BSIDES CHARLOTTE 2026 SPEAKERS
BSides Charlotte is proud to have the following folks as speakers this year, both In Person and Virtual. As we strive to do every year since 2020, we had enough talk submissions that we can have a Virtual Track! Please find more information regarding our schedule here.
Aleksa/Skepticseptic
Anurag Swarnim Yadav is a security researcher currently working on QubitAC, a platform focused on cryptographic discovery, inventory, and post-quantum cryptography (PQC) readiness. He holds a Ph.D. in Computer Science from the University of Florida, where his research centered on machine-learning–driven vulnerability detection and automated program repair.
Avinash Gajula is a security risk management leader with deep experience helping organizations identify, prioritize, and remediate security risks at scale. His work spans multiple domains of security, including M&A security due diligence, Customer trust, Vulnerability management, third-party risk management, and threat defense and response. More recently, he has focused on building AI-driven solutions within Security, Risk, and Compliance organizations to improve automation and decision-making.
Craig Birch is a Principal Technologist at Cayosoft with more than 25 years of hands‑on experience in Active Directory security and architecture. Craig focuses on how real‑world identity misconfigurations and delegated trust lead to compromise. He is also the host of the Guardians of the Directory podcast, where he shares practical lessons drawn from modern identity attacks. Today, Craig will walk us through how Active Directory attack paths actually form and why overlooked combinations matter.
Edgar Freemantle is the founder of Laminar Research, a boutique technology consultancy built on a simple premise: Entrepreneurs, small businesses, and everyday people deserve the same edge the Fortune 500s pay millions for. Laminar operates open-source first, always, building on tools that belong to the people who use them, not the corporations that sell them. Edgar specializes in prescriptive privacy and security: Zero-trust, mesh networks, digital sovereignty, managed GrapheneOS deployments, and self-hosted infrastructure that puts clients back in control of their own digital lives. Recently, he’s been deep in the weeds with AI, local inference, and agentic systems, because he believes the next fight for digital autonomy will be over who owns the intelligence layer. With a career spanning IT, telecom, financial services, retail, and software development, Edgar has spent decades at the intersection of strategy and implementation. He is also an avid but slow runner, a dedicated hiker, and a family man based in Charlotte, NC. He documents none of this on social media.
Gabriel is a Purple Team and Adversary Emulation Lead for Advanced Services at MorganFranklin Cyber, with hands-on experience spanning GRC, cyber resilience, and time spent as a SOC analyst. Day to day, he leads purple team and adversary emulation exercises for clients across industries, working alongside his counterparts in Advanced Services to bridge the gaps between threat intelligence, detection engineering, and threat hunting.
James Everett Chapman
Jason Gillam is the CIO of Secure Ideas, a security consulting and penetration testing firm. A professional penetration tester and programmer with over 25 years of experience in enterprise software, system architecture, and application security, Jason has held technical leadership roles at both startups and Fortune 100 companies. He is the author of the Burp CO2 and Paramalizer Burp Suite extensions and has contributed to open source security projects including Laudanum and MobiSec. As OWASP project lead for SamuraiWTF and a member of the OWASP Project Committee, he is committed to application security education, responsible AI integration, and embedding security practices throughout the SDLC.
Jeff Goeke-Smith
Justin Varner
With over two decades of expertise in Cyber Security Operations, Levone Campbell stands at the forefront of digital defense as the Cyber Security Lead and Incident Coordinator for his organization. A veteran in Information Technology, Levone has honed his skills to become a formidable expert in Cyber Threat Intelligence and Cyber Crime Espionage, consistently staying ahead of emerging threats in our ever-evolving digital landscape. Levone’s academic prowess is evident in his impressive educational background: Dual bachelor’s degrees in management and marketing from North Carolina A&T State University; Masters in business administration from Walden University; & Masters in technology management from Georgetown University. His commitment to professional growth is further exemplified by his numerous industry-recognized certifications, solidifying his status as a multifaceted cybersecurity leader. Based in Houston, TX, Levone balances his high-stakes career with a fulfilling personal life, sharing 19 years of marriage with his wife Lindsay and raising their two children. This grounding in family life brings a unique perspective to his approach in safeguarding digital assets and fostering a secure cyber environment.
Nick Newell is the Founder of Rival IT, a Charlotte, NC firm specializing in cybersecurity and AI integration. He also serves as a strategic consultant for Pax8, a technology marketplace supporting the managed service provider ecosystem, and holds a Master’s degree in Information Technology from the University of South Carolina.
Pranay Singh Suri
Pravallika (Pravi) Devineni, Ph.D. is a Lead AI Scientist at Duke Energy, where she leads a team building production AI systems across regulated energy infrastructure. Her work spans agentic AI architecture, AI governance frameworks, and security controls for autonomous systems in safety-critical environments. She publishes the AI Briefing Room, a technical series on agentic AI design patterns, security, and governance for enterprise practitioners. She holds a PhD in Computer Science from UC Riverside, with prior research at Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge and Lawrence Livermore National Laboratories.
Doug Garbarino is a Lead Cybersecurity Architect at Duke Energy, where he designs and implements security architectures across IT and OT environments for one of the largest energy providers in the country. His work spans multilevel security design, cross-domain solutions, and aligning cybersecurity strategy with both enterprise IT and industrial control systems. Prior to Duke Energy, he served as a Systems Architect at Wells Fargo, leading strategic IT roadmap development, and as an Enterprise Architect at 3D Systems Corporation, contributing to international e-commerce platform deployment. He holds a Master’s degree from Portland State University.
Stryker is the director of threat analysis at Fable Security, where she translates technical research and qualitative intelligence into the “so what?” and “what now?” solutions that keep more people safe and secure. Before Fable, she produced threat intelligence for GEICO, Blackpoint Cyber, and other cybersecurity vendors. You can often find her playing “Backdoors & Breaches” in the hallway after her talks at DEF CON, SecTor, and Bsides conferences around the United States. Stryker lives in Baltimore, growing parsley for butterflies and algae for shrimp.
Thomas Richards is a principal security consultant with UltraViolet Cyber. Thomas is currently responsible for overseeing UltraViolet Cyber’s infrastructure testing services. He currently holds the Offensive Security Certified Professional (OSCP) certification and has publicly disclosed dozens of vulnerabilities.
Chris is an Information Security Consultant for Rebyc Security, an offensive security consulting company based in Charlotte. With deep corporate experience, Chris understands the kinds of risks that organizations face and knows how to help them stay secure from both a technical and non-technical perspective. He has given numerous presentations around the region and is an advocate for personal privacy. He also volunteers his time in the local community by sitting on non-profit Boards and helping both organizations and individuals understand how to stay cyber safe.
James Donlon
Srija Reddy Allam
