Public sector cyber leaders must protect mission continuity, public trust and national security under flat or shrinking budgets while competing for scarce specialized talent. Getting fundamentals right such as patching, MFA and least privilege - and running a crown-jewel analysis - matters more than covering everything, since most attacks exploit known, preventable vulnerabilities. Moving from compliance-based to outcome-based strategy, consolidating tools and selling security as modernization stretches constrained dollars. On workforce, the OT skills gap is acute; micro-credentialing, experiential learning and cross-training between IT, OT and mission teams offer practical paths forward. Resilience comes from integration, shared services, tabletop exercises and treating AI as augmentation, not a universal fix.

In this insightful discussion, the panel of experts discuss:

• How to prioritize cyber investment through crown-jewel analysis and outcome-based strategy;
• Why micro-credentialing and IT-OT cross-training help close the workforce gap;
• How integration, shared services and tabletop exercises sustain resilience.