Finding Your Flow: Composing a Perinatal Career That Thrives

Returning from parental leave isn't just about regaining your rhythm, it's like stepping onto the podium to find toddlers with tambourines in place of an orchestra. The tempo's off, the sheet music is lost, and somehow, you're both the conductor and the one being conducted.

Beyond Hero Mode: Strategic Leadership and AI Integration to Prevent Team Burnout

Security incidents are faster, louder, and more complex than ever. For smaller or high-pressure teams, “hero mode” once felt like the only way to keep up — but endurance is not a strategy. The real challenge for today’s leaders is building teams that can perform under pressure without burning out.

This session explores the leadership and cultural factors that keep responders healthy and effective during sustained crisis operations. Attendees will learn how to design fair rotations, manage cognitive load, build psychological safety, and communicate clearly under stress. We will also discuss how automation and AI continue to evolve these same challenges, helping reduce context switching, streamline reporting, and free people to focus on critical thinking rather than repetitive tasks.

SANS Leadership Summit 2026

Peak Performance Under Pressure: Building Cross-Functional Resilience in Incident Response

You’ve mastered the technical aspects of incident response, but the difference between a well-managed incident and an organizational crisis often comes down to cross-functional coordination. As incidents become more complex and stakeholder expectations intensify, incident commanders must orchestrate seamlessly across technical teams, communications functions, and executive leadership.

Join four seasoned professionals who have commanded incidents and managed communications at some of the world’s most high-profile technology companies as they share hard-won lessons from the front lines. This panel brings together expertise spanning incident command, security engineering, and crisis communications to tackle the sophisticated coordination challenges that experienced responders face.

Panelists will discuss:

- Structuring effective engagement with communications teams during active incidents
- Communicating technical findings with executive-ready intelligence for boards and C-suite
- Building and maintaining strategic relationships with key stakeholders before incidents occur or escalate
- Navigating the inherent tension between rapid technical response and measured external communication

Drawing on real-world experiences from organizations operating at massive scale, this panel will provide actionable insights and recommendations for incident response leaders who understand the technical playbook but want to elevate their organizational impact and influence.