From global forces to the decisions in front of us.

Camille Stewart Gloster, inaugural Deputy National Cyber Director at the White House, served as the keynote speaker for our first West Coast Critical Effect California conference. Her opening remarks set exactly the right tone for the day, drawing on her White House experience to connect the rapidly changing AI and cybersecurity landscape to the operational realities facing critical infrastructure. She grounded big strategic questions in the everyday challenges facing water utilities, hospitals, and local governments working with limited resources, while giving leaders a practical way to think about accountability, workforce readiness, and resilience. Her message that resilience cannot belong to the security team alone, and instead requires industry, policymakers, insurers, operators, and communities working together, gave our attendees a framework they could actually use. The message clearly resonated. It became a throughline for conversations throughout the day and sparked continued interest in Camille's work well beyond the keynote. We were thrilled to have her with us on the day her book, ‘The Insider You Built,’ was released, which was the right message at the right moment, in a room of leaders positioned to help turn that message into action.

The timing of the convening could not have been more relevant. California had already launched both Cal-Secure 2.0 and the AI Cyber Defense Program in the weeks before, and just days after, Governor Newsom issued Executive Order N-9-26, further advancing the state's approach to AI safety and security through stronger independent oversight, verification and accountability. These developments reinforce why bringing leaders across government, critical infrastructure, industry, academia and communities together matters. Resilience isn't built in silos, and preparedness cannot begin after the next crisis arrives.