A Nerds Eye View on Empower Fort Lauderdale

This year marked the 10 year anniversary of Empower, and while I’ve been lucky enough to attend many Empowers over the years, this one was a first for me in more ways than one. Empower Fort Lauderdale was my first North American Empower, and in the lead up to the event I found myself curious about how different it might feel on the other side of the Atlantic.

What struck me almost immediately though was that it didn’t feel different at all. Yes, it was the biggest Empower we’ve ever run, but everywhere I turned there were familiar faces, customers, colleagues, and friends from all corners of the globe. That really reinforced just how far Empower has come and how truly global this community has become.

Pre-day – Monday

Monday was the pre day at Empower, with the Welcome Reception and Expo set for the evening, but the day itself was anything but quiet.

The morning kicked off with my fellow Head Nerd, Lewis Pope, hosting a CIS training session. Although I couldn’t attend personally, the feedback I heard throughout the day was extremely positive. I spent my morning in the Elite sessions, which at one point became standing room only until the ever impressive events team wheeled in towers of additional chairs to accommodate everyone.

The standout moment for me was the Executive AMA session, where some genuinely tricky questions were asked and, to give credit where it’s due, our leadership team didn’t shy away from answering them openly and directly.

The afternoon was filled with breakout sessions and hands on workshops. I had the pleasure of co hosting one alongside my fellow Head Nerds Jason Murphy, Lewis Pope, Eric Harless, and Joe Ferla. The session focused on in person certification exams across N‑central, N‑sight and Cove Data Protection. The aim was to help partners validate real world skills, earn recognized credentials on site, and leave with a clear roadmap for continued learning. Judging by the level of engagement in the room, it certainly landed well.

As the evening rolled around and the Expo Hall doors opened for the Welcome Reception, I headed over to the Head Nerds lounge for something slightly different: crisis simulations.

Now, that might sound a bit heavy as a way to ease into an event, but in reality, it was great fun. We played a game called Backdoors and Breaches, a board game style exercise designed to explore how teams respond during security incidents. It was educational, competitive, and sparked some excellent conversations around real world incident response and best practices. I’d highly recommend checking it out, even better, grab a couple of sets for your organization as it would make for great lunch and learn sessions.

Day 1 – Business Resilience Takes Center Stage

For me, Day 1 started in the Nerd Lounge. Now in its second year, it’s fast becoming one of the most popular spots at Empower — a place where customers can hang out with the Head Nerds, play a few video games, ask the kind of N‑able product questions only Nerds can answer, and maybe grab a cocktail or two along the way (In the evening of course). It’s informal, welcoming, and does a great job of breaking down barriers between sessions.

Day 1 officially kicked off with President and CEO John Pagliuca’s keynote, and it was a strong way to open Empower 2026, putting business resilience firmly front and center. The message was clear: resilience is no longer just about recovery; it’s about being ready for constant change. That becomes even more critical when you factor in the growing impact AI is having on organizations, influencing everything from day to day operations to how decisions are made under pressure.

It was also fascinating to hear from City Football Group CTO Greg Swimer, who brought a powerful real world perspective to the conversation. His insights into why resilience is so critical for their organization and the very real consequences disruptions can have on teams, operations, and performance, reinforced that this isn’t just a technology discussion. It’s a people and business challenge too. A great reminder that resilience isn’t optional; it’s a true differentiator.

We then heard from our Chief Technology and Product Officer, Mike Adler, whose keynote “Readiness Starts Before the Storm” carried the theme forward. No in house DJ for Mike this year, just a hi vis jacket and some excellent analogies rooted in how Florida prepares for hurricanes. The takeaway was simple but sobering: businesses need to prepare for the threats they face before they arrive. Or, as Mike put it rather bluntly, “The storm isn’t coming, it’s already here.”

That focus on business resilience carried through strongly, and it didn’t stop there. Later in the morning, our Chief AI Officer Nicole Reineke took the stage to explore how customer environments are evolving beyond traditional endpoints. Today’s IT environments generate continuous signals from sensors, automated systems, and AI agents that operate alongside people and devices. Nicole also shared how N zo, our new AI assistant, is being designed to help N‑able partners navigate this complexity and make sense of those signals moving forward.

It was a thoughtful look at how AI can support resilience rather than complicate it, a theme that would resonate throughout the rest of the event.

In the afternoon, it was time for the breakout sessions. With five tracks to choose from there really was something for everyone, regardless of their role or focus area. I had the pleasure of presenting a session titled “Unlocking Analytics: What’s New, Direct Data Access, AI, and Customer Impacts” alongside Joe Kern, Director of Product Marketing Management.

A key part of the session was a customer conversation with Louis Oosthuizen from Zhero, who shared how they’ve leveraged direct data access with analytics. I always find it genuinely informative to hear directly from customers about how they use our products in the real world, and Louis’ story clearly resonated with many in the room. Speaking to attendees afterwards, it was great to hear how excited people are about the direction analytics is heading and how it’s helping them overcome some of the challenges they face when delivering meaningful reports to their end customers.

Day 1 was rounded out with the aforementioned cocktails in the Nerd Lounge followed by a pub crawl through the Expo Hall. It was the perfect way to wrap up a busy first day, with plenty of valuable conversations taking place between partners, vendors, N‑ablites, and attendees alike.

Day 2 – Turning Strategy into Strength

Day 2 kicked off early for some with a Fun Run, but not for me. Like many others, I was far more interested in eagerly awaiting the now famous Day 1 recap video. A packed room watched closely, trying to spot themselves on screen. Spoiler alert: I made it in, but blink and you might miss me. I always find the recap video to be a great way to re energize the room and set the tone for the day ahead.

The video was followed by a panel discussion on the never ending security journey and what it really takes to build resilience at scale. Moderated brilliantly by Brendan Griffin, the panel featured insights from N‑able CSO Dave Mackinnon and Will Ledesma , Director of Global MDR Cybersecurity Operations. The key reminder was a familiar one, but no less important: security is never “set and forget”, it’s a continuous process that evolves along with the threat landscape. One of the standout points came from Will, who reinforced that defense in depth genuinely matters. Relying on traditional approaches, like just a firewall or AV, simply isn’t enough for the modern working environment.

There was also a thoughtful discussion around AI as a business accelerator. Used correctly, it can help organizations drive efficiency and scale, but only if it’s balanced carefully so it doesn’t introduce new risks. Walking that line is going to be one of the defining challenges and opportunities for MSPs moving forward. It was an insightful session and a great way to kick off Day 2.

Next up was a keynote from Tiffani Bova, Chief of Research and Strategy at The Futurum Group, titled “Built to Grow: Leading Through Continuous Disruption.” Rather than focusing on disruption as something to survive, Tiffani challenged attendees to shift toward a thrive mindset — one built on proactive choices rather than reactive scrambling. She explored how customers increasingly discover solutions in an AI first world, how buying decisions are made long before sales conversations begin, and why so many businesses struggle to turn conference inspiration into real operational change.

That said, the moment that gave me the laugh of the week came when Tiffani shared a statistic that 54% of reps wouldn’t be willing to pay $1 for an hour of their manager’s time. Of course, my manager is great, and I’d happily pay far more than that (remember this, Marc Andre, come review time), but having seen plenty of managers come and go over the years, I can absolutely see how that statistic rings true in some cases.

After the mid morning coffee break, the breakout sessions resumed, giving everyone the chance to truly craft their own Empower experience. I had the pleasure of hosting a session titled “How UEM Is Transforming the Technician Experience” with Brian Mackie, Director of Product Management. I think we opened a few eyes to just how many new capabilities are now available across both N‑central and N‑sight, and how these features are directly addressing challenges technicians face on a day to day basis.

The content portion of the event wrapped up with the awards and closing session. Huge congratulations to everyone who was nominated or received an award., With so many deserving customers, being nominated alone is a real achievement. A special shout out to the team from Zhero on their Automation award, and to Jimmy Puckett for receiving the Mike Cullen Award. For those of us who knew Mike, and had the pleasure of working with him, he holds a special place in our hearts and is truly missed. I’m sure Jimmy was honored to be this year’s recipient.

While the awards marked the end of the formal content, they certainly didn’t signal the end of the conversations. The closing party was great fun and if you want more details than that, you’ll just have to join us next year and experience it for yourself.

If you haven’t been to Empower before — or if reading this has given you a bit of FOMO for Fort Lauderdale — my only advice would be this: try to make the next one.
Empower continues to evolve every year, but what remains consistent is the value that comes from the conversations, the shared experiences, and the sense of community across partners, customers, and N ablites alike.
The next Empower is heading to Scottsdale, Arizona, and you can secure your place now at a special pre sale launch rate here: https://web.cvent.com/event/d4b293d3-00cf-4c41-8399-05ea712f9ed1/regProcessStep1?rp=409700f7-e9a1-4f06-b718-6dc418134f6c.

And if waiting until 2027 feels like too long, we’re also taking Empower On the Move, bringing that same spirit to locations across The Netherlands, Germany, South Africa, Australia, and the UK. You can register your interest here and stay tuned for more details: https://www.n-able.com/empower/on-the-move-locations.

Wherever you choose to join us, Empower is an experience that’s well worth it and once you start going, you’ll likely find it hard to stop.

Paul Kelly is the Head Nerd at N‑able. You can follow him on LinkedIn at @HeadNerdPaul, on Reddit at u/Paul _Kelly or email at [email protected].