post-election lame-duck session, and the 120th Congress. Drawing on George McElwee's extensive experience on Capitol Hill and in government affairs, the conversation will explore changes to congressional leadership, legislative priorities, and the outlook for cybersecurity and artificial intelligence policy.

Takeaway: A practical understanding of Washington's post-election landscape and the implications for NTSC's policy priorities and engagement strategy.

Closing Remarks

Roundtable Concludes & Dinner

Join us for dinner and an evening of networking and continued conversation.