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The HexCon26 speakers bring together cybersecurity analysts, Zero Trust strategists, AI futurists, managed services experts and Hexnode leaders to explore what comes next for enterprise IT.
This year’s lineup includes Allie Mellen of Forrester, Dr. Chase Cunningham of Cyberbridge Partners, futurist and author Ramy Nassar, Erick Simpson of Channel Mastered, and leaders from Hexnode. Their perspectives span security operations, Zero Trust, AI, endpoint management, managed services and the future of UEM.
For IT admins, CISOs, MSPs and technology leaders, that mix creates something more useful than a series of product presentations. It brings different perspectives to the challenges already sitting on their desks.
That exchange of perspectives has been central to HexCon before. HexCon25 brought together analysts, industry experts and practitioners to examine how enterprise IT was evolving.
Here are some of the experts shaping the conversation at HexCon26 and why their sessions matter.
Allie Mellen, Principal Analyst at Forrester, brings an independent analyst perspective to HexCon26.
Her research covers security operations, nation-state threats, and the use of automation, machine learning and AI in security tools. She also advises CISOs and security teams on detection and response strategies.
That experience makes Mellen’s perspective particularly relevant as security teams rethink how they detect threats, investigate incidents and respond to an evolving threat landscape.
Her featured session is scheduled for Day 1, September 9, following the opening keynote.
Rather than looking at endpoint security as an isolated technology problem, her perspective can help attendees place security operations decisions within a broader industry context.
Dr. Chase Cunningham, Strategic Advisor at Cyberbridge Partners, brings decades of cybersecurity experience to the HexCon26 stage.
A retired Navy Chief Cryptologist, Cunningham has worked extensively across cyber operations, analytics and Zero Trust strategy. That background makes his perspective particularly relevant as organizations reconsider how identity, devices and access controls fit into a modern security architecture.
Zero Trust is also closely connected to several broader conversations at HexCon26, including cybersecurity, IT and security alignment, identity and endpoint trust.
Cunningham’s featured session takes place on Day 1, before the agenda moves into Hexnode’s product-focused sessions.
For attendees, the session offers an opportunity to look beyond individual security controls and consider a larger question: How should organizations establish and continuously evaluate trust across users, devices and access?
Ramy Nassar joins HexCon26 as a speaker, futurist and author of the forthcoming The World After AI.
His work spans enterprise AI, AI agents, governance and real-world implementation. That background makes his perspective particularly relevant as organizations move beyond experimenting with AI and start considering where it belongs in operational workflows.
That conversation runs throughout the HexCon26 agenda. Sessions such as Genie in the Console and Navigating the Autonomous Frontier explore how AI could reshape enterprise technology and device management.
For IT leaders, the question is no longer simply whether AI can assist administrators. The bigger question is how far AI can move into operational workflows while keeping execution governed and accountable.
Nassar’s perspective brings that longer-term question into the HexCon26 conversation.
For MSPs, partners and IT service leaders, Erick Simpson, CEO and Chief Strategist at Channel Mastered, brings the business side of managed services to HexCon26.
Simpson built and sold an MSP and has extensive experience in managed services performance, channel growth and operational excellence. His perspective connects technology decisions with a challenge service providers face every day: turning technical capabilities into sustainable business growth.
That perspective also complements the conference’s partner-focused discussions.
The Hexnode Partner Growth Roundtable sessions explore customer demand, growth opportunities and regional market differences. They also examine how partners can expand an initial endpoint requirement into broader security and identity conversations.
For service providers, the discussion therefore goes beyond product knowledge. It connects endpoint management with the operational and commercial decisions involved in building a scalable managed services business.
Apu Pavithran, Founder and CEO of Hexnode, leads the Hexnode speakers taking the stage at HexCon26.
Alongside Hexnode’s product, technical and business leaders, these sessions shift the conversation from broader industry trends to what those changes mean for endpoint management and the Hexnode platform.
The conference opens with the Day 1 keynote and later includes sessions such as Hexnode in 2026 and Destination 2027.
Across the agenda, Hexnode experts will explore areas including:
Together, these topics show how the endpoint-management conversation is expanding. Device administration increasingly intersects with security, identity, automation, AI and the wider employee technology experience.
For attendees, the Hexnode sessions offer a closer look at how those priorities could influence the next generation of enterprise endpoint management.
Some of the most useful expertise at HexCon26 will not necessarily come from the main stage.
Hexnode Labs will remain open throughout September 9 and 10, giving attendees hands-on access to pre-release versions of Hexnode XDR, IdP, DEX and Genie AI. The engineers working on those releases will also be present in the room.
Instead of limiting those conversations to formal presentations, attendees can discuss architecture, workflows, implementation considerations and real-world edge cases with people working closely on Hexnode’s technology.
That interaction can be particularly valuable for IT administrators evaluating how new capabilities could fit into their existing environments.
What makes the HexCon26 speakers worth hearing is not simply the number of names on the agenda. It is the range of perspectives they bring to the same enterprise IT challenges.
Analysts can challenge existing assumptions about security operations. Zero Trust strategists can help organizations reconsider how they establish trust. Futurists can examine AI beyond today’s hype cycle. Managed services experts can connect technology decisions to business outcomes.
Meanwhile, Hexnode’s product and technical leaders can bring those conversations back to the endpoint and show how emerging ideas translate into practical IT workflows.
For IT admins, CISOs, MSPs and technology leaders, HexCon26 offers more than one view of where enterprise IT is heading. It gives attendees the opportunity to compare perspectives, ask better questions and decide what those changes mean for their environments.
HexCon26 takes place September 9–10, 2026, at the Atlanta Marriott Marquis.
Hear from industry analysts, cybersecurity strategists, AI experts, managed services leaders and Hexnode experts shaping the next chapter of enterprise IT.
Explore Hexcon26
