Josie Smoot
Senior Director, U.S. Public Sector and Healthcare Marketing, Zscaler
For the third straight year, Josie Smoot’s team executed a premier cybersecurity event that draws professionals in federal, state and local government IT along with industry leaders.
The Public Sector Summit in Washington, D.C., has grown significantly in size and scale each year, she said, solidifying its position as a leading forum of its type.
“We are now leveraging this momentum to make our fourth annual event on March 3, 2026, an even greater success, driving unparalleled engagement, educational opportunities and demand within the public sector,” Smoot said.
Why Watch
In 2026, her team is heavily focused on educating public sector organizations on how to securely adopt and leverage AI to drive innovation and enhance operational efficiency. They are working to deliver impactful campaigns, events and educational programs at scale to better demonstrate how Zscaler’s platform accelerates cloud adoption and fortifies AI initiatives against emerging threats. The goal is to ensure government organizations can confidently use advanced technologies to achieve their critical missions.
Zscaler directly aligns with the administration’s priorities by enabling government agencies to reduce costs, streamline operations, and enhance efficiency through their Zero Trust Exchange. Their FedRAMP moderate, High and IL5 cloud-native platform eliminates costly legacy infrastructure and disparate security tools, centralizing policy management and automating threat protection.
This empowers secure, efficient access to applications from anywhere, while also providing the foundational security necessary for agencies to safely integrate AI, driving innovation and improving mission delivery, she said.
Fun Fact:Over the past eight years, Smoot has become an avid gardener, learning which fruits and vegetables thrive in Northern Virginia. She finds it rewarding to enjoy the harvest, often sharing the surplus with friends and family, and says it’s a fun way to encourage her son to eat healthier.