Keynote Speaker
Compoze Labs
Why AI Projects Fizzle (and What Sets the Ones That Stick Apart) — Plenty of AI gets started and a lot of it quietly dies. What tends to go wrong, and what's actually different about the efforts that make it into real, everyday use.
How AI Is Changing the Way We Build Software — AI has reshaped software development faster than almost any tool before it, and it's worth understanding where it's heading. Informed by daily hands-on use: what's genuinely working with coding agents today, what to still do yourself, and the key dev trends every technologist should be tracking.
Putting AI Agents to Work: What It Takes to Do It Well — Agents don't just answer questions, they take action, which is exactly why they matter and why they're harder to get right. Why agents are becoming central, what actually breaks when you put them to work, and the practices that keep them reliable.
Running AI on Your Own Hardware: What's Possible Today — Running AI locally has suddenly gotten practical, and it changes the math on cost, privacy, and control. Why local and on-device AI is worth understanding now, what genuinely runs on hardware you own, and where it still falls short.
General Sessions
Bytespeed
Hyperconverged Strategy, Navigating a Smooth Transition from VMware to Hyper-V
As organizations reassess VMware due to changing costs and licensing, many are exploring Microsoft Hyper‑V as an alternative. This session covers ByteSpeed’s real-world approach to migrating from VMware to Hyper‑V.
Attendees will learn key considerations for planning, executing, and optimizing a transition—while minimizing disruption and improving long-term infrastructure performance.
Microsoft Trusted Advisor
IT teams across education, government, and enterprise—remain reactive when managing platforms like Microsoft 365, Intune, and Azure.
This session introduces Bytespeed’s experienced Microsoft Trusted Advisor approach focused on improving system stability, accelerating deployments, and enabling internal teams to take ownership of their environments. Through real-world examples, attendees will learn how proactive planning and structured knowledge transfer can improve long-term outcomes across core, and emerging Microsoft technologies.
From Education to Industry; Bytespeed Builds for the Future
As a MN-Based, Computer Hardware builder for over 26 years, Bytespeed continues to build and support the innovative technology that fuels our instruction and industry across of state. Kevin Andrews, Director of Product Development at Bytespeed, and Mike Bruns, Technology Instructor at Alexandria Tech, will share their story in working together to educate and evolve the learning opportunities for Alexandria Tech students – through locally-built, cutting-edge Bytespeed Server + Workstation Hardware.
Marconet
Unified Communications 2.0: Beyond Just Voice and Video
Join our collaboration journey breakout designed specifically for K-12, enterprise, and SMB markets. We will explore the latest unified communication features, advanced AI capabilities, and other ways you can leverage platforms like Webex, Zoom, and new offerings from Mitel.
Doosan Digital Innovation
Don’t Buy the Breach: Pulling Security Into TPRM Before the Ink Dries
TPRM (Third Party Risk Management) doesn’t fail because the questionnaire was wrong — it fails because access becomes permanent, unbounded, and unmeasured. Learn where Security should step in across intake, contract, onboarding, monitoring, and offboarding to turn vendor risk into enforceable controls (and how to handle exceptions with accountable risk acceptance)
McCloud and C.O.N.N.O.R. – Building Trustworthy, Repeatable Digital Investigations with Open Source, Automation, and AI
Digital forensics and incident response (DFIR) investigations often rely on a collection of powerful tools, but achieving consistent, defensible results remains a challenge. This session introduces McCloud, an open-source investigative platform, and C.O.N.N.O.R. (Correlated Observation & Network Navigation for Operational Reasoning), an AI-powered investigative assistant, and demonstrates how they work together to create repeatable, evidence-driven investigations without replacing analyst judgment.
Attendees will see how McCloud streamlines the collection, correlation, and analysis of evidence across network traffic, endpoint telemetry, memory, logs, malware, and other forensic artifacts, while C.O.N.N.O.R. helps organize investigative findings, explain the reasoning behind conclusions, and produce clear, defensible reports. Throughout the presentation, emphasis is placed on preserving forensic integrity, making confidence explicit, and clearly separating evidence from analytical inference.
Rather than asking how AI can replace investigators, this session demonstrates how AI can reduce cognitive load, improve consistency, and strengthen documentation while keeping investigative responsibility exactly where it belongs, with the analyst. A live demonstration follows a complete investigation from raw evidence to an executive-ready report, showing how open-source tooling, automation, and responsible AI can help organizations build trustworthy, repeatable DFIR capabilities that scale.
ECMECC
Tech Therapy: Why Human Problems Create Technical Problems
K-12 technology teams face growing technical and cybersecurity demands while operating under constant pressure, limited staffing, and nonstop interruptions. This interactive session explores how stress, burnout, communication breakdowns, and unrealistic expectations often create technical and security problems long before technology fails. Through real-world examples and audience discussion, participants will examine the human side of cybersecurity culture and leave with practical strategies for building healthier, more resilient technology environments in schools.
School Incident Response Game V2.0
The School Incident Response Game is an interactive tabletop-style session designed specifically for K-12 leaders, technology staff, and school teams. Participants will work through realistic cybersecurity and school safety scenarios, making decisions in real time while exploring communication, coordination, and response strategies. This session focuses on practical incident response, critical thinking, and collaboration rather than technical expertise alone. Attendees will leave with a better understanding of how to prepare for, respond to, and recover from incidents impacting school communities.
Edutrak
From Cyber Threats to AI Agents: Preparing Schools for the Next Era
Schools are constantly facing cyber-security threats as well as the unknowns of AI usage in every day life. Luckily, there are ways to protect your schools, while also adopting the next era of technologies.
Motorola Solutions
Convergence Without Complexity: A Physical Security Roadmap for Schools
For years, physical security and IT have operated in silos. IT leaders often view cameras and door readers as "facilities problems," preferring to keep them off their plate. But in a connected world, an outdated NVR or unpatched access controller isn't just a facilities issue; it’s a network vulnerability waiting to be exploited.
This session bridges the gap. We will dismantle the traditional silos between physical and cybersecurity to show how modern, cloud-first strategies can reduce technical debt and harden your district's posture. We will move beyond basic hardware to explore the convergence of Video, Access Control, and Intrusion, and how AI/ML is transforming these from passive recording devices into active intelligence tools.
Join us to build a roadmap that modernizes your district’s security infrastructure without adding complexity to your daily workload.
Key Takeaways:
- The Hidden Cost of Silos: Understanding the cyber risks of aging, "air-gapped" physical security hardware.
- Tech Stack Overview: Best practices for converging Video, Access, and Intrusion systems.
- AI as a Force Multiplier: Leveraging Computer Vision to automate threat detection.
- The Cloud Advantage: How to migrate from on-prem maintenance to scalable, secure cloud architectures..
CISCO
Cisco Networking Academy Technical Updates
Technical Updates will walk through the latest developments and updates from Cisco Networking Academy, covering topics such as latest course releases, platform updates, and instructor professional development. This session will cover everything you need to know about the latest with NetAcad.
Alex Tech
Wazuh-Up...Simple SIEMs for All
This session introduces a practical approach to setting up and automating Wazuh SIEM for small environments such as home labs, small businesses, or classroom networks. Attendees will learn the core Wazuh components, how agents collect security data, and how alerts can provide useful visibility without overwhelming the team. The session will also highlight automation opportunities for deployment, tuning, reporting, and response workflows. Participants will leave with a clear roadmap for building a low-cost, scalable security monitoring stack.
Graybar
Security is more than camera's
I would look at the wholistic approach to security. Camera's, access, communication, and other potential technologies for safe business' and schools.
Ruckus Networks
The Future of Wireless with Wifi7 and AI
Explore the transformative potential of Wi-Fi 7 and AI in revolutionizing network connectivity and management. Discover how Wi-Fi 7's unprecedented speed, capacity, and reliability can elevate wireless applications. Learn how RUCKUS AI's advanced analytics and automation streamline network operations, reduce IT workloads, and enhance decision-making by proactively identifying and prioritizing network issues with clear steps to resolution. Join us to unlock the future of connectivity!
Anoka Ramsey Community College
AI in Action: Practical Strategies for Teaching NetAcad Courses
Explore practical, classroom-tested ways to integrate artificial intelligence into Cisco Networking Academy courses. This session highlights Cisco’s emerging AI curriculum offerings while demonstrating how AI tools are being used today to enhance instruction, lab activities, troubleshooting, assessment creation, and student engagement in existing networking and cybersecurity courses. Attendees will leave with actionable ideas, example activities, and strategies they can immediately apply in their own NetAcad courses.
DCTC
From CIDR to Confidence: Mastering Subnetting Without Tears
Subnetting doesn't have to be confusing, intimidating, or accompanied by frantic Googling. In this hands-on session, we'll transform binary gibberish into practical networking knowledge through simple explanations, real-world examples, and plenty of "aha!" moments. Whether you're preparing for certifications, supporting networks, or finally deciding to stop guessing, you'll leave with subnetting skills you can use immediately—and maybe even enjoy using. Session takeaway: Leave knowing how to subnet. Stay for the networking jokes that only IT people will understand.
UMN
A Connected MN: Seamless Wifi Connectivity for Education
Minnesota is one of eleven states in the US where eduroam is available to all K-12 schools. Eduroam is a secure wifi connectivity protocol that is widely used in higher education (including most MN public and private higher ed institutions). The Learning Network of MN funds access to eduroam for all K-12 schools, libraries, and museums. A statewide educational ecosystem using eduroam facilitates seamless and secure internet connectivity for staff, students, and educational partners
State of MN
The Current Threat Landscape: What Is Actually Targeting Minnesota's Public Entities
Cyberattacks against Minnesota's public entities are no longer rare or distant events. Drawing on reported incidents, this session examines what is actually targeting counties, cities, school districts, and other government organizations, and why smaller, resource-constrained teams have become attractive targets.
HPE
HPE Networking Overview
Get a clear, high‑impact look at how HPE Aruba Networking is transforming modern networks with AI‑native operations, unified wired and wireless architecture, and built‑in Zero Trust security.
Mike Dunham will highlight key innovations in Wi‑Fi, switching, and cloud‑managed networking, along with real‑world examples showing how organizations are simplifying operations and improving user experience with HPE solutions.
A fast, informative session designed to help IT leaders plan their next steps in network modernization.
Southeast Technical College
Packet Tracer Across the CCNA Curriculum: Engaging Activities for All Three Levels
Participants will explore classroom-ready activities, learn instructional strategies for using Packet Tracer effectively, and leave with ideas they can adapt for their own Cisco Networking Academy courses. Whether you're a new instructor or an experienced educator looking to refresh your curriculum, this session will provide practical resources and proven teaching approaches to enhance student learning
Minnesota Information Technology (MNIT) Services
Whole of State Cybersecurity Plan
This session will cover cybersecurity tools and resources available to public sector partners. This includes developments from the Minnesota Cybersecurity Task Force, Cyber Incident Reporting law, and upcoming collaboration opportunites and initiatives. The session focus is ensuring organizations and users have the cybersecurity knowledge, connections, and protections in place.