2026 C3 Technology Summit
September 28-29 in Sioux Falls,SD
About the C3 Technology Summit
The C3 Technology Summit is an annual event hosted by SDN Communications that is dedicated to bringing together broadband and middle-mile network providers to discuss pivotal topics in the industry. The summit emphasizes three core themes: connectivity, capacity, and content. By bringing together industry leaders, the summit aims to facilitate the exchange of knowledge, experiences, and strategies that can drive innovation and improvement in the broadband and middle-mile network sectors.
The C3 Technology Summit will take place at the Canopy by Hilton, Sioux Falls’ newest hotel that offers a scenic view of the Big Sioux River and Falls Park. Sessions will commence midday on Monday, September 28th, and will conclude at 4 PM on September 29th.
Reasons to Attend
Location
Experience the beautiful Canopy by Hilton with stunning views of the Falls Park on September 28-29.
Collaboration
Engage in meaningful discussions and share best practices with peers committed to advancing the industry.
Learning
Participate in focused sessions designed to enhance your strategic approach and industry knowledge.
Industry Insights
Gain firsthand knowledge on the latest trends shaping broadband and middle-mile networks from top experts.
Networking
Connect with industry leaders, peers, and decision-makers to build valuable partnerships.
Innovation
Explore cutting-edge solutions focused on connectivity, capacity, and content to stay ahead.
Book Your Stay
To book your room, use the button below to select within the C3 room block.
Canopy by Hilton Sioux Falls Downtown
120 E. 4th Place
Sioux Falls, South Dakota, 57104
Agenda
Monday September 28, 2026
10:00AM – 11:30AM SDN Network Management Committee Meeting (SDN Members Only)
11:30AM - 1:00PM Welcome Lunch & Vendor Showcase
1:00PM – 1:45PM The What and Why of Data Centers (Scott Sandal, Sunbird Software)
1:45PM - 2:30PM Content Delivery Networks: What service providers should know (Sean Thorne, Akamai)
2:30PM - 3:00PM Afternoon Break & Sponsor Showcase
3:00PM - 3:45PM GIS Mapping Use Cases (Dawson Schroeder, Geosolv)
3:45PM - 3:55PM Sponsor Presentation: Nokia
3:55PM - 4:45PM What Happens When AI Leaves the Cloud (Sanjay Sachdev, Stratica X)
4:45PM - 4:50PM Closing Comments
5:00PM – 7:00PM Sponsor Showcase Welcome Reception hosted by Nokia (Drinks & Hors d'oeuvres)
Tuesday September 29, 2026
7:00AM -8:00AM Breakfast & Sponsor Showcase
8:00AM-8:15AM Welcome
8:15AM-9:00AM The Modern Threat Landscape (Carl Herberger, Corero Network Security)
9:00AM-9:45AM Drones for Telecomm Use (Zack Holloway, Airborne Defense | Isaac Adsit, SDSMT)
9:45AM-10:15AM Morning Break & Sponsor Showcase
10:15AM-11:00AM Telecommunications Regulatory activity (Brian Ford, NTCA & Kara Semmler, SDTA)
11:00AM-11:45AM Disaster Planning Exercise (Melissa Kjendle, FRSecure)
11:45AM-1:05PM Lunch & Sponsor Showcase
1:05PM-1:15PM Sponsor Presentation: Corero
1:15PM-2:00PM Keynote Speaker Paul TenHaken: Leading with Intention, Finishing with Purpose
2:00PM-3:00PM Writing Assistants to Agentic Value Creation: The Next Frontier (Jeff Hensel, Eide Bailly | Dr. Amir Feizpour, Aggregate Intellect | Daniel Lakier, Myriad360 | Carl Herberger, Corero Network Security | Sanjay Sachdev, Stratica X | Peter Busschbach, Nokia)
3:00PM-3:45PM Android Streaming Boxes (Ashley S., Censys)
3:45PM-4:00PM Closing Comments
Speakers
Isaac Adsit
Isaac Adsit is a junior Computer Engineering student at the South Dakota School of Mines & Technology and the current President of the South Dakota Mines UAS Team. He is also a member of Airborne Defense, a defense-focused unmanned systems company specializing in counter-UAS evaluation, survivability testing, and risk analysis.
Adsit leads the university’s UAS Team in the development of autonomous aircraft, rapid-deployment drone systems, and mission-focused flight platforms designed to replicate emerging unmanned aerial threats. His work focuses on embedded systems, avionics integration, and flight system development, helping translate student-led engineering projects into platforms capable of supporting defense research and operational testing environments.
Through his roles with both the UAS Team and Airborne Defense, Adsit contributes to collaborative efforts that connect collegiate engineering innovation with national security applications. His work supports demonstrations, research initiatives, and technology development efforts aimed at improving the understanding of drone capabilities and vulnerabilities within modern defense environments.
Dr. Amir Feizpour
Dr. Amir Feizpour is the founder, CEO, and Chief Scientist at Aggregate Intellect building a generative business brain for service and science based companies. Amir has built and grown a global community of 5000+ AI practitioners and researchers gathered around topics in AI research, engineering, product development, and responsibility. Prior to this, Amir was an NLP Product Lead at Royal Bank of Canada. Amir held a research position at University of Oxford conducting experiments on quantum computing resulting in high profile publications and patents. Amir holds a PhD in Physics from University of Toronto. Amir also serves the AI ecosystem as an advisor at MaRS Discovery District and entrepreneur in residence at North Forge and Lab2MArket, and works with several startups as fractional chief AI officer. Amir engages with a wide range of community audiences (business executives to hands-on developers) through training and educational programs as well. Amir leads Aggregate Intellect’s R&D via several academic collaborations with McGill U., University of Toronto, and Alberta Machine Intelligence Institute.
Brian Ford
Brian Ford is a Vice President – Federal Regulatory at NTCA and has been with the association since March 2013. He advocates on behalf of NTCA’s RLEC members at the FCC, with a focus on a variety of issues such as the Universal Service Fund, broadband mapping, IP transition, NG911, E-rate, ACP and Lifeline, net neutrality, video, robocalls, and other rulemaking proceedings. Brian is the staff liaison to the NTCA Technical Committee, and he is the association’s representative on a number of industry working groups and standards body task forces.
Jeff Hensel
Jeff Hensel is a Director in the Technology Consulting practice at Eide Bailly. In this role he helps clients develop strategies to leverage technology to meet their business vision in becoming a digital organization by developing long-term strategic roadmaps, as well as short-term execution plans to accomplish those goals.
Jeff has been at the forefront of helping clients with understanding and deploying AI solutions in their organizations as this quickly evolving technology has become commercially accessible.
His extensive experience working in roles applying technology to solve business problems, includes 20+ years at Microsoft Corporation where he held roles in building, deploying, and consulting on commercial software solutions. These experiences give him a unique perspective on current technology as well as future trends that will impact organizations.
Carl Herberger
Carl Herberger, CEO of Corero Network Security, brings over 25 years of cybersecurity leadership experience. As an internationally recognized expert, he has held executive roles at top security firms including Radware, Evolve IP, Allied InfoSecurity, and most recently as Principal Security Consultant and virtual CISO. Carl is a sought-after speaker and thought leader who has appeared on major broadcast outlets including Fox Business, CNN, and Bloomberg. His insights on cyber threats and security solutions are frequently published in outlets like The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, and The Hill.
Among his many achievements, Carl received the Technology Executive of the Year award in 2019 and helped establish the US Air Force’s first cyber warfare unit during his time as an intelligence officer. As CEO, he leverages his deep expertise across all facets of cybersecurity to lead our corporate strategy and help our customers manage risk and build resilient systems capable of withstanding today’s cyber threats.
Zackery Holloway
Zackery Holloway is the Co-Founder and Director of UAS Threat Assessment at Airborne Defense, a South Dakota-based company focused on developing advanced unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) and counter-UAS technologies for commercial, public safety, and defense applications. He leads a multidisciplinary engineering team dedicated to finding new solutions that address emerging operational and security challenges.
Zackery earned a Bachelor of Science in Computer Engineering from the South Dakota School of Mines & Technology.
Melissa Kjendle
Melissa is a proven information security leader with more than 25 years of technical and leadership experience in the utility industry and over four years of consulting and security leadership at FRSecure. She blends deep operational knowledge with modern cybersecurity strategy, helping organizations strengthen their security posture, mature their programs, and navigate complex risk environments with clarity and confidence.
Melissa holds multiple industry‑recognized certifications—including CISSP, Security+, Network+, and SecurityStudio’s CvCISO Level 3—reflecting her commitment to continuous learning and excellence in the field. She earned her Bachelor of Arts in Marketing Management & Information Technology from Concordia University, grounding her technical expertise in strong communication, business alignment, and leadership capabilities.
Daniel Lakier
Daniel Lakier has been in the greater technology industry for 20 years. During that time he has worked in multiple verticals including the energy, manufacturing and healthcare sectors Daniel enjoys new challenges and as such has enjoyed several different roles in his Career from hands on engineering to architecture and Sales.
At heart Daniel is a teacher and a student. He is forever learning and truly has passion for sharing his knowledge. Daniel continues to be involved in helping several technology startups reach their potential. Daniel also publishes regular blogs on educational topics aimed at simplifying seemingly complex IT and compliance topics for non tech savvy executives.
When Daniel isn't at the office he enjoys working on the farm and chasing his wonderful daughters.
He believes that all people have an obligation to make the world a better place for all Children . "Ask yourself: is the world better today because I'm alive did I make it better today … this is not a point in time it is something we have to actively work on each and every day . Our main charge in life is to make the world better for our children. My life Goal is to look back from my death bed and know the world is better because I was part of it that my children and their grandchildren will have a better place to live a better life than the wonderful one I have had.
Ashley S.
Ashley S. is a cybersecurity researcher specializing in IoT security and adversarial threat intelligence. At Censys, she conducts research on IoT botnets and emerging threat campaigns, including illicit streaming device ecosystems that expose broadband and middle-mile networks to botnet activity, data exfiltration, and coordinated influence operations. A US Army Signal Corps veteran, Ashley brings over a decade of experience across Google Cloud Security and Palo Alto Networks, and holds certifications including GCIH, GPEN, and GCIA. She teaches cybersecurity at Sacramento City College and Boise State University, serves as Chief Security Officer for BSides Las Vegas, and is currently pursuing a PhD in Cyber Defense at Dakota State University. Her research has been featured on the Darknet Diaries podcast and at conferences including DEF CON, CactusCon, and BSides DFW.
Sanjay Sachdev
Sanjay Sachdev is CEO & Founding Principal of Stratica X Inc., a boutique digital infrastructure strategy and management consulting firm serving ISPs, MSPs, NeoClouds and private equity across Fibre, IX, Cloud Connect, Network Security, HPC Data Centre, and site search. His academic foundation bridges business and technology — a Software Engineering degree from the University of Toronto, an MBA from Ivey Business School, and an executive certification from Wharton.
At Stratica X Inc., Sanjay recently led a full Design-Build-Operate-and-Transfer mandate for a U-telco / FibreCo — defining how-to-play/where-to-play strategy, TAM/SAM/SOM sizing via geospatial and cost-to-serve modelling, and building the business case that secured board-level debt/equity investment. He then stood up the operator from scratch: product portfolio, GTM playbook, B/OSS and network technology stack, org design, and KPI governance framework, spanning quote-to-cash, service delivery, and network operations.
Prior to Stratica X, Sanjay was President of Aptum Fibre — a 3,300km fibre network carved out of Cogeco Peer 1's Toronto Hydro Telecom and Montreal MTO assets — and VP of Business Sales at Bell Canada, with $1B in annual enterprise revenue responsibility. He built one of Canada's first internet backbone iNOCs in the late 1990s; has closed over $500M in technology contracts during tenures at IBM and Bell, and supported nearly $1B in M&A transactions as a private equity advisor/operator. As a Partner in PwC's Telecom & Technology practice, he led emerging-tech engagements in IoT and digital transformation. Most recently, through Stratica X, he has been working with a NeoCloud provider building out commercial operations for mega B2B GPU-as-a-Service contracts — a current, operator's view of how AI infrastructure demand is transacted today.
Scott Sandal
Scott Sandal is a lifelong South Dakotan raised on a cow/calf operation near Howes where he attended K-8 at Plainview's 2-room country school. Scott graduated from Faith High School and married Heidi from Irene in 1997, whereas they are both alumni of Dakota State University. Together they have raised 4 children through the Lennox School System.
In 2008, Scott hit a career crossroads, opportunity to purchase Stockmen's Livestock, or go do something else! Doing something else turned into Heidi and he built the Yankton data center and a career spanning 20 years in the data center industry. Scott has worked with data center managers in all 50 states and 110+ countries worldwide improving infrastructure management and operation efficiencies within the facilities they manage. Those facilities and rooms range from small 1-2 cabinet MDF/IDF/MMR to hyperscalers data halls.
Dawson Schroeder
Dawson Schroeder is a GIS Specialist at Geosolv, where he has spent the past two years supporting geospatial data collection and infrastructure mapping projects. His primary role is coordinating field capture plans and executing infrastructure data collection in the field, helping transform real-world conditions into accurate, actionable geospatial information.
Working at the intersection of field operations and technology, Dawson has hands-on experience using reality capture and geospatial tools to collect high-resolution imagery, identify infrastructure assets, and build reliable datasets that support engineering and operational decision-making.
At the SDN C3 Technology Conference, Dawson will represent Geosolv and share a field-level perspective on how emerging geospatial technologies are changing the way infrastructure is captured, mapped, and understood.
Kara Semmler
Kara Semmler serves as General Counsel and Executive Director of the South Dakota Telecommunications Association (SDTA). Kara represents SDTA membership before the SD Public Utilities Commission, other state agencies, the state legislature, and the FCC.
Kara received a BA in business administration from Carthage College in Kenosha, WI and went on to obtain her law degree from Hamline University in St. Paul, MN. Kara then moved home to South Dakota to practice law. In addition to nearly a decade of private practice legal experience, she served as an attorney at the South Dakota Public Utilities Commission and as a Policy Advisor to Governor Kristi Noem.
Kara and her husband Aaron have one son. They enjoy outdoor adventures so readily available in Central South Dakota.
Paul TenHaken
Paul TenHaken was the 32nd Mayor of Sioux Falls, leading the city since 2018 with a focus on innovation, public entrepreneurship, and fiscal responsibility. His One Sioux Falls framework guides strategic investments in safety, health, housing, workforce, and families—helping earn Sioux Falls recognition as one of the Best Run Cities in America in 2024.
During his tenure, Sioux Falls became South Dakota’s first AARP Age‑Friendly Community, restored the historic State Theater, expanded arts funding, and launched one of the nation’s first 5G networks. TenHaken has strengthened public safety through increased staffing, record drug interdiction, and the city’s first mental‑health and drug triage center, culminating in the opening of a $55 million Public Safety Campus in 2023.
A champion for youth and community engagement, he founded the Sioux 52 Mentoring Initiative, the Mayor’s Youth Council, and the popular “100 Miles, 100 Days” wellness challenge. He also created The 437 Project, a run across South Dakota promoting suicide awareness and prevention.
TenHaken is a graduate of the Bloomberg Harvard City Leadership Initiative and has served on national committees with the EPA, Community Leaders of America, and the FCC. Before public service, he founded and exited Click Rain, a successful digital marketing agency. He and his wife Jill are proud parents of three children.
Sean Thorne
Sean Thorne is Director of Engineering at Akamai Technologies, where he oversees the company’s DNS product portfolio, handling trillions of DNS transactions per day. He co-founded Xerocole, a DNS software company acquired by Akamai in 2015, whose recursive DNS technology became the foundation of Akamai’s Secure Internet Access Enterprise product. His work spans carrier-scale resolver infrastructure, enterprise DNS security, and the operational systems behind both.
Thank you to our sponsors
Platinum
Gold
Silver
For Summit questions, contact C3 Project Manager Joel Pieper at [email protected] or 513.324.1620 or Jake VanDewater at [email protected]