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[ TL;DR ]
Key takeaways
- CyberMarketingCon is the cybersecurity marketing conference. Produced by the Cybersecurity Marketing Society, it focuses only on how security companies go to market: peer stories, field frameworks, and ROI, not generic networking.
- AI use is near universal; value isn’t. 88% of organizations use AI in at least one function, but only 39% report any measurable effect on EBIT (McKinsey, State of AI 2025, published November 2025, 1,993 respondents).
- ROI shows up first in operations. In 2026 the question moved from “does AI make us faster?” to “does faster content get cited and convert?”
- Security proof sells. Google closed its $32 billion acquisition of Wiz on March 11, 2026; the winning message is simple and backed by real customer evidence.
- The most valuable sessions were hands-on. AI agent workshops, technical-buyer sessions, and Birds-of-a-Feather tables gave marketers templates they could use the next week.
This post was first written before CyberMarketingCon 2025 in Austin. I’ve updated it in November 2026 with what we learned since: under each field signal, a short 2026 update shows what actually happened, and the agenda picks stay as a record of the sessions that mattered. CyberMarketingCon 2026 takes place November 15–18, 2026, in Austin.
[ Event spotlight ]
What Is a Cybersecurity Marketing Conference?
CyberMarketingCon is the annual conference produced by the Cybersecurity Marketing Society for cybersecurity go-to-market and marketing professionals. Unlike broad security or martech events, everything on its agenda is about how security companies go to market: positioning, demand generation, content, product marketing, and measurement. The Society began during the pandemic as a Slack group that co-founder and CEO Gianna Whitver started for cybermarketing friends; it grew to 4,400 members as of April 2026, according to Trade Show Executive. CyberMarketingCon 2026 runs November 15–18, 2026, at the Austin Marriott Downtown, with virtual access also available.
Why CyberMarketingCon Matters for Marketing Leaders
I’ve been director of business development at IOD for over four years now. During this time, I’ve met and spoken with hundreds of B2B tech marketers at AWS re:Invent, RSAC, Black Hat, and many other industry events. One thing becomes clear very quickly: Cybermarketing is different.
We see it every day at IOD. We work with many cybersecurity companies. We understand their challenges, their pains, and what it takes to work hand in hand with their teams. Wiz, one of the strongest players in the industry and proudly an IOD customer, is a great example.
That’s why CyberMarketingCon 2025 felt like the natural event for us to attend. It’s smaller than the mega conferences we usually go to, but that is exactly why the IOD team was there. It is tactical, featuring real-world insights from top cybermarketing practitioners, and focused on what cybermarketers are actually doing and measuring.
If you own growth in cybersecurity (whether you’re a CMO, demand gen lead, PMM, or in content ops), CyberMarketingCon in Austin is likely on your “must-attend” list. This isn’t a broad networking event. It’s where enterprise brands and hands-on GTM leaders share what’s working, what failed, and how they measured it. The result: actionable intelligence you can bring home.
Who’s actually there? Cybermarketing practitioners, including enterprise brands and GTM owners comparing battle-tested tactics (not theories). Expect high-value peer workshops, CMO roundtables, and content strategy deep dives. This is a no-fluff, value-driven conference. Peer exchange is what sets the bar here.
Cybermarketing Field Signals: What We Expected for 2026, and What We Learned
Before CyberMarketingCon 2025, the latest industry surveys and market signals offered a clear-eyed look at how AI, particularly GenAI, would shape real marketing outcomes in 2026. I’ve also seen this first-hand at IOD, where we’ve been combining our deep practitioner expertise with GenAI capabilities to create real performance-driven B2B tech content. Under each signal, you’ll find what we expected then and what we learned in 2026.
GenAI Adoption Widespread, but Value Uneven
In 2025, 71% of organizations used GenAI in at least one function, according to McKinsey’s State of AI survey (March 2025), but fewer than 1 in 5 tracked KPIs for their GenAI solutions. This left most teams with untapped ROI.
ROI Emerges First in Operations
We’re increasingly seeing our clients prioritize AI-driven optimization and creation in their marketing budgets. According to the 2026 Content Marketing Institute B2B Benchmarks report, 80% of B2B marketers using AI for content creation say operational efficiency improved; 58% report better content quality as a direct outcome. Yet measurement is still a gap: Only 40% highlight it as a primary driver for improved effectiveness, making it a top focus area for teams.
Marketing Leaders Want Measurable Gains
While 85% of marketers report using GenAI, only 15% are fully integrated; yet among those, 83–93% see ROI (SAS, January 2025). The path to value: Move beyond pilots to systematic adoption, led by line-of-business owners.
Security as a Budget Focus
Google’s $32B acquisition of our client Wiz sent a clear message: Cloud security is now a top priority for both AI and marketing teams. If you can show how your company’s security features really help customers (and you can prove it with real examples, not just promises), you’ll see more people moving through your marketing funnel and better results for your business.
Tactical Agenda Picks from CyberMarketingCon 2025
Here were my picks for the sessions and activities that delivered the most value for GTM, content operations, and measurement at CyberMarketingCon 2025 in Austin:
1. DIY AI Agent Workshop: Build a Marketing Agent Using n8n
- When: Sunday, December 7, 2025 (12:05–3:00 PM CST)
- Who: Dr. Anushika Babu, CMO, AppSecEngineer
- Why it matters: This is a hands-on session, not just a demo. You actually build an AI marketing agent and get ready-to-use templates for automating tasks like lead enrichment, call summaries, and repurposing content, plus tips on how to prompt AI tools for better results and tone.
- What you take back to work: A working agent connected to ChatGPT, Sheets, Slack, LinkedIn, and Notion, plus a simple rollout plan and a risk checklist (covering things like PII and AI hallucinations).
2. When GenAI Meets GTM: The Cybersecurity Unicorn’s Marketing Playbook
- When: Tuesday, December 9, 2025 (4:15–4:45 PM CST)
- Who: Jenna Quigley, VP Growth Marketing, Cyera, and Chris Hines, VP of PMM and Corporate Marketing, Cyera
- Why it matters: Discover how top-tier cybersecurity companies, those rare “unicorns,” are combining GenAI with GTM strategies to scale fast, capture market share, and lead category conversations.
- What you take back to work: A GTM playbook template tailored for GenAI-powered cybersecurity marketing, covering buyer journey mapping, content velocity frameworks, measurement scorecards, and operating models you can adapt immediately.
3. Marketing to the Technical Buyer: What Red Teamers Really Think of Your Campaign
- When: Wednesday, December 10, 2025 (10:50–11:15 AM CST)
- Who: Maril Vernon, Principal Solutions Architect, NetSPI
- Why it matters: If your cybersecurity campaigns look sharp but fall flat with technically minded buyers, you’re not alone. This session breaks down exactly why red teamers and engineers ghost your content, and how to fix it.
- What you take back to work: A checklist of phrases and messaging approaches that turn off technical buyers, and what to use instead; real examples of how to translate product features into value narratives that resonate with red teamers and engineers; and tips for co-creating content with your product or technical teams that earns trust, not eye rolls.
4. How We 10x’d Our Team’s Creativity with AI: The Practical AI Playbook for Cybersecurity Marketing
- When: Wednesday, December 10, 2025 (2:15–2:40 PM CST)
- Who: Tom Orbach, Head of Growth Marketing, Wiz
- Why it matters: Leading cybersecurity marketing teams are using AI far beyond experiments: They’re multiplying creative output, scaling content ops, and positioning themselves for growth in 2026. This session deconstructs how they moved from “trying AI” to building a repeatable AI-powered playbook.
- What you take back to work: A ready-to-adapt AI creativity playbook, covering workflow templates, role definitions, prompt engineering best practices, and content-production arcs you can plug into your team immediately.
5. Lunch + Birds-of-a-Feather (BoF) Tables
- When: Daily, December 8–10, 2025 (12:00–1:30 PM CST)
- Who: Open to all attendees
- Why it matters: This is your chance to stress-test your playbooks with other marketers running similar tools and stacks.
- What you take back to work: Real-world answers to your top measurement and content ops questions from small-group conversations, peer benchmarks for time-to-value and risk, and strategies you can use right away to improve your cybermarketing programs.
5 Ways Leading B2B Tech Teams Turn AI and Marketing Data Into Real ROI
Across IOD’s client base, here’s what we’re seeing right now. Leading cybermarketing teams are capturing real value from their AI and marketing data investments. If you want to close the measurement gap and show true impact after CyberMarketingCon, here are five practical steps you can take.
1. Make Measurement a Priority, Not an Afterthought
You’ll hear it again and again at CyberMarketingCon: AI means little if you’re not measuring its impact. Set clear KPIs before your next campaign. Think content velocity, pipeline coverage, cost per lead, and win rates tied to AI-enabled activities. Use dashboards or simple tracking tools so results are visible, not just shared in post-mortems.
2. Build an “AI ROI Checklist” for Every New Initiative
After attending hands-on workshops, apply what you’ve learned by creating a quick “AI ROI checklist” for any new tool or workflow. Ask:
- What metric will improve?
- How will we measure it?
- Who’s responsible for tracking and reporting?
This checklist (even just a single slide) ensures you’re not just experimenting with AI; you’re connecting it to business value.
3. Create a Living “Security Proof” Hub
Peer sessions at CyberMarketingCon highlight the need for trust. Build a resource hub featuring up-to-date case studies, data visualizations, and third-party validations from industry experts. Make it easily accessible for your sales and marketing teams.
This not only demonstrates outcomes but gives your prospects real evidence (not just promises), which is especially important in today’s competitive cyber landscape.
4. Benchmark with Your Peers
Don’t just attend Birds-of-a-Feather tables and roundtables; use them to compare what metrics other cyber marketers are tracking for GenAI, security, and attribution. Take notes, swap dashboards, and adjust your own scorecard based on proven strategies you discover on-site.
5. Move from Pilots to Process
Inspired by what you learn at CyberMarketingCon? Make this the year you scale GenAI from experiment to standard operating procedure. Tie GenAI outputs (content, campaigns, workflows) directly to your marketing and sales KPIs, and review them quarterly.
Turn Your CyberMarketingCon Insights into Action
CyberMarketingCon isn’t just another conference for me. It’s an opportunity to hear leading marketers benchmark what’s working, test new playbooks, and bring home strategies for our clients that drive real business impact.
Going into Austin in 2025, these were the conversations I wanted to have, and they’re still the right questions for 2026:
- How are advanced teams structuring handoffs between AI and humans?
- Which KPIs truly reflect GenAI’s impact on pipeline and content velocity?
- What are the best new practices for proving brand trust and security outcomes in a crowded cyber market?
We’re looking for the frameworks and measurements that turn GenAI from pilot to process, and for proof-driven strategies that win buyer trust.
Let’s connect at CyberMarketingCon 2026 in Austin, November 15–18! Come meet the IOD team to swap lessons, benchmark your GTM model, or see how IOD delivers practitioner-led, AI-powered content strategies built for cybersecurity.
[ FAQ ]
Frequently Asked Questions
What is a cybersecurity marketing conference?
A cybersecurity marketing conference is an event built for the people who market and sell security products, not for security practitioners. CyberMarketingCon, produced by the Cybersecurity Marketing Society, is the main one: everything on its agenda is about how security companies go to market, from positioning and demand generation to content and measurement.
When and where is CyberMarketingCon 2026?
CyberMarketingCon 2026 runs November 15–18, 2026, at the Austin Marriott Downtown in Austin, Texas, with virtual access also available. It is the Cybersecurity Marketing Society’s flagship conference, with role-specific education, hands-on workshops, peer learning, and networking.
Who should attend CyberMarketingCon?
Anyone who owns growth at a cybersecurity company: CMOs, demand gen leads, product marketers, and content operations teams. It’s smaller and more tactical than mega conferences like RSAC or AWS re:Invent, and its value comes from peer exchange on what worked, what failed, and how it was measured.
What did cybersecurity marketers learn about GenAI ROI in 2026?
Adoption kept rising while value stayed uneven: McKinsey’s State of AI 2025 report puts AI use at 88% of organizations, but only 39% see any measurable effect on EBIT. ROI showed up first in operations, and the teams that won budget tied AI output to pipeline numbers their CFO already tracked.
Which CyberMarketingCon 2025 sessions were most useful for GTM teams?
The hands-on ones: the DIY AI agent workshop with n8n, Cyera’s GenAI and GTM playbook, Maril Vernon’s session on marketing to technical buyers, Tom Orbach’s practical AI playbook from Wiz, and the daily Birds-of-a-Feather lunch tables. Each gave marketers a template or checklist they could use right away.
