How I Survived My First Virtual Navigate

Navigate has come and gone again, and this year looked a lot different than any of the past eight Navigates I have attended. I had the pleasure of sharing the stage with our EVP of Products, Grady Summers for my keynote this year, where we aptly talked about human-centric security in a digital world. What better way to embrace a digital world than trying to connect with thousands of your closest identity friends and colleagues over Zoom?

Through masked smiles and a socially-distant camera crew, we managed to pull off Navigate 2020 keynotes, and these are my observations.  

Cameras Don’t Replace Human Connection

This may go without saying, but I really missed the energy of live audience. Looking forward to seeing our customers, meeting new people and that big exhale at the end is all part of the Navigate package. I feel lucky that I got to connect with a handful of our crew members filming the keynotes, but I would be lying if I said I didn’t miss the identity community and rekindling relationships with our customers. Being a part of SailPoint for over a decade, you get to know people, watch careers grow and even see the same face representing a different company as they bring SailPoint with them to their new roles.

"As we look at the application of AI and ML, it isn't a buzzword in identity. Identity is really well suited to using AI and ML because of the mass amount of data and processes we are trying to control and secure in the enterprise." Our CPO @ptrulove at #SPNav20 pic.twitter.com/7aZyOROihS

— SailPoint (@SailPoint) August 27, 2020

I’d Like to Thank The Academy

Similar to my friends Jack Black, Tom Cruise and Kevin Hart, I fall below the six-foot height range. Pair that with the fact that Grady is well over six feet tall, and you have a situation only an old Hollywood camera trick can fix. So for that, I’d like to thank Humphrey Bogart and the others who came before me for figuring this situation out ahead of time.

All that said, Navigate was still Navigate, and our crew showed up in ways I could have never imagined when all was said and done. If you didn’t get the chance to join day-of, or want to revisit some of the sessions, all of the Navigate content is available here, including my talk with Grady: Human-Centric Security for a Digital World.

Until next time, I am raising a virtual glass to our customers, partners and SailPoint Crew for another incredible year at Navigate.