Taste of IT 26:

THE CONNECTED STACK

Sinclair Event Center | Nov 18, 2026

The future of IT is Connected

AI affects data strategy. Cybersecurity shapes infrastructure. People, platforms, and business priorities influence every technology decision. Today’s technology challenges no longer exist in isolation, and neither can the conversations around them.

Now in its 19th year, Taste of IT 2026 brings Ohio’s technology community together to explore how these priorities connect. Through practical sessions, real-world perspectives, and conversations with technology leaders and peers, attendees will gain insights and ideas they can bring back to their teams and organizations.

Taste of IT has sold out four years in a row, bringing hundreds of technology professionals together to learn, connect, and explore what’s shaping the future of IT.

Keynote Speaker

Richard Bird

chief strategy & chief security officer, singulr ai

Richard Bird is an internationally recognized cybersecurity leader, author, and keynote speaker with more than three decades of experience in enterprise technology, including eight C-level roles and 11 years leading global identity at JPMorgan Chase.

In his keynote, It Was Already Broken Before AI Showed Up, Richard challenges the idea that AI created an entirely new set of cybersecurity problems. Instead, he’ll examine what AI has exposed and accelerated, from longstanding gaps in security controls to cybercrime, privacy risks, and the impact on vulnerable populations.

Attendees will leave with a practical way to evaluate AI security investments, distinguish truly new risks from existing problems moving at greater speed, and identify where fixing the foundation matters more than adding another layer of technology.