Phoenix Education Ireland: AI and cyber security in practice
11:00 – 17:00
Tuesday 8th December
Technological University Dublin
Join Phoenix, Tanium and Keepit for an education-focused event on AI adoption and cyber resilience.
As Higher and Further Education institutions speed up digital transformation, the opportunities from AI are growing fast, and so are the risks. We’ll focus on good practice, governance, security and operational readiness, helping you adopt AI securely while strengthening your wider cyber posture.
Through practical sessions and peer discussion, we’ll explore:
- Building strong foundations for AI adoption
- Automating securely and responsibly using existing Microsoft capabilities
- Strengthening visibility and control across your IT estate
- Protecting critical M365 and identity data through robust backup strategies
- Improving cyber resilience and recovery readiness
Take a look at the agenda
11:00 – 11:15: Arrival and refreshments
11:15 – 11:30: Welcome and setting the scene. The evolving AI and cyber security landscape in education
11:30 – 12:30: AI foundations: the art of the possible. How to improve automation, efficiency and governance using existing Power Platform capabilities. Led by Tom Connell, Phoenix
12:30 – 12:45: Break
12:45 – 13:45: AI readiness and Copilot adoption. How to approach Microsoft 365 Copilot securely, responsibly, and effectively. Led by Lewis Thomson, Phoenix
13:45 – 14:45: Lunch and networking
14:45 – 15:45: Cyber hygiene and visibility. How Tanium supports stronger asset visibility, control, and operational resilience.
15:45 – 16:30: Cyber security and risk reduction in practice. Strengthening resilience through improved visibility, vulnerability management, and incident response capabilities.
16:30 – 16:55: Panel discussion and open Q&A. AI adoption, governance, cyber resilience and future trends in education.
16:55 – 17:00: Closing remarks.
17:00 onwards: Drinks reception/evening event.
Meet your speakers
Lewis Thompson
AI Workforce Lead, Phoenix Software
Lewis joined Phoenix in February 2020 to build out Phoenix’s FastTrack Programme. Since then, Lewis has taken on various new roles, including buildling out Phoenix’s Viva and Copilot offerings, managing a team of three, achieving the Microsoft FastTrack POTY Finalist position in 2023, and becoming a Microsoft MVP. Lewis is passionate about providing new technology to organisations and showcasing how this can help them do more with less.
Tom Connell
AI Business Process Lead, Phoenix Software
Tom joined Phoenix in 2018 as a Public Sector Account Manager before transitioning into the Cloud and AI team as the Business Apps Solution Lead. As a Microsoft certified Functional Consultant, Tom has helped mature the Phoenix in-house capability around Power Platform and Dynamics 365 to provide new service offerings to the Public Sector. He and his team help customers understand the Business Apps platform capability and leverage its benefits in line with mission statements and outcome goals.
Reserve your place today
Join peers across the Irish education sector to explore practical approaches to AI and cyber security.