2026-10-06 · Dominion Payroll — 3200 Rockbridge Street, Suite 300, Richmond, VA
Tuesday, October 6, 2026 Dominion Payroll | Richmond, Virginia Artificial intelligence is changing cybersecurity from both sides of the fight. Security teams are using AI to detect threats faster, automate response, strengthen cloud environments, and make sense of more data than any human team could process alone. At the same time, attackers are using the same technology to move faster, scale attacks, and create threats that are harder to recognize. The question is no longer whether AI will change cybersecurity. It already has. On October 6, AI Ready RVA launches its new Cybersecurity Cohort with a special kickoff panel bringing together leaders from state government, enterprise security, cloud engineering, and Richmond's growing cybersecurity startup community. This is where the conversation starts. AI in Cybersecurity: The New Reality What happens when defenders and attackers both have access to increasingly capable AI? What should security leaders automate, and where does human judgment still matter? How do organizations adopt AI-enabled security tools without introducing an entirely new class of risk? And what skills will cybersecurity professionals need as AI becomes embedded across security operations? We are putting those questions in front of people who are dealing with them now. Meet the Panel Michael Watson Chief Information Officer for the Commonwealth of Virginia Virginia Information Technologies Agency Michael Watson brings decades of cybersecurity and technology leadership to the conversation. Before becoming Commonwealth CIO in April 2026, he served nearly fifteen years as Virginia's Chief Information Security Officer and Deputy CIO. His work has included Zero Trust strategy, statewide cybersecurity, incident response, cloud architecture, and the integration of artificial intelligence and machine learning into cybersecurity operations for improved threat detection and…