When we opened the call for papers for CYBR.SEC.CON 2026, we received a record number of AI-focused submissions. The volume made something increasingly obvious: AI could no longer be treated as another topic sprinkled throughout the cybersecurity agenda.
So this year, it gets its own track.
AI.SEC.CON debuts when CYBR.SEC.CON 2026 comes to Houston's George R. Brown Convention Center Sept. 15-16, joining OT.SEC.CON., CYBR.HAK.CON. and EXEC.SEC.CON. as one of the conference's four specialized tracks.
Look across the full 10-track agenda and AI keeps showing up everywhere else. That's probably the best snapshot we could offer of cybersecurity in 2026.
AI Has Become the Through line
If you read CYBR.SEC.Media regularly, the decision to launch AI.SEC.CON probably won't surprise you.
Hardly a day goes by when we aren't covering some intersection between artificial intelligence and cybersecurity.
AI agents. AI-assisted attacks. AI-generated code. Deepfakes. Identity. Governance. Offensive security. SOC automation. Critical infrastructure. Supply-chain risk. Data protection. Workforce disruption.
We've reached the point where asking whether AI is a cybersecurity topic feels a little like asking whether cloud is an IT topic.
The CYBR.SEC.CON call for papers reflected that shift, and the resulting agenda makes it even clearer.
The dedicated AI.SEC.CON schedule includes sessions on GenAI security automation, deepfakes, shadow AI, AI supply-chain security, LLM exploitation, autonomous agents, MCP servers, vibe coding, AI governance and AI-driven cyber risk.
More CYBR.SEC.CON 2026 coverage:
Bill Brenner
AI.SEC.CON Is Only Part of the AI Story
OT.SEC.CON: Sessions include “Prompt to Payload: LLM-Assisted Tradecraft for Hardened OT Environments,” “The Great Convergence: AI, Industry 4.0, and the New OT Attack Surface,” “Safe Use of AI in OT Environments” and “Who Owns the Risk? AI Is Already Inside Your Critical Infrastructure.”
CYBR.HAK.CON has “Building AI-Powered Penetration Testing Bots” and “Death of The CTF: How Agentic Hacking Is Changing CTFs.”
The CYBR.SEC.Careers programming gets into what it takes to stand apart in a hiring world shaped by AI and whether AI really is the job killer some people fear.
Elsewhere, attendees will find sessions examining where AI belongs in the SOC, AI-moderated breach simulation, AI-native threat hunting, AI governance, clinical AI security and the use of AI in security engineering.
There's even a lightning talk about the Texas Responsible Artificial Intelligence Governance Act.
Ten Tracks, One Very Big Security Problem
Of course, CYBR.SEC.CON isn't becoming an AI conference. The 2026 program spans 10 tracks across two days, giving attendees room to go deep into the parts of cybersecurity that matter most to them.
The four named specialized tracks anchor the program.
OT.SEC.CON. focuses on operational technology and industrial cybersecurity, from supply-chain risk and process safety to ransomware, post-quantum cryptography and securing critical infrastructure.
CYBR.HAK.CON. is the hacker track: offensive security, technical research, malware, software and supply-chain attacks, network security and the kind of experimentation that comes from people who want to know what happens when they push something until it breaks.
EXEC.SEC.CON. tackles cybersecurity from the leadership side, including governance, risk, security-program maturity, CISO challenges and the increasingly difficult job of turning technical security problems into business decisions.
And AI.SEC.CON. is where we're putting concentrated attention on securing AI, securing organizations against AI-enabled threats and figuring out what happens when autonomous systems begin interacting with applications, infrastructure, identities and data.
Beyond those four are six additional tracks covering careers and mentorship, cloud and application security, data and identity security, new and emerging threats, red/blue/purple teaming, research, security awareness, security programs and other areas cutting across modern security operations. The published agenda runs from Track 1 through Track 10, plus separate lightning talks and general sessions.
What AI.SEC.CON Says About 2026
There was no master plan a year ago declaring that artificial intelligence had to become one of the pillars of CYBR.SEC.CON.
The community told us. We put out the call for papers, and the AI submissions came pouring in.
Meanwhile, the same thing has been happening every day in the CYBR.SEC.Media newsroom. Stories that once would have been about vulnerability management, software development, identity, offensive security, cloud, governance or workforce issues increasingly have an AI component.
Ten Tracks. Two Days. Build Your Own Conference.
CYBR.SEC.CON 2026 will bring more than 3,000 cybersecurity professionals to Houston Sept. 15-16 for two days featuring 10-plus specialized tracks, more than 100 speakers, 200-plus exhibitors, an interactive village and free hands-on workshops.
The scale is bigger than the HOU.SEC.CON days. The idea behind it isn't.
Put a lot of smart, curious security people in the same place. Give them different ways into the conversation. Let hackers learn from CISOs, CISOs learn from researchers, OT defenders learn from AI practitioners and newcomers learn from people who have spent decades doing this work.
