Theresa Payton
CEO of Fortalice Solutions and former White House CIO
Cybersecurity · AI Risk · Digital Fraud
Speaking Fee
Fee on request
Based In
United States
Signature Topic
Cybersecurity
Format
Keynote
About Theresa
Theresa Payton served as Chief Information Officer at the White House from 2006 to 2008, the first woman to hold the role. She led the technology and operations behind an administration that pushed further into digital process than any before it, including the first fully digital federal budget and the first fully digital White House photography operation.
She is now Chief Executive Officer of Fortalice Solutions, a cyber strategy, risk, and investigations firm, and previously cofounded Dark3, a cybersecurity product company. Before her White House appointment she held senior technology roles in banking, which is where her framing of security as a business risk rather than a purely technical one originates.
Payton is a United States patent holder and an inventor in the digital security field. Cisco named her Cybersecurity Crusader of the Year in 2020, and she was named to Awards Magazine's Top 50 Women in Tech in 2021. She is among the most frequently cited cybersecurity authorities in national media.
Her keynotes concentrate on what is changing fastest rather than on general security hygiene. Artificial intelligence has reshaped both sides of cybercrime, lowering the cost of convincing fraud while handing defenders new tooling, and much of her current material addresses how organizations should adjust to that shift without paralyzing their own operations.
She is booked by business, association, and government audiences, and her sessions are built for decision-makers rather than for security teams alone. The recurring theme is that most breaches turn on human process and judgment rather than on exotic technical failure, which is why her audiences are usually mixed leadership rather than IT only.
Keynote Topics
AI and the Next Generation of Cybercrime
Cybersecurity for Boards and Executive Teams
Fraud, Deepfakes, and Digital Deception
Building a Security-Aware Culture
Incident Response and Crisis Readiness
Best For
- Board and executive leadership briefings
- Financial services and banking conferences
- Government and public sector events
- Technology and risk management summits
- Association annual meetings
Booking Theresa Payton: Frequently Asked Questions
What is Theresa Payton's speaking fee?
Theresa Payton's fee is not published and is quoted per event. Cybersecurity keynote fees vary with event date, location and travel, session length, and whether the booking adds an executive or board briefing to the main keynote. Submit an inquiry with those details to receive a current quote and availability.
What was Theresa Payton's role at the White House?
Theresa Payton served as White House Chief Information Officer from 2006 to 2008, the first woman appointed to that position. She led the technology and operations supporting the administration's move to digital process, including the first fully digital federal budget and the first fully digital White House photography operation.
What cybersecurity topics does Theresa Payton cover?
Theresa Payton speaks on how artificial intelligence is reshaping cybercrime on both the attack and the defense side, on fraud and deepfake-driven deception, on board and executive-level security governance, and on incident response readiness. Her material treats security as a business risk rather than a purely technical one, reflecting her background in banking before her White House appointment.
Is Theresa Payton's keynote suitable for a non-technical audience?
Yes. Her sessions are built for decision-makers rather than for security teams alone, and are regularly delivered to mixed business, association, and government audiences. The recurring argument is that most breaches turn on human process and judgment rather than on exotic technical failure, which is what makes the material relevant outside an IT function.
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Theresa Payton
CEO of Fortalice Solutions and former White House CIO
Fee on request
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