A Virtual Whiskey Tasting Session
Breaking the build,
enforce or embrace?
Presented by
WHAT WE WILL DISCUSS
Traditional approaches to application security often alienate the very people responsible for building software: developers. When security is seen as a blocker or imposed top-down, the result isn’t better protection—it’s broken trust, broken pipelines, and ultimately, broken builds.
Join Checkmarx North America CISO Pete Chestna for a candid virtual roundtable and whiskey tasting where we’ll examine how security efforts often backfire when they clash with developer priorities. Pete will share real-world examples of how “getting secure” can lead to unintended consequences—and how reframing AppSec as an enabler, not an enforcer, changes the game.
We’ll explore:
- Why even well-intentioned AppSec programs face resistance.
- How to shift developer perception from compliance to collaboration.
- The role of empathy and engagement in building secure-by-default cultures.
Expect a spirited discussion that blends practical strategies with hard-earned lessons—plus a whiskey tasting to keep things smooth.
AGENDA
5:00 PM – 5:10 PM
Session & participant introduction
5:10 PM – 5:30 PM
Guided whiskey tasting by an expert
5:30 PM – 6:20 PM
Interactive discussion on the topic
6:20 PM – 6:30 PM
Closing
THE SOLUTION EXPERT
CISO of North America at Checkmarx
Pete Chestna serves as the CISO of North America at Checkmarx, where he provides customers and prospects with practical advice for building successful application security programs. He has than 30+ years of software development experience and more than 18 years of direct AppSec practitioner experience, Pete has held roles ranging from developer and development leader to his most recent position as the Global Head of AppSec for the Bank of Montreal where he was responsible for the security of thousands of applications.
Over his years as a software engineer and engineering leader, Pete has led organizational transformations from Waterfall to Agile to DevOps and from monolith to microservice architectures. He is certified as both a scrum master and product owner. Stemming from his experience as both an avid practitioner and consultant, Pete has spoken internationally at numerous prominent security and developer conferences including DevOpsDays, All Day DevOps, OWASP AppSec, Security BSides, and DevSecCon.
Pete has been granted 3 patents. He enjoys whiskey tourism, astronomy, model rocketry and listening to Rush in his spare time.