2026 HIP Conference Nashville Highlights

Welcome to Nashville. Very exciting to have you all here, and it's going to be awesome. We have about 500 identity experts that represent about 250 different companies. And I think what's interesting here is that 60% of those are new to the conference. The future we envision will be that eventually we'd like to ship a version of Windows with NTLM disabled. We just need to work together to make as much progress as possible. Machine speed attacks can still be stoppable. AI didn't invent the con. It merely removed the constraints. And some of the most consequential breaches don't begin with a code, they begin with a conversation. For the past 30 years, we've defended machines while adversaries study people. Now it's time that we study back. We need humans to be there, not just to be in the loop, but to be held accountable. How do you hold AI accountable for a bad decision? And so humans have to be at the heart of it for that world experience, wisdom that comes from all those intangibles that you learn. Because at the end of the day, we want to predict the failure and prevent the fall. Awareness tells people what a threat looks like, but human defense prepares them for what it feels like. So practice more. Those what if scenarios that you don't think will ever occur, practice those. In order to recover, you need to be exemplary. You don't need to be just good. HIP is much bigger than just the conference. It's not just about the content. It's actually about networking. It was always the case. Gain as much knowledge as possible. Network with your human peers. Take practical ideas back to your organization.