Zero Trust for Cloud-Native Security

Pranjal Sharma is a technology professional with over 15 years of experience in cloud computing, distributed systems, networking, and cybersecurity. He currently works at Oracle Health, where he focuses on secure cloud platforms and modern security architectures. Earlier in his career, he contributed to large-scale engineering initiatives across Oracle Cloud Infrastructure, Amazon Web Services, Cisco, IBM and others, with work spanning identity and access management, backend systems, networking, and enterprise security. He holds a Master of Engineering degree in Electrical and Computer Engineering from Cornell University, New York. Pranjal is an active author, editor, reviewer, session chair, and mentor, with publications in leading peer-reviewed venues in cybersecurity, cloud security, and artificial intelligence. His professional interests include Zero Trust security, cloud-native systems, AI-driven cybersecurity, and resilient distributed infrastructure.

Bishwajeet Pandey is a Professor at GL Bajaj Institute of Technology and Management, Greater Noida, India, and a Visiting Professor at UCSI University, Malaysia (QS World Rank 265). He has been a Senior Member of IEEE since 2019. Dr. Pandey holds an MTech in Computer Science from IIIT Gwalior, India, and a PhD in Computer Science from the Gran Sasso Science Institute, Italy. He has previously taught at several esteemed institutions, including Chitkara University (Chandigarh), Jain University (Bangalore), Astana IT University (Kazakhstan), Eurasian National University (Kazakhstan - QS World Rank 321), and Walsh College (USA). A prolific researcher, Dr. Pandey has authored over 30 books and published more than 240 Scopus-indexed research papers, accumulating over 4800 citations. His leadership experience includes serving as the Research Head of the School of CSE at Jain University, Bangalore (2021-2023) and heading the International Global Academic Partnership Committee at the Birla Institute of Applied Science, Bhimtal (2020-2021). In 2023, he was honoured with the prestigious Professor of the Year Award at Lord's Cricket Ground by the London Organisation of Skills Development. Dr. Pandey's greatest strength lies in his extensive global academic network. He has visited 49 countries, participated in 105 international conferences, and co-authored papers with 218 professors from 93 universities across 42 nations. He also serves as the Chair of two IEEE International Conferences - ICAIC (AI in Cybersecurity) and GAISS (Generative AI for Secure Systems)- held in Houston and Austin, USA.

Madhu Sharma Gaur is a Professor and Head of the department of Master of Computer Applications, G L Bajaj Institute of Technology and Management Greater Noida. She has received Ph. D. Degree in the area of Security and Trust Management in Mobile Pervasive Environment and serving as an academician, researcher, and Computer application development architect from last 20+ years. Her area of research interests includes IoT, AI/ML, Security and Trust Management. She has visisted and delivered a talk on "Responsible AI" at cybok group, Bristal University, Bristols England, she has also contributed in many International Conferences (IEEE/Springer) as program chair, Valued speaker, reviewer and Session chair, namely ICCR24 Dubai, Amity Dubai, and Technical Program Committee Adviser as well as Speaker at AICTE Sponsored FDPs on IOT/AI/ML and Security. She has presented and published various research papers International Conferences and Journals of repute. She is an Active researcher and organized five Conferences like ICCEDE20, IICS21, CISES22 & CISES23, CISES25 with complete process from Sending proposal to successfully organizing. She has coauthored a CCIS conference book series "Cybersecurity in Emerging Digital Era" Proceeding ICCEDE 2020, LNEE International Conference on "IoT, Intelligent Computing and Security", Select Proceedings of IICS 2021 and IGI Global Comprehensive Edited book "Futuristic e-Governance Security with Deep Learning Applications" and also authored many books in Computer science and Programming Concepts, and many more in line to publish. She has extensive exposure in software development, app development and provided solutions for various industrial/social problems. She has also completed many industrial projects like Visitor Pass Manager, Payroll, Stock Maintenance, Invoice and Stock Management, Order Dispatch System. As a part of Social Initiatives "Prevent Auto felony" and "Find your booth" app was quite popular in Greater Noida and covered by media.

Hardik Gohel is a leading researcher and educator in Artificial Intelligence, Cybersecurity, and Advanced Computing, serving as a professor at Texas A&M University-Victoria and founding director of the Applied Artificial Intelligence (AAI) Research Laboratory. His work focuses on translating cutting-edge AI research into practical solutions that address real-world challenges in critical sectors such as cybersecurity, infrastructure, and digital health. He serves as a Principal Investigator on federally funded research projects supported by the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) and Department of Energy (DoE), advancing areas such as cyber test automation, trustworthy cyberspace, and AI-driven predictive maintenance for critical infrastructure. His research spans AI, cybersecurity, digital health, and advanced computing, with contributions including deep learning architectures, AI-based security systems, IoT energy optimization, and intelligent biosensing technologies. Dr. Gohel is also an active leader within the IEEE, holding the distinction of Senior Member, and regularly serves as General Chair of international conferences, including the IEEE Conference on AI in Cybersecurity (ICAIC) and the IEEE Conference on Generative AI for Secure Systems (GAISS). Through his research, teaching, and global collaborations, he continues to shape innovation in applied AI while mentoring the next generation of scientists and engineers.