In Their Own Words: Customers in the Spotlight at Zenith Live ’23

One of my favorite aspects of Zenith Live, Zscaler’s flagship conference, is customer keynotes. Without fail, they are surprising, illuminating, and frequently humorous. They’re often delivered by executives I’ve previously worked with on IT and security challenges. They always articulate the realities and benefits of zero trust architecture to address daily pain points.

Given my position as EVP, Customer Experience and Transformation at Zscaler, I have a deep understanding of how customers make decisions, their concerns, and what drives them to succeed. My job requires –or rather, presents the opportunity for – laser-focus on the barriers between enterprise organizations and their secure digital transformation.

Companies are pursuing digital transformation en masse today because massive technological upheavals – from on-prem to cloud mass migrations to the rise of ransomware – have redefined how we work over a relatively short period. Centralized data centers are no longer the beating heart of business IT, and unethical hacking has reached unprecedented proportions. 

Therefore, enabling digital transformation is itself a form of customer obsession. It is, in essence, enabling customers to respond to shifting IT and security pain points. Zscaler helps accomplish this by facilitating the successful transformation of applications, connectivity, and security through zero trust network architecture. 

Among solutions providers who have adopted the customer-centric worldview, turning customers into advocates is the holy grail. But more than just saying nice things about our organization, their decision to speak to their esteemed peers about their experiences with our technology is a humbling and vital gesture I do not take for granted.

That’s why I am incredibly excited to hear from so many customers at Zenith Live ‘23, including those joining us for the following keynotes. 

Securing the digital future with Hyatt Hotels

I will take the stage with Hyatt Hotels SVP & CISO Benjamin Vaughn to discuss how this family of brands – 1,150 hotels served by 130,000 employees spanning 70 countries across six continents – transformed into a cloud-first organization. Benjamin will cover how Hyatt makes use of security functions like SSL inspection and data loss prevention (DLP) to protect the organization, as well as share his philosophy on topics including cyber insurance, ensuring data security compliance at a global organization, and the hotel chain’s efforts to build a more representative cybersecurity department.

A tale of two transformations with Liberty Mutual and S&P Global

Liberty Mutual VP & Sr. Director of Technology Digital Workforce Enablement Gary Sherman will be joined by colleague James Colson, BCISO, of global cybersecurity. Together they will speak alongside S&P Global’s EVP & Global CISO Swamy Kocherlakota and Global Head of Networking, Engineering, and Operations Guruprasad Ramamoorthy. 

These experts will compare and contrast the transformation journeys of their two companies, emphasizing shared learnings and noting obstacles unique to each of their businesses’ circumstances. Our panel will cover highlights and offer advice on the bumps in the road that can accompany any digital transformation.

Building better business outcomes, one step at a time, with CarMax

Whether you’re kicking off your journey or expanding the benefits you reap from zero trust architecture, this keynote will cover the journey to zero trust maturity at every step. CarMax EVP, Chief Information & Technology Officer Shamim Mohammad will be on stage sharing lessons learned along his company’s journey with Zscaler. Shamim will focus on the importance of not biting off more than you can chew, so you can seize their advice for modularizing the transformation journey where completing each step is a success in its own right.

Zenith Live is all about the customer

The customer journeys I’ve highlighted above represent a small fraction of the total customer participation we’ve prioritized for Zenith Live ‘23. We will also be pleased to hear from representatives of Aflac, Takeda, Sunbelt Rentals, NOV, Fannie Mae, Charles Schwab, NetJets, and more.

Our core focus for the event is gathering users to hear their stories, learn from their experiences, and share our roadmap with them – which should, first and foremost, be a response to their feedback. Customer or not yet a customer, I hope you will register to join us in Las Vegas (12th-15th).