What's Your Why?
Hugh Thompson, Jen Easterly
RSAC 2026 Conference · Main Stage Keynote
This talk, delivered by Hugh Thompson, Executive Chairman of RSAC, and Jen Easterly, CEO of RSAC, served as the opening keynote for the RSA Conference 2026, marking its 35th anniversary. Titled "What's Your Why?", the address transcended traditional technical presentations, instead focusing on the profound personal motivations that drive cybersecurity professionals. It explored the deep-seated human need to protect, connecting individual purpose to the collective strength of the cybersecurity community, particularly in an era profoundly shaped by artificial intelligence.
AI review
A motivational keynote from RSAC leadership that belongs at a corporate retreat, not a security conference. 'What's Your Why?' is feel-good community theater dressed up with AI buzzwords and a card-writing exercise. There is zero technical content, zero research, zero original contribution to the field. This is conference marketing masquerading as a talk, delivered by the people who run the conference, about why you should care about the conference. The fact that this was submitted for review as if it contains technical merit is itself a red flag.