FREMONT, CA — In the heart of Silicon Valley, a vital new platform for technological discourse emerged as the Fremont ACM Chapter successfully launched its First Ever Fremont ACM Chapter-based Tech Talk. The landmark event, titled "The AI Paradox in Security," was held on October 26 at the Wally Pond Irvington Community Center, drawing a packed audience of industry professionals, researchers, and tech enthusiasts.

The conference, which quickly became the talk of the Bay Area tech community, was meticulously organized by a distinguished committee of industry leaders. This team, instrumental in establishing this new forum for innovation, includes Rakesh Keshava, Chair of the Fremont ACM Chapter, Arun Kumar Elengovan, Vice Chair of the Fremont ACM Chapter, and Nandagopal Seshagiri, Secretary of the Fremont ACM Chapter.

Fremont ACM Chapter

Setting the Intellectual Agenda

The evening was kicked off by the Vice Chairman of the Fremont ACM Chapter, Arun Kumar Elengovan, who also serves as the Director of Engineering Security at Okta, Inc., whose team at Okta focuses on building and evangelizing critical security solutions, setting a powerful intellectual tone for the conference.

He opened by invoking the "wisdom paradox," quoting Albert Einstein: "The more I learn, the more I realize how much I don't know." Mr. Elengovan skillfully applied this concept to the event's theme, stating, "When it comes to the intersection of AI and Security, there are two pillars of work: Using AI in Security and Securing AI."

He framed the entire discussion by delineating these two categories, explaining the use of AI for both defensive and offensive purposes, and contrasting it with the equally critical challenge of securing AI models themselves from new vectors of attack. His opening address provided the expert framework for the deep dives that followed.

A Panel of Distinguished Industry Leaders

The organizing committee assembled an elite panel of five distinguished speakers, each a leader and innovator in their respective domains, to unravel the complexities of the AI paradox.

• Jeevan Shanbhag: A Software Manager at Applied Materials and holder of three U.S. patents, Shanbhag has over 25 years of experience in semiconductor equipment software and AI-driven process systems.
• Rajesh Purushothaman: A Principal Software Engineer at Zscaler and holder of four identity-focused patents, he designs large-scale identity platforms and access controls for zero trust environments.
• Oluwatoyin Aromokeye: A product manager with a keen focus on secure and responsible digital products, Aromokeye advocates for secure by design principles to enhance user trust and actively contributes to tech communities.
• Jubin Soni: A Senior Software Engineer at Yahoo Finance and a Senior Member of IEEE, Soni leads large-scale cloud migrations and builds real-time data platforms powering intelligent user experiences.
• Swapnil Chawande: A cybersecurity thought leader and Supervisor at Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E), he oversees critical network security infrastructure and is an active AI cybersecurity researcher.

Program Chairs Leading AI Infrastructure Innovation

Isan Sahoo – AI-Driven Cloud Infrastructure Leader

Principal Member of Technical Staff at Oracle, specializing in AI-driven cloud infrastructure and resilient control plane design. With over a decade of experience, Sahoo has led innovations in self-healing platforms, bare metal provisioning, and large-scale cloud operations.

Deepak Kole – Intelligent Infrastructure Pioneer

A Senior Software Engineer with over a decade of experience designing scalable, cloud-native systems. Kole has led critical infrastructure projects at SAP and eBay, including enterprise-wide Single Sign-On frameworks and real-time metadata platforms.

Vinay Soni – Co-Chair and Digital Lead

Co-chair who built the chapter's website and leads online activities. Staff Engineer at LinkedIn, powering Feed recommendations for millions. Previously at Apple, Amazon, and Microsoft, building scalable ML platforms.

Pavan Nutalapati – Co-Chair and Treasurer

Co-chair and treasurer managing chapter operations. Senior Engineer and Cloud Security Leader at Oracle with 15+ years specializing in enterprise resilience and secure multi-cloud architecture. Co-author of Cloud Computing Unleashed and patent contributor.

Durga P. Chavali – Communications Chair

Communications Chair managing outreach and engagement. Senior IT leader and AI researcher with 20 years in enterprise transformation, specializing in AI governance and healthcare technology. Published author and keynote speaker focused on ethical AI deployment.

A Confluence of Ideas and Innovation

The event provided attendees with real-world insights into how AI both defends and disrupts modern security landscapes. The discussions covered pressing topics such as adversarial AI, data drift, bias in models, and the ethical guardrails necessary to manage this new frontier of risk.

More than just a series of presentations, the tech talk fostered a vibrant atmosphere for networking, allowing professionals, researchers, and emerging tech enthusiasts from across the Bay Area to connect and exchange ideas.

In his closing note, Mr. Nandagopal Seshagiri, the Chapter Secretary, thanked the distinguished speakers and synthesized the evening's discussions, reinforcing the importance of balancing the dual nature of AI in security.

The event's resounding success was sealed when Chapter Chair Mr. Rakesh Keshava announced an upcoming second event on emerging technologies, confirming that this inaugural tech talk was not an isolated success but the foundation of a new, essential series for Silicon Valley's technology community.