Jess's Thoughts: Hi! I'm Jessica (Jess) Park, Business Development Manager for Cybersecurity at Loudoun Economic Development. Every month, we gather for Loudoun CyberTech, a cohort of the region's top cybersecurity professionals, where we learn from one another, network, and discuss cybersecurity topics and trends. In April, we'll hear from Brett Lucas and Ryan Coleman of Raventek, who will talk about making smart choices in a chaotic AI market. If you’re overwhelmed with choices and struggling to define an AI strategy for your business, you're not alone. Countless businesses are being inundated with new generative models, capabilities, frameworks, clouds, platforms, tools, and techniques - each promising to transform your business - only to be replaced quickly by the next new thing. Rather than pile on to the confusion, let’s learn how to cut through the hype of the AI era and enable intelligent decision-making in a chaotic market.
Have questions about the cybersecurity industry in Loudoun County? Feel free to reach out!
Brett Lucas currently leads AI strategy and development at RavenTek. His work developing the AI platform and Peraton and as the former Chief Data Scientist for the National Counterterrorism Center (NCTC) where he built AI tools to solve international crises enables him to put RavenTek at the forefront of AI innovation.
Ryan Coleman’s focus is building world class cybersecurity, observability, and digital transformation solutions at RavenTek. This includes the company’s newest venture – ManagedDEX, a service that enables organizations to improve employee satisfaction, productivity, and engagement. For over 15 years, Ryan has built enterprise sales organizations in the enterprise data collection, data analytics, SaaS, and cybersecurity markets.
Cyber In The News
Virginia CyberSlam Inspires Students to Explore Cybersecurity
Virginia CyberSlam 2025, a cybersecurity conference for high school students from across Virginia, was held March 10, at George Mason University. Co-hosted by George Mason Cyber Security Engineering and Loudoun County Public Schools, the event welcomed 475 students representing 22 schools and six school districts from around the Commonwealth. Founded by Chris Starke, who co-directs the event with Jennifer Marden, CyberSlam has drawn over 1,600 students in its four-year existence.
Attendees experienced four sessions of hands-on workshops and activities led by cyber experts from industry, government, and higher education. In all, 28 presenters combined to run 12 workshops - six for each for novice and advanced students.
CyberTech meet-up regulars Jason Balser (AI), Randy Benn (IoT programming), Greg Crabb (incident response), and Ray Vazquez (defending a business) served as workshop presenters, while Tom Bendien and James Barogh ran an exhibitor booth.
