A Look Back at Rocky Mountain Cyberspace Symposium 2026 Breadcrumb Home A Look Back at Rocky Mountain Cyberspace Symposium 2026 March 22, 2026 The 2026 Rocky Mountain Cyberspace Symposium (RMCS26) delivered an inspiring convergence of government, industry, and academic leaders united in tackling today’s most significant cybersecurity challenges. Held February 2–5 at The Broadmoor in Colorado Springs, the Symposium lived up to its mission of driving operational readiness, collaboration, and innovation across the cyber domain. As a Diamond-level sponsor, Optiv + ClearShark was proud to engage with federal cyber teams, mission partners, and thought leaders, reaffirming our collective focus on defending at machine speed — a theme that resonated throughout the summit’s sessions, discussions, and exhibits. Demonstrating Machine-Speed Defense in Action A centerpiece of our participation was the featured session, “Defensive Cyber Operations at Machine Speed,” presented by Michael Saintcross, Senior Vice President of Revenue at Optiv + ClearShark. In this talk, Michael showcased how agencies must evolve beyond traditional, reactive cyber postures to stay ahead of adversaries leveraging automation and AI-driven attack frameworks. Key themes included: Adaptive cyber architecture: Why static defenses and rigid IT cycles are no longer sufficient in a world of accelerating threats. Telemetry and automation: How real-time data collection, automated enrichment, and adaptive orchestration compress decision cycles to improve operational outcomes. AI-enabled analysis: The role of machine learning to detect and respond faster than the adversary’s attack cadence. These discussions underscored a central truth shared throughout RMCS26 — the cyber mission landscape is evolving rapidly, and defenders must modernize both culture and technology to operate at mission speed. Conversations That Matter Beyond the main session, our team had meaningful conversations on the show floor — from agency practitioners to federal CISOs — about the real-world challenges of modernization, data integration, and automation. Topics that surfaced repeatedly included: SecOps maturity: Practical approaches for structuring SOCs and defense operations to leverage orchestration and AI at scale. Integration over siloed point solutions: How building cohesive workflows across telemetry, analytics, and response reduces friction and enhances resilience. Mission alignment: Why cybersecurity must be designed around the mission outcomes agencies care about — not simply compliance checkboxes or isolated technology stacks. These exchanges informed a broader recognition: modern cyber defense requires a holistic mix of human expertise, automated systems, and adaptive frameworks that can pivot as threats evolve. Spotlight: SecOps IO in the Field Central to these conversations was SecOps IO, Optiv + ClearShark’s modular reference architecture for modernizing security operations. Designed to integrate best-of-breed technologies into a unified, scalable framework, SecOps IO enables agencies to: Automate workflows without adding complexity Strengthen resilience through coordinated telemetry and analysis Shift from reactive to intelligence-driven defense posture Attendees engaged with our team to see how SecOps IO accelerates detection and response capabilities — supporting federal missions in real time and defending against increasingly sophisticated adversaries. Looking Forward The energy and insights shared at RMCS26 reaffirmed a collective commitment to advancing operational agility, automation, and mission-aligned cyber defense. As adversaries adopt AI-augmented strategies, defenders must mirror that evolution with architectures and processes capable of matching — and outpacing — emerging threats. We left the summit energized by the conversations, inspired by the community, and more convinced than ever that modern cyber operations demand integration, intelligence, and machine-speed decisioning. If you connected with us at RMCS26, thank you — let’s keep the conversation going. For those who couldn’t join in person, we look forward to sharing recordings, insights, and resources in the weeks ahead. By: Shayna Williams Shayna Williams is a public sector marketing leader with deep experience driving demand generation and go-to-market strategy for cybersecurity and cloud technology organizations. As Senior Marketing Manager, Federal at Optiv + ClearShark, she leads initiatives focused on engaging government audiences and accelerating mission-aligned growth. Prior to this role, she held senior marketing positions at Cloudflare, Qumulo, Okta, and Pure Storage, where she specialized in field marketing, campaign development, and partner engagement across federal, state, and local markets. Known for her strategic mindset and results-driven approach, Shayna brings a strong track record of building impactful programs that connect technology innovation with the unique needs of the public sector. Follow Optiv + ClearSharkLinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/clearsharkYouTube: www.youtube.com/c/OptivInc About Optiv + ClearSharkTM Optiv + ClearShark is a cybersecurity and IT solutions provider focused exclusively on serving the U.S. federal government. From the data center, cloud and to the edge, we have decades of experience securing and modernizing federal agency data and infrastructure. Our world-class advisory and engineering team is comprised of mission-focused, results-driven subject-matter experts with deep technology and agency domain knowledge and security clearances. Part of Optiv, the cyber advisory and solutions leader, Optiv + ClearShark partners with federal agencies to advise, deploy and operate complete cybersecurity programs.
About Optiv + ClearSharkTM Optiv + ClearShark is a cybersecurity and IT solutions provider focused exclusively on serving the U.S. federal government. From the data center, cloud and to the edge, we have decades of experience securing and modernizing federal agency data and infrastructure. Our world-class advisory and engineering team is comprised of mission-focused, results-driven subject-matter experts with deep technology and agency domain knowledge and security clearances. Part of Optiv, the cyber advisory and solutions leader, Optiv + ClearShark partners with federal agencies to advise, deploy and operate complete cybersecurity programs.