Dewayne Hart
Securing → Mission Speed
Trusted by leading organizations
- National Cyber Summit
- GDS Group
- GovTechCon
- Techno Security
- Digital Forensics Conf.
- SEMAIS
About
Dewayne Hart is a retired US Navy Chief Petty Officer, acclaimed author, and cybersecurity speaker who helps organizations transition from passive protection to active readiness. With more than two decades of military service and experience advising Fortune 500 companies and federal agencies, including the VA, US Army, US Navy, Duke Energy, PwC, and Kaiser Permanente, he brings a mission driven, practical approach to today’s evolving threat landscape.
With 20 years on the frontlines of cybersecurity leadership, Dewayne translates complex threats into language that moves organizations to action. His approach is motivational, no nonsense, and focused on what matters most: protecting people, data, and missions. As founder of Secure Managed Instructional Systems (SEMAIS) and a former Forbes Technology Council contributor, Dewayne equips business leaders, government professionals, and teams with the clarity and confidence to understand cybersecurity’s true impact and act decisively.
Credentials
- 20+ years U.S. Navy Chief Petty Officer
- Founder, SEMAIS — Cyber Readiness & GRC Advisory
- Forbes Technology Council — former featured contributor
- Author of two defining works on cyber leadership
Formats:
- Keynote
- Workshop
- Webinar
- Panel
Navy Veteran · Retired Chief Petty Officer
Signature Keynotes
Each session is customized to your audience and can be delivered as a 30-min talk, 90-min keynote, or half-day workshop.
leadership MINDSET
Boardroom & Executive leadership
The Executive Mindset: Where Did I Go Wrong? Owning Cyber Risk Before a Breach
Why did my cybersecurity program fail? Post-mortems usually blame the tools, the team, or the vendor. The real cause often sits in the boardroom: a deferred upgrade, an unverified compliance report, a green dashboard nobody questioned. Dewayne Hart walks executives back through the decisions that created exposure long before the attack, drawing on his book Cybersecurity Leadership: How to Develop a Successful Mentality and Win. He then introduces the Big 4 Model, which aligns governance, technology, operations, and people under one security mindset so every business decision accounts for cyber risk.
Key Takeaways for Attendees:
Establish Clear Accountability: Assign decisive ownership under the Leadership Triangle and grant absolute decision authority before a crisis strikes.
Test Security Realism: Use the Big 4 Model to evaluate whether organizational security is genuine or merely assumed, ensuring full readiness for AI adoption and governance.
Preempt the Post-Mortem: Answer the critical question of “where did I go wrong” proactively, rather than waiting for a breach to force the issue.
Best for: C-Suite, Board, Executive Leadership, Enterprise Summits, Government Leadership
Operational Resilience
CISOS & SECURITY OPERATIONS
Lateral Thinking: Stop the AI-Powered Hacker's Next Move Before They Make One
Your team closed 4,000 tickets last quarter. The attacker read none of them since they beat you to the finish line. Adversaries now use AI to scan exposures, chain vulnerabilities, and move laterally faster than any human team can track. How’s your speed gap these days and have you transitioned to automonus thinking. Yet most security teams still count scans and closed tickets while the paths to critical systems stay open. Dewayne Hart shows how Continuous Threat Exposure Management (CTEM), backed by AI, cuts an endless patch queue down to the few attack paths that put revenue, data, and operations at risk.
Key Takeaways for Attendees:
Trace the Gateway, Not the Headline: Map the exact paths an AI-assisted attacker would take to reach critical enterprise assets.
Rank Fixes by Business Impact: Apply the CTEM cycle and AI to prioritize vulnerabilities using a P1–P4 Risk Band model focused on business context instead of raw severity scores.
Shift Reporting Metrics: Report security progress to executives based on actual attack paths closed rather than raw volumes of processed tickets.
Best for: CISOs, SOC and Vulnerability Management Leaders, IT Operations, Risk & GRC Teams, Industry Conferences
Worforce Readiness
CISOS, HR & WORKFORCE LEADERS
Human in the Loop: Building Mission-Ready Cyber Teams in the Age of AI
AI now handles the entry-level work that once trained new cyber defenders, and many organizations have stopped hiring juniors. That cuts costs this year and empties the bench five years out. The talent crisis was never a pipeline problem. It is a leadership problem, and AI has raised the stakes. Drawing on 20 years building Navy teams, Dewayne Hart presents the Mission-First Retention Framework: operational purpose, skill alignment, and leadership accountability, rebuilt for teams where people and AI work in an ecosystem that is aligned.
Key Takeaways for Attendees:
Navigate AI Disruption: Pinpoint exactly which security roles AI will reshape, which it will replace, and the vital human skills required to excel alongside automation.
Modernize Hiring & Training: Pivot recruitment toward core capabilities and AI fluency rather than passive credentials, instilling an adversary-first mindset in new defenders.
Combat the Talent Drain: Implement engagement and retention strategies that anchor top-tier cyber talent to the mission when competitive salary alone is not enough so operational gaps are remediated.
Best for: CISOs, HR Leaders, Security Managers, Workforce Development Conferences, Veteran Transition Events
Security Culture
enterprise all hands & summits
The Hacker's Hat Looks Good on You: One Size Fits Every Employee in the Room
Attackers do not need to break a firewall when an employee will open the door. Most awareness programs end with an annual quiz, so the same organizations fail the same phishing tests year after year. Dewayne Hart hands every person a hacker’s hat and shows them their inbox, phone, and daily routine through an attacker’s eyes. The hat does not make anyone a hacker; it teaches them to ask the adversary’s questions, a concept from his book The Cybersecurity Mindset: A Virtual and Transformational Thinking Mode. Employees leave as the first line of defense, not the weakest link.
Key Takeaways for Attendees:
Adopt the Adversary’s Lens: Master the ability to spot sophisticated threats—including AI-generated phishing, deepfakes, and pretexting calls—by viewing daily routines through an attacker’s eyes.
Trust and Act on Instincts: Cultivate situational awareness to recognize when communication feels wrong, empowering employees to report warning signs immediately.
Transform Employees into Defenders: Shift the organizational mindset so every individual takes active ownership of security, moving away from the dangerous habit of leaving defense solely to IT.
Best for: All-Employee Conferences, Cybersecurity Awareness Month, HR & Culture Events, Healthcare, Government, Education
The Room Remembers
★★★★★
Dewayne made cybersecurity click for an audience of 400 non-technical leaders. He was the highest-rated speaker at our entire summit — people were still talking about his session at the closing dinner.
Jennifer M.
Program Director · National Cyber Summit
★★★★★
Robert A.
Chief of Staff · Fortune 500 Fintech
★★★★★
Tracy K.
Senior Events Producer · GDS Group
On Stage
Date
Session
Event LINK
Location
Status
Sep 11, 2026
The CISO AI Agenda: Governing AI Risk at the Board Level
Virtual
past
Sep 9, 2026
Boots to Bytes: How Veterans Can Launch and Thrive in a Cybersecurity Career
Virtual
Past
Aug 24, 2026
Developing Mission-Ready Cyber Defenders Who Stay
Montgomery, Al
Past
Aug 11, 2026
Why Leadership Defines Cyber Future in the Age of AI
Virtual
Past
July 14, 2026
Building AI-Ready Security Programs: A Leader’s Guide to Compliance
Virtual
Past
Mar 12, 2026
Ways to Develop Cyber Defenders And Win
Virtual
Past
Feb 19, 2026
Mastering the Cybersecurity Message: Lead, Influence, and Protect
Virtual
Past
Sep 13, 2025
Procurement and Small Business Growth in Government Tech
Washington, DC
Past
Sep 8, 2025
Changing The Narrative: Keeping Business at The Forefront of Cybersecurity
Atlanta, GA
Past
Jun 9, 2025
Exploring Artificial Intelligence: Sorting Truth from Myth and Anticipating What's Next
Virtual
Past
Apr 24, 2025
Mastering Your Potential: How To Showcase and Market Your Transferable Skills
Atlanta, GA
Past
Jan 16, 2025
Cybersecurity Leadership Starts Long Before an Attack
Virtual
Past
Oct 29, 2024
Panel Discussion: The Pivotal Role of AI in Modern Warfare
Montreal, Canada
Past
Sep 24, 2024
Cracking Code: Unveiling the Connection Between AI & Cybersecurity
Huntsville, AL
Past
Sep 16, 2024
Let's Talk Why You Need 360 Degree of Cyber Visibility
Pasadena, CA
Past
Let's Engineer an Unforgettable Event
Formats
Keynote · Workshop · Webinar · Panel
Duration
30 min · 60 min · 90 min · Half-day
Delivery
In-Person · Virtual · Hybrid
or call (470) 409-8316
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