LAS VEGAS, NV / ACCESS Newswire / August 24, 2026 / Natalia Sokolova, investor, entrepreneur and President & COO of Cytta Air, has been invited as an industry thought leader to participate in Opal Group's Investing in Security 2026 conference on October 5, 2026, at the Cosmos Club in Washington, D.C.
Sokolova will speak on "Dual-Use Technologies: Where Defense Innovation Meets Commercial Opportunity," exploring the rapidly expanding intersection between national security requirements, private capital and technologies capable of serving both defense and commercial markets.
The Investing in Security Forum brings together family offices and institutional investors to examine opportunities across the evolving defense and security landscape, including defense technology, cybersecurity, critical infrastructure, dual-use innovation and emerging security solutions.
"Some of the most important technologies being developed today are no longer confined to a single defense or commercial market," said Sokolova. "Dual-use technologies can address critical national-security requirements while also creating significant commercial applications. I look forward to discussing how investors can evaluate these opportunities, where private capital can accelerate innovation, and what it takes to move promising technology from development to scalable deployment."
Sokolova brings the perspective of both an investor and operator to the discussion. Through her work with Verda Family Office and Cytta Air, she focuses on technologies at the intersection of safety, security, advanced manufacturing and dual-use applications.
Her recent article, "The Drone Is No Longer the Product," illustrates one of the themes central to this shift. The article examines how recent federal procurement initiatives, new tariffs on certain foreign drones and components, and incentives for domestic production are changing the U.S. drone industry. It argues that competitive advantage is moving beyond the aircraft itself toward the complete mission stack-including components, communications, navigation, software, command-and-control and the domestic manufacturing capability required to produce and sustain these systems at scale.
Read "The Drone Is No Longer the Product" on LinkedIn
Cytta Air represents one example of this broader dual-use opportunity. The company is building a scalable, American-built drone manufacturing platform designed to integrate multiple drone configurations with U.S.-made components, proprietary command-and-control, resilient communications and local positioning technologies. Its approach reflects the convergence Sokolova will address in Washington: technologies driven by national-security requirements that can also create substantial applications across public safety, critical infrastructure and commercial markets.
About Investing in Security 2026
Opal Group's Investing in Security Forum will take place October 5, 2026, at the Cosmos Club in Washington, D.C. The event brings together family offices and institutional investors to explore investment opportunities created by geopolitical change, technological innovation and national-resilience priorities across defense technology, cybersecurity, critical infrastructure, dual-use innovation and emerging security solutions.
About Natalia Sokolova
Natalia Sokolova is an investor, entrepreneur and operator focused on safety, security, advanced manufacturing and dual-use technologies. She is President & COO of Cytta Air and a Principal of Verda Family Office, bringing together investment and operating perspectives across emerging technologies with defense, public-safety and commercial applications.
Natalia Sokolova
President & COO
Cytta Corp./Cytta Air Corp.
Nataliasokolova.com
LinkedIn
Direct: +1 415-301-6644
Website: www.cyttaair.com
Email: info@cytta.com
SOURCE: Cytta Corp.
View the original press release on ACCESS Newswire:
https://www.accessnewswire.com/newsroom/en/computers-technology-and-internet/natalia-sokolova-invited-to-speak-at-opal-groups-investing-in-sec-1211350
