The CAE (Centers of Academic Excellence) in Cybersecurity Community is a national initiative led by the NSA to strengthen cybersecurity education and workforce development. During my time in a remote cyber engineering role with the CAE Community, I had the opportunity to contract with Augusta University, applying my academic knowledge to real-world cybersecurity challenges. As part of VIVID Cohort 6 team, I worked on threat analysis, incident response, and vulnerability management to help strengthen organizational security measures. I served as Project Manager for a team of five, leading efforts to integrate AI/ML technologies into cybersecurity systems to enhance threat detection and automation. I also investigated and customized a localized Ollama LLM, monitored security incidents, and provided actionable insights to optimize incident response protocols. This experience significantly expanded my technical skills, leadership abilities, and understanding of how AI can be leveraged to improve cybersecurity defenses.