TAG Board of Directors

Jeff Buzzelli is the Senior Vice President (SVP) of Comcast Business for the Central Division based out of Atlanta, Ga. In this role, Jeff is responsible for developing and implementing strategies aimed at growing and evolving Comcast’s Central Division commercial business across all customer segments from small business to enterprise.

As SVP for Central Division, Jeff oversees all the Comcast team members on various teams including Inside Sales, Field Sales, Sales Operations, Marketing, Order Management, Retention, and Customer Care across a 17-state geography and includes field teams from each of the four regions across the division.

As an executive with more than 25 years of experience in the telecommunications industry, Jeff has held key leadership positions within sales, marketing and operations across large telecom industry firms such as AT&T, GTE/Verizon and Level 3 Communications. In his previous role within Comcast, Jeff served as the Senior Vice President of Comcast Business for the Northeast Division, where he was responsible for developing, facilitating and implementing strategies aimed at aggressively growing Comcast Business across the 13 states in Comcast’s Northeast Division. This included direct leadership of the Northeast Division COE Care, Order Management, Retention, Inbound and Outbound Telesales representing over 1,500 team members.

His extensive experience has led the Comcast Business team to drive strong aggregate revenue growth north of _8_% over the past 3 year which has led to strong customer growth.  The Central Division currently provides services to more than 1.8 M small, medium and large business customers across the footprint.

Jeff is serving (2020-2021) as the Executive Board Chair of the Technology Association of Georgia (TAG), the Board of Governors at the Georgia Chamber, and sits on the Board of Directors of the American Heart Association Southeast Chapter. He stays active with other charitable and community organizations.

Jeff has a Bachelor of Science degree from Marquette University in Milwaukee, WI and MBA from the University of Dallas in Dallas, Texas.

Bill VanCuren is senior vice president and CIO for NCR Corporation. Bill is a member of both the corporate leadership team, and the leadership council.

His current assignment as the CIO has oversight over the full strategic IT portfolio, global networks and processing services for both internal and external customer managed services, and all workgroup collaborative and mobile computing.  His role also includes information security and compliancy as well as SaaS datacenter strategy and rationalization.

Bill has driven world-class levels of efficiency and improved effectiveness via a combined IT/Business governance.  As a result of implementing leading practice strategies, his organization is consistently named to the Information Week500, and in CIO magazine’s CIO 100 and Bill was named CIO of the year in Georgia for 2011 and received the Ed Steineke award for top CIO leading philanthropy in 2018.

He earned his Bachelor of Science degree, Cum Laude, from The Ohio State University and his Master of Business Administration degree from the University of Dayton. He has also received executive training at Stanford University, along with a variety of extended leadership training from the NCR University.

He is the co-chair of the Georgia CIO Leadership Association (GCLA).  Bill also is an advisory board member to the Georgia Tech Scheller College of Business, and University of Georgia MIS program.   Bill is also active in non-profits in the Atlanta area such as TechBridge, and PowerMyLearning, which provides technology to the underprivileged.

Bill lives in Sandy Springs, Georgia with his wife, Jeannie.   His hobbies include skiing, boating, and hiking. Bill is a member of both The Ohio State University Buckeye Club and the President’s Club.

Phyllis Newhouse is an entrepreneur, retired military senior non-commissioned officer, mentor, Founder and CEO of Xtreme Solutions, Inc. and Founder of ShoulderUp. A pioneer in cybersecurity, she is the first woman to win an Ernst & Young (EY) Entrepreneur Of The Year® award in the technology category. Passionate about women-led businesses, Newhouse teaches aspiring entrepreneurs to recognize and capitalize on their leadership skills and empowers others to operate in greatness.

From growing up as the youngest child in a family of modest means, to her days as a U.S. Army officer and her time in the US Army. Newhouse, a service-disabled veteran, has constantly relied on hard work, ethics, her love of technology and a desire to make a difference to become recognized as one of the top leaders in technology.

While serving in the United States Army on various assignments she has always focused on our National Security. She stablished the Cyber Espionage Task Force. Although offered a senior level position, she decided to shift her focus to entrepreneurship and founded Xtreme Solutions, Inc. (XSI) in 2002. Today, XSI offers a wide range of IT expertise and provides industry leading, state-of-the-art information technology and cybersecurity services and solutions. XSI has employees in 42 states, with 40% of its workforce made up of veterans.

Newhouse doesn’t just advocate for her cybersecurity clients, she is also an avid supporter of women in business. In 2019 she founded ShoulderUp alongside Academy Award-winning actress Viola Davis, a nonprofit dedicated to connecting and supporting women on their entrepreneurial journeys. Through ShoulderUp, Newhouse encourages women to speak up, stand up and shoulder up, allowing them to see themselves in a different context, teaching them to grow their influence, encouraging them to increase their economic power and create their own, powerful legacy. Newhouse hosts Leadership Inspirational Talks (LITalks), addressing the ShoulderUp audience directly to develop leaders through their spiritual and inspirational journeys.

In 2017 and Newhouse became the first woman to win an Ernst & Young (EY) Entrepreneur Of The Year® award in the technology category. She was admitted into the 2013 class of EY Entrepreneurial Winning Women, and in 2019 was inducted into the Enterprising Women Hall of fame. Additionally, XSI received inclusion in the Inc. 5000 list in 2013 and 2014, and has been recognized as one of Women’s Presidents’ Organization’s (WPO) 50 Fastest Growing Women-Owned Companies in the U.S. consecutively for the past seven years.

Newhouse was elected to the board of the Technology Association of Georgia (TAG) in 2019. She is currently a member of the Business Executives for National Security (BENS), and she is a member of the WPO where she proudly serves on the Executive Board. Newhouse also serves on the Board of Directors of Girls Inc., a nonprofit organization that encourages all girls to be “Strong, Smart, and Bold.”

Newhouse has been featured in Entrepreneur, Inc., Atlanta Business Journal, Tallahassee Democrat and more. She received her degree from John F. Kennedy University and currently resides in Atlanta, Georgia.

Steve is President of GT Software.  Founded in 1982, GT Software enables some of the world’s largest enterprises to innovate faster by easily integrating their mainframe systems with hybrid cloud, mobile, web and other applications using their no code, drag and drop API integration tool.

Steve previously held roles as a corporate development executive with Verint Systems and Sage Group plc, and ran a new ventures group for The Weather Channel.  Prior to that he was co-founder and CEO of iTendant, a SaaS and mobile software company he co-founded in 2000. He is the author of the “The Risk Premium Factor: A New Model for Understanding the Volatile Forces that Drive Stock Prices” (Wiley 2011). Steve is also inventor of U.S. Patent 9,378,515, which deals with the availability of mobile content based on a user’s location and the time of transmission.

Earlier roles included corporate finance strategy consulting and M&A advisory with Stern Stewart and corporate development with Oldcastle after starting his career as a software developer.

He holds an MBA from the Darden School of Business at the University of Virginia and a B.S. from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.  Steve currently serves on the board of directors and as board treasurer for the Technology Association of Georgia’s (TAG) and the board of directors for FinTech Atlanta.

Brian Benn is Chief Information Officer and Senior Vice President of the Atlanta Housing Authority.  Brian is responsible for the development and implementation of technology strategies that are aligned with and anchored by the overarching strategy of the agency.  Consequently, he ensures the progression and timely completion of all technical projects as well as the agency’s security program and is ultimately responsible for the function and successful execution of the following departments:

• Business Solutions
• Governance, Risk, and Compliance
• Records and Information Management
• Technical Operations

Brian studied Computer Science and Mathematics at the University of Alabama in Huntsville and has a Master of Business Administration degree from Belhaven University.  Brian volunteers as an Executive Ambassador for TechBridge, Incorporated, serves on the Executive Advisory Board for Atlanta Technology Professionals, the Advisory Board for the Government Technology Special Districts Program, the Greater Atlanta CIO Governing Body for Evanta and serves as Board Chair for the Technology Association of Georgia’s Southeastern Software Association.  Brian is a technology evangelist and has a passion for bridging the digital divide.

David Dabbiere is a member of the Board of Directors of OneTrust LLC, the most widely used privacy, security and third-party risk technology software platform trusted by more than 3,000 companies to comply with the CCPA, GDPR, ISO27001 and hundreds of the world’s privacy and security laws. OneTrust’s three primary offerings include OneTrust Privacy Management Software, OneTrust PreferenceChoice™ consent and preference management software and OneTrust Vendorpedia™ third-party risk management software and vendor risk exchange.  Before that, Dabbiere was the president and chief operating officer of Aware Software, a leading Internet, mobility and Internet of Things managed service provider.  Previously, he was the chief operating officer at AirWatch by VMware, the largest enterprise mobility management provider. Dabbiere was instrumental in helping AirWatch scale its operations and expand its global presence.   AirWatch was acquired by VMware in one of the largest private software transactions in Georgia history.  Prior to AirWatch, he was senior vice president and chief legal officer for Manhattan Associates, where he played a pivotal role in the company’s successful initial public offering. He helped oversee the company’s fastpaced growth. Dabbiere began his career with The Procter & Gamble Company (P&G), rising to the position of associate general counsel in his 14 years with the firm.

He is an active member of the Atlanta community, having served in a number of academic and philanthropic organizations over the course of his career.  In 1998, the Dabbiere family endowed the Dabbiere/Manhattan Associates Chair of Supply Chain Management at Georgia Tech’s School of Industrial and Systems Engineering.

Dabbiere received a bachelor’s degree in chemistry from Indiana University Bloomington and a JD from the Indiana University School of Law.

Strategy consultant with deep understanding of Payments and Technology. Helping clients understand how Consumer Banking is being reframed having Payments as the backbone of the Financial Services digital transformation.

Seasoned professional with more than 25 years of experience in Financial Services, FinTech and Management Consulting, leading diverse teams to achieve bold goals in highly competitive environments. Strong, integrative and diplomatic negotiator with excellent communication skills, international mind-set and high level of creativity.

Clear track record of success in building and running different businesses and consulting practices.

Fluent in English, Spanish and Portuguese (native)

Ron McMurtrie leads marketing across the Sage, inspiring long-term relationships through creativity and innovation.  In addition, he leads ‘Business Enablement’ comprising Business Services and IT in order to support the evolution of the Sage operating model. McMurtrie aligns the strategic direction of brand, digital marketing and communications, public affairs, business operations and oversees key functional areas for new customer acquisition, ensuring customer success, and advancing Sage’s cloud strategy.

Before joining Sage, McMurtrie was global Chief Marketing Officer at Recall, an information management company, leading worldwide marketing strategy and operations. Previously, McMurtrie has over 20 years’ experience in similar roles for brands including VCE – the joint venture between Cisco, EMC and VMware – First Data, Verizon and MCI.

Sage is the global market leader for technology that helps small and medium sized businesses manage everything from money to people.  This is done through Sage Business Cloud – a business management solution comprising Accounting, Financials, Sage Intacct, Enterprise Management, People & Payroll and Payments & Banking.

Mike Neumeier, APR, is CEO of Arketi Group, a public relations and digital marketing agency serving a wide range of B2B technology clients that include well-known brands as well as up-and-coming tech challengers. Under Mike’s leadership, Atlanta-based Arketi, which he co-founded, helps these companies apply intelligent strategy, messaging, PR and digital marketing to generate revenue and accelerate growth. The firm’s track record prompted the Technology Association of Georgia (TAG) to name Arketi Group its Digital Marketing Agency of the Year. The agency has also been repeatedly recognized by Chief Marketer magazine as one of the nation’s “B2B Top Shops” and is a fixture on the “Chief Marketer 200” list.

For the past 25 years, Mike has pushed the limits of B2B marketing – inciting clients and colleagues to challenge, innovate, and drive for measurable results. Named PRSA’s Technology PR Professional of the Year in 2013, Mike counsels clients on smart strategies that get their message across to markets and media influencers. He has an enviable track record of creating and executing communication plans that help clients build the bottom line.

Mike serves on several boards, including FinTech Atlanta, TAG, TAG’s executive committee and the Advisory Council of the College of Charleston Department of Communication. He is past chair of PRSA’s Counselors Academy, past president of the Georgia PRSA chapter, past chair of the University of Florida’s Public Relations Advisory Board, a founding member of the National Advisory Board for Kennesaw State University’s Department of Communication, a founding member of the Atlanta PR Interfaith Prayer Breakfast, and executive committee member of HealthMPowers’ Board of Directors. A 2010 inductee of the National PRSSA Hall of Fame, Mike graduated from the University of Florida with a Bachelor of Science degree in public relations.

Michael Sullivan is vice president and chief information officer at Southern Company Gas, one of America’s most respected companies and a leading producer of clean, safe, reliable and affordable energy. In his role, Sullivan leads all aspects of the strategic delivery of technologies that support Southern’s gas utilities and related businesses. A highly collaborative business partner, Sullivan focuses on delivering an IT strategy that enables the company to achieve its goals and objectives while aligning with the overall enterprise IT strategy across the Southern Company System.

Sullivan has 35 years of experience in driving transformative technology strategies across complex organizations, including the transmission and distribution businesses of a major regional electric utility. He is highly skilled at strengthening the business through innovation and is deeply experienced in integrating new technologies to streamline processes and improve productivity.

Prior to joining Southern Company, Sullivan served as American Electric Power’s (AEP) director of IT demand management. In this role, he was responsible for the full breadth of IT solutions and drove enterprise planning and the strategic roadmap for the utility’s transmission business. He also established a mobile center of excellence. He previously served as director of AEP’s portfolio management office for the transmission and distribution businesses across multiple geographies.

Before AEP, Sullivan held a number of senior enterprise technology leadership roles at major insurance companies, including Allstate Insurance, Nationwide Insurance and Century Insurance Group. Earlier in his career, he was director of e-business and solution delivery at interactive agency Proxicom Inc.

Sullivan has a deep technical background, having managed $1.9 billion in portfolios, with extensive expertise in IT strategy and project management, solution delivery, application development and technology implementation and operations.

Michael earned his B. S. Degree in Computer Science from Bradley University. He serves on the Board of TAG (Technology Association of Georgia) as an Executive Officer. He is also a Board member of Per Scholas. He is a member of GeorgiaCIO and serves as an Officer of their Advisory Board. He is the Executive Sponsor for Southern Company Gas’s African American ERG (Employee Resource Group). He is also a member of ITSMF (Information Technology Senior Management Forum) and AABE (American Association of Blacks in Energy Atlanta). In 2018, Michael received the distinguished Atlanta Business League, Men of Influence award. In 2019, he was awarded the Top 50 CIO Award for Diversity and Inclusion by The National Diversity Council and in 2020 he was a finalist for the Georgia CIO of the Year Award and the ATP (Atlanta Technology Professional) Leadership Award.

Nigel Zelcer co-founded Jabian Consulting in 2006 with the vision of creating a company that could provide amazing client service, a place for employees to pursue their passions, and a commitment to be an integrated partner in the communities it serves. This is accomplished partly by Jabian’s unique no-travel consulting model, allowing employees the best opportunity to become ingrained in their communities and have more time for their passions and client relationships. Through his leadership, Jabian has grown into one of the most respected management consulting firms in the country and has consistently been recognized as a best place to work and a charitable community leader.

Prior to forming Jabian, Nigel started his career at Accenture where he worked with various U.S. and European companies delivering large scale transformation programs. He is widely considered a pioneer in large scale outsourcing, eCommerce, and wireline/wireless convergence.

Based on his passion for cognitive psychology and how humans interact with technology, Nigel earned dual Bachelor of Science degrees from Carnegie Mellon University, in Information and Decision Systems, and in Industrial Management.

Nigel has held numerous leadership positions within the Atlanta community and currently is on the Board of Directors for the Technology Association of Georgia (TAG). As an active member of TAG, Nigel is the board Secretary, leads Board Development and is member of the Executive and Strategy committees. Outside of the technology community, Nigel is an active fundraiser with the Winship Cancer Institute, is a member of the Woodward Presidents Circle, and supports Jabian’s employee-led 501(c)3, Jabian Cares, through matching donations.

Nigel and his wife, Randi, reside in Decatur with their two children.

As President of NPI, Don is responsible for growing the company’s roster of satisfied clients, and for defining and executing growth strategies. He brings more than 35 years of enterprise IT and business leadership to the NPI team as well as a long track record of growing successful companies. Prior to NPI, as President and CEO of Mobile Labs Don was responsible for taking the business from start-up to an established market leader in mobile application testing. He previously served as President, Americas at ORTEC and as President and CEO at Seagull Software where his vision and leadership established both companies as global powerhouses in their respective industries. He was also President and COO of KnowledgeWare, an innovative application development tools provider.

Outside of the office, Don is actively involved in helping grow Georgia’s thriving technology industry and has previously served as Chairman and Vice Chair of the Technology Association of Georgia’s (TAG) board of directors.

Raheem Beyah, a native of Atlanta, GA, serves as Georgia Tech’s Dean of the College of Engineering and Southern Company Chair. Before this role, Dr. Beyah served as Vice President for Interdisciplinary Research, Executive Director of the Online Masters of Cybersecurity program (OMS Cybersecurity), and the Interim Steve W. Chaddick Chair of the School of Electrical and Computer Engineering. He is a professor in the School of ECE, where he leads the Communications Assurance and Performance Group (CAP) and is affiliated with the Institute for Information Security & Privacy (IISP). Dr. Beyah is also Co-Founder of Fortiphyd Logic, Inc., an industrial cybersecurity company.

Prior to returning to Georgia Tech, Raheem was an Assistant Professor in the Department of Computer Science at Georgia State University, a research faculty member with the Georgia Tech CSC, and a consultant in Andersen Consulting’s (now Accenture) Network Solutions Group. He received his Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering from North Carolina A&T State University in 1998. He received his Masters and Ph.D. in Electrical and Computer Engineering from Georgia Tech in 1999 and 2003, respectively. Raheem has served as a Guest Editor for MONET, IEEE Network Magazine, IEEE Communications Magazine, ACM Transactions on Cyber-Physical Systems, IEEE Access, and as an Associate Editor of several journals.

His research interests include network security and monitoring, cyber-physical systems security, network traffic characterization and performance, additive manufacturing security, and critical infrastructure security. He received the National Science Foundation CAREER award in 2009 and was selected for DARPA’s Computer Science Study Panel in 2010. He is a member of AAAS, ASEE, a lifetime member of NSBE, a senior member of IEEE, and an ACM Distinguished Scientist.

Bishop joined Synovus in November of 2018 as Executive Vice President of Technology, Operations and Security. Previously, As Executive Vice President and Chief Information Officer of Renasant Bank, Bishop was responsible for all digital operations, including technology, infrastructure, mobile and online banking, information security, and other internet and operating functions. He also had primary responsibility for integrating technology and systems of numerous acquired banks. Before joining Renasant in 2013, he held many senior leadership positions within technology, operations, mergers and acquisitions and digital innovation with Regions Bank. Bishop’s banking career began in 1994, at Union Planters Bank in Memphis TN.

Gary Brantley is an innovative technology strategist renowned for cultivating productive collaboration through
organizational transformation, delegating resources toward the increase of digital inclusion, and the implementation of a
completely remote workforce infrastructure. He brings more than 20 years of experience in the technology sector, as well
as 17 years of leadership, to the City of Atlanta as the Chief Information Officer (CIO) of the Department of Atlanta Information Management (AIM). In this role, Gary is accountable for providing information technology services to all 25 departments, including Public Safety, Justice, Operations, Administration, and Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport.

As a CIO, Gary has focused on organizational transformation by altering the department culture to achieve a competitive advantage and to address the challenges of future technology. He has developed and implemented a strategy centered on how impact and influence can peacefully collide to empower leaders to build effective teams, healthy workplace cultures and thriving business ecosystems with organizational transformation. In this regard, he was able to move from present planning to future business continuity in order to refocus and reenergize the entire workforce; and from talent acquisition and retention to repurposing staff into more vital roles to meet the City’s technology needs. Gary also created an Atlanta CIO Advisory Board to continue pushing the envelope with input from other CIOs, experts within the technology sector.

Gary has also led initiatives surrounding partnerships with companies and organizations such as AT&T, Sprint and the Atlanta Police Foundation to upgrade and replace over 1,000 laptops and PCs, arrange over 250 mobile hotspots and provide funding for training in STEM-based education for the Centers of Hope in Atlanta.

Before joining AIM, Gary was the CIO of one of the largest school districts in the United States. In that capacity, Gary spearheaded the district’s largest technology overhaul, Digital Dreamers, which included the distribution of
over 70,000 end user devices to teachers as well as students.

Gary began his career with IBM before becoming the Regional Operations Director for MCIWorldCom. There, he continued to have an impact on technology and took that expertise to the Ohio State Department as the Director of Technology. He went on to become the CIO for the one of the largest urban school districts in Ohio.

Gary’s admirable professionalism and unyielding dedication have earned him numerous awards and accolades and has led him to write his first book, The Art of Organizational Transformation: 7 steps to Impact & Influence. Gary was featured in the list of Top 30 Technologists, Transformers and Trailblazers by the Center for Digital Education in 2015, ComputerWorld’s Premier Top 100 Technology Leaders for 2017. In addition, he was facilitated with the Making IT Happen award from the International Society for Technology in Education. Gary was also a finalist for the 2017-2018 Georgia CIO Leadership Association’s CIO of the Year Award. Most recently, he was recognized as one of Government Tech Magazines 2020 Top Doers and Dreamers.

Tim Callahan joined Aflac as the Chief Information Security Officer in April 2014. He oversees Aflac’s Global Security Program which includes Technology Risk Management, Physical and Logical Information Asset Protection, Information Security Program, Threat and Vulnerability Management, Cyber Security Operations and Incident Response, Information Technology Compliance and Risk Management, Security Engineering, Crisis Management, Business Resiliency and Disaster Recovery. Tim is responsible for the protection and availability of assets for the world’s leading provider of voluntary insurance. He leads various security and risk committees and structures to help business partners accelerate in a safe and sound manner, while protecting Aflac clients.

Prior to Aflac, Tim was Senior Vice President, Business Continuity and Information Assurance at SunTrust Bank. Tim was responsible for SunTrust’s Corporate Threat and Vulnerability Management, Information Security Monitoring and Investigation, Business Resumption, Disaster Recovery, Incident Response/Crisis Management, Technology Risk Project Office, Records and Information Management programs. He led a team of professional risk managers in ensuring the protection, preservation, and availability of critical corporate information and resources. Tim integrated these functions building a capability that provided a unified approach in determining threats, developing mitigation strategies and solutions, and managing through incidents. He has successfully tested this integrated concept in the management of virus, weather, technology outages, and distributed denial of service attacks.

Prior to SunTrust, Tim served as First Vice President, Technology Risk Management, and Chief Information Security Officer, at Peoples United Bank in Bridgeport Connecticut. He was the executive charged with protecting People’s United Bank’s information, information systems, and technology. During his tenure, Tim built and effective technology risk management organization and led the company through a technology integration and organization program upon acquisition of a bank of near equal size. He also served on the State of Connecticut Judicial Committee on Identity Theft to assist in building requirements for protecting sensitive personal information introduced into the judiciary through legal actions.

Tim was a career military professional serving in leadership positions throughout his 23-year career. In his final assignment, Tim was the program manager for a command risk management function at one of the US Air Forces Major Command Headquarters.

He is a sought after and frequent speaker, panelist, moderator and chair at conferences, seminars, and summits on topics ranging from leadership, technology, information security, information governance, governance risk and compliance, and cyber security. He has chaired the annual IT Governance Risk and Compliance Summit for six years.

Tim has been a recognized industry thought leader; his awards include: SC Awards 2017 in the CSO of the Year category; IDG Enterprise’s CSO50 Awards for 2016 and 2017; 2017 American Business Awards-Silver Stevie honoree in the Tech Innovator of the Year category; The Technology Association of Georgia – 2016 Georgia Game Changers – “Who’s Who in Information Security;” and Evanta’s 2015 CISO Top 10 Breakaway Leader Award.

He is a Certified Information Systems Security Professional, a Certified Information Security Manger, and Certified in Risk and Information Systems Control, a Certified Project Manager, and Competent Toastmaster. Tim holds a Bachelor of Science from University of the State of New York.

Dallas Clement is executive vice president and chief financial officer for Cox Enterprises, a leading communications, media and automotive services company with $21 billion in annual revenues and more than 55,000 employees worldwide.

He is responsible for the company’s treasury, financial reporting and control, tax, audit, strategy and corporate development, and financial planning and analysis functions. He also oversees supply chain services, sustainability operations, information technology, risk management, public policy and government affairs, and legal.

Previously, Clement served as executive vice president and chief financial officer for the company’s Cox Automotive division, the largest automotive marketplace and leading provider of software solutions to auto dealers throughout the U.S. He led all finance, legal, real estate, technology, strategy and corporate development functions across Cox Automotive’s financial services, wholesale auctions, digital media, software-as-a-service and international businesses. In addition, Clement had accountability for Cox Automotive’s financial services unit, NextGear. Prior to the formation of Cox Automotive, Clement served as executive vice president and chief financial officer of Autotrader Group for three years.

Clement also spent 20 years at Cox Communications, where he held a variety of roles, including executive vice president and chief strategy and product management officer.

In 2004, he received the National Cable Television Association Vanguard Award for Young Leadership. He serves on the boards of SunTrust Banks, Atlanta BeltLine, Inc., Atlanta BeltLine Partnership, Technology Association of Georgia and Junior Achievement of Georgia.

Clement received a bachelor’s degree in applied mathematics and economics from Harvard College and a master’s degree in engineering economic systems from Stanford University.

Nick Costides is the President of Information Technology at UPS where he has global responsibility for the company’s industry-leading portfolio of technologies that power UPS customers’ global supply chains.

In addition, Nick leads the company’s Technology Transformation program, and is a member of the company’s Venture Investment, Information Security/Data Privacy, and Technology Governance Committees.

Throughout his career Nick has led a number of industry first innovations that have enabled UPS’ Smart Logistics network yielding topline revenue growth through new technology enabled products such as UPS MyChoice, while also improving margins via the delivery of industry leading shop floor automation, international trade, supply chain logistics, and last mile delivery solutions.

From an M&A perspective, Nick has led the IT diligence and IT post merge integration of all UPS acquisitions since 2000 including Coyote, Marken, The UPS Store/MBE, UPS Mail Innovations, iShip Inc. and Connectship to name a few.

Nick and his teams have been recognized by the industry for their accomplishments including but not limited to Computerworld Premiere 100 IT Leader, Information Week Elite 100, and Red Hat Innovator of the Year. He also has secured several patents that support UPS’ intellectual property.

In addition to his corporate responsibilities, Nick currently serves as a member of the Board of Directors for Ware2Go, is a member of the Board of Directors for Points of Light, serves on the Advisory Council for ToolBank USA, and serves on the Board of Advisors for Hands on Atlanta.

Jonathan Cox is the Vice President of IT at Manhattan Associates were he leads all IT infrastructure and operations activates. Prior to Manhattan he was the VP & CIO of Treadmaxx Tire Distributors, formerly Kauffman Tire, where he led all IT activities for the wholesale and retail operations. He spent some time at KPMG in the IT Strategy practice, where he gained great insight into different industries.

Jonathan is very active in the IT community and enjoys mentoring the next generation of leaders.

Jonathan is a husband, dad, army veteran, and Georgia Bulldog who resides in Atlanta, GA.

With more than 29 years of industry experience, Scott Eason is the global vice president of sales for Verizon Enterprise Solutions Finance Vertical. In this capacity, he is responsible for maintaining and growing a base of more than 200 customers and revenue in excess of $2.5B annually. Eason’s organization, led by 7 managing directors and more than 150 professionals, is focused on delivering global solutions including managed and professional services, security, collaboration services and outsourcing. In addition to the financial services, he has been deeply involved in Verizon’s outsourcing efforts with customers in the transportation, supply chain management, healthcare, media and entertainment, retail and hospitality sectors.

Previously, Eason was the group vice president of sales for Verizon Business’ Eastern region. He was responsible for maintaining and growing a base of more than 1,000 enterprise, state government, and education customers and revenue in excess of $3.9B annually. Eason was vice president of Premier Accounts responsible for the Eastern US in Verizon Business’ Premier Accounts organization. In this capacity, he had P&L responsibility for approximately $1.9B in annual revenue and served the global needs of fortune 500 customers in this region. In the early 1990’s, he has held management positions in product marketing, where he led product launch teams on industry leading solutions MCI Vision and Preferred services. He has also held leadership positions in business operations and strategic enterprise development.

Eason began his career in 1985 in sales with MCI in Atlanta, GA.

Justin Eggart is General Manager of Fleet Services Technology for GE Power in Atlanta, Georgia. Justin and his team are responsible for monitoring the health of the GE Thermal Power Generation fleet around the world and providing technical support across the GE fleet  The Fleet Services team is the “front line” for operational and maintenance support of the GE Power Generation fleet.  Justin has over 28 years of experience in providing technical solutions to customers.  Justin has held Engineering, Product Line, Six Sigma, and Sourcing leadership roles within GE.  Justin is a certified Six Sigma Master Black Belt.  Justin holds a B.S. Degree in Mechanical Engineering from Montana State University.

Dave Excell co-founded Featurespace in 2005. He invented Adaptive Behavioral Analytics, a unique technology at the core of Featurespace’s enterprise solutions. Educated at the Australian National University and the University of Cambridge. Under his leadership, Featurespace has grown from a concept into a commercial machine-learning business relied on by the world’s largest financial institutions, payment processors and financial technology companies. More recently, Dave relocated to Atlanta, USA, expanding Featurespace’s capability to delivery our Adaptive Behavioral Analytics protecting consumers and businesses from fraud and risk in real-time.

As a senior level executive, Ben Grimes brings extensive experience in the IT industry in the areas of engineering, technical and corporate strategy, operations, and customer relations. Currently, Ben is the VP of Field Engineering, End User Computing, for VMware, the leader for Unified Endpoint Management. In this role, his primary responsibilities are leading a global engineering team that focuses on driving customer adoption and as a change agent for shaping the future of business operations in support of a SaaS platform.

During Ben’s 30-year career, he has served in executive roles in companies from start-ups, to mid-cap public companies, and Fortune 20 companies. Ben began his career with IBM, where he was appointed to the position of Distinguished Engineer. In that role, he served as lead architect for software development for IBM xSeries and blades. Ben’s earlier years with IBM included serving as the global lead engineer and manager for embedded systems management for xSeries after serving as a programmer in embedded firmware. While at IBM, he was awarded nine patents for his innovations in systems software.

After his IBM career, Ben served as Executive Vice President, Corporate Strategy and Chief Technical Officer of Avocent Corporation until its acquisition by Emerson. During his tenure, Ben was responsible for leading the product and business development of Avocent, including the worldwide engineering team. It was during his tenure that he was recognized as an industry thought leader in infrastructure management and spoke at numerous global industry events and was sought out by industry analysts for his market insights.

Additionally, Ben has run his own consulting firm servicing numerous companies from startups to Fortune 50 companies in the areas of business strategies, M&A, as well as engineering and executive development. This led to his entrance into the startup world where he was President and Board Member of Innovolt, an Atlanta area startup in the power protection industry.

Ben has broad experience with non-profit and for-profit boards and currently sits on the board of Medical Tracking Solutions, a supply chain management software company. Additionally, Ben has participated in numerous technical advisory boards for privately held companies.

Ben holds a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering from Purdue University and an MBA from the College of William and Mary.

Tom Hall brings the strategic focus, vision, and mature judgment to IT initiatives that allows him to partner with Executive and Senior Management to assess return-on-investment for IT initiatives, align IT initiatives with business strategy, establish priorities, and drive business objectives.   Tom started his career over 35 years ago as a COBOL programmer.  His early career was focused in the applications development arena where he managed applications for pharmaceuticals, medical devices, discreet and repetitive manufacturing, and the government sector.   Tom has been responsible for global SAP implementations, warehouse management, point-of-sale, payroll and human resource systems, and sales force automation programs.  Tom joined Genuine Parts Company in 2013 and is currently the SVP and CIO at the U.S. Automotive Parts Group (NAPA) subsidiary.

Tom lives and works by these mantras; ’work on what is important, not what’s urgent’, strike a healthy balance between activity that will move the needle long term, versus what will quiet the noise today.  And, ‘make it happen, don’t let it happen’.

Tom is also actively involved with TechBridge, a non-profit that strives to break the cycle of generational poverty through technology.

David is the President of Abel Solutions. David is responsible for cross-industry portal, collaboration and process automation technology practice, including solution/service definition, business development and solutions delivery with specific focus in Microsoft solutions (SharePoint, Office 365 and .Net custom development).

He is an accomplished business leader with business development, services delivery and operations management expertise in Information Technology and Consulting Services. Specialties: IT consulting, business solution implementations, business analysis, project management, business development, SharePoint.

As chief economic development officer at the Metro Atlanta Chamber, David leads the team

focused on the recruitment, retention, and expansion of existing companies, from start-up’s to headquarters. The key clusters they focus on are: Artificial Intelligence (AI), Cybersecurity, FinTech, Creative Industries (Film, Music, eSports, AR/VR), Supply chain, Advanced Manufacturing, Bioscience (Biotech, HealthTech, MedTech, Pharmaceutical).

Before joining the Chamber, Hartnett served as the president and CEO of Maco Pharma (formerly United Pharma™) a privately held medical device/pharmaceutical company based in Duluth, GA, HQ in Lille France. Prior to Maco Pharma, Hartnett was president and CEO of SteriFx™, a specialty chemical company, contracted by U.S. Department of Defense (DARPA). Before SteriFx, he was the executive vice president of the NA HQ of Given Imaging (GIVN-NASDAQ, now Medtronic). Under his leadership, the company commercialized the “PillCam™” video capsule.

Community Service:

• Carter Center, Board of Councilors
• ScienceATL/Atlanta Science Festival™, Chairman of the Board
• Georgia Global Health Alliance, Board of Trustees
• Innovation Crescent Regional Partnership, Chairman
• Southeastern Medical Device Association, President Emeritus
• Venture Atlanta™ Coalition Director/Co-Founder
• Georgia Bio (statewide trade association), Director
• Institute for Healthcare Information Technology, Director/Co-Founder
• Quick Start, statewide advanced training program, Board of Advisors
• Kennesaw State University, President’s Community Board
• Leadership Atlanta Alumni – Class of 2013

Hartnett is married with four sons, was raised on Coronado Island, California and is an active member of the Atlanta business community.

Tye Hayes is a renowned strategist and trailblazer, recognized for her ability to align resources to critical business strategies for long-term success. She currently serves as the Interim Chief Information Officer (CIO) for the Department of Information Management for the City of Atlanta where she is accountable for providing IT services to all 25 departments, including Public Safety, Justice, Operations, Administration and Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport. She is a Navy veteran and tenured technology executive, with over 20 years of experience, who possess a clear focus on innovation and citizen-centered services by increasing efficiency through the use of technology modernization and business process improvements.
As Interim CIO, Tye streamlines the use of technology through innovation and implementation while securing the network environment by providing strategic oversight to the overall enterprise architecture. She is responsible for overseeing new expansions of services and initiatives, utilizing groundbreaking technology to deliver efficient services to departments citywide and the customers, businesses and visitors of Atlanta. This massive undertaking includes all aspects of business continuity and disaster recovery, information assurance, risk management and policy.
Prior to her current role, Tye was the first African American woman Chief Technology Officer for the City of Atlanta and has been a leader in ensuring the City has the best use of contracted services and was able to save the City over two million dollars in their budget to allocate to other areas.
She understands the value of access to the resources that contributed to her resilience and catapulted her career and her dedication to the public. Tye has been integral in initiatives surrounding partnerships with companies and organizations such as AT&T, Sprint and the Atlanta Police Foundation to raise over $500 thousand to upgrade and replace over 1,000 laptops and PCs, arrange over 250 mobile hotspots and provide funding for training in
STEM-based education for the Centers of Hope in Atlanta.
In her efforts to further improve groups of often-overlooked individuals in Atlanta, Tye led efforts to approach Microsoft with the need to further advance children and women in the technology industry. This endeavor led to the recent launch and implementation of Accelerate: Atlanta, which will introduce and educate these groups in fields of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM). Atlanta is the first city in the United States to implement this program.
Tye was also instrumental in ensuring the City has been able to continue normal services to our city’s residents, business and visitors, amid the worldwide COVID-19 pandemic and Atlanta protests and acknowledgment activities. Through strategic planning and development, she fortified Atlanta’s infrastructure to remain secure by supporting critical business functions and modernizing technology needs.􀀂
Before joining the City of Atlanta, Tye held positions as the Deputy CIO for Atlanta Public Schools and Information Security Officer for Lockheed Martin Aeronautics, where she gained impressive experience in technical and executive management experience in the public and private IT sectors.
Tye’s established track record of technology leadership and digital transformation has been recognized on local and national levels. She is well respected within the Information Technology field, having been awarded the 2020 Women Who Mean Business Award and the 2014 CIO 100 Award, STEM Women of Color for IT Leadership Award, Modern Day Technology Leader and Black Engineer Award to name a few.
As a leader in the corporate world, Tye believes it is equally as important to be involved in civic and community organizations to help foster a sense of accountability for the next generation. Her dedication to change is the motivation behind serving on the boards for the City of Atlanta CIO Advisory, Women in Technology (WIT ) Atlanta, American Cancer Society ResearcHer and the Pink Frog Foundation.
Most recently, she was recognized as one of LA Wire’s 40 influential women of 2020.

Robert Hendricks is the President Technology Solutions of Integra Connect. Previously Robert lead Navicure’s technology team and was responsible for supporting and enhancing Navicure’s current portfolio of revenue cycle solutions while continuing to develop new, industry-leading products.

Mr. Hendricks has over 26 years of Healthcare Technology experience. He most recently served as SVP, Technology and Operations, Chief Technology Officer and Chief Information Officer for McKesson Technology Solutions. He also served in technology and information leadership roles at several other companies, including Atlantic Health System, KPMG Consulting and Aflac.

Mr. Hendricks earned an M.B.A. degree from Auburn University and a bachelor’s degree from Columbus State University.

Patrick Hiller is Co-Founder and Co-Chairman of the Board of Cumberland Group where he advises and collaborates with the leadership team to achieve the vision of the company while furthering the legacy of success. Hiller is an active member of the IT community where he continues to foster client relationships as a steward of the Cumberland brand while investing his time and resources to serve others.

Dustin Johnson is currently the Head of Information Technologies – U.S. Operations for UCB. UCB is a Belgium pharmaceutical company with its U.S. headquarters in Smyrna, GA. Dustin leads the U.S. go-to-market information technology activities including omnichannel CRM, data & analytics, market access & pricing, patient & platform Solutions and Digital web technologies.

In the last ten years, Dustin served in various IT leadership roles in healthcare technology related companies. Prior to that, he began his career in sales, sales management, and sales operations leadership roles.

He earned his Bachelor’s Business Administration degree in Marketing from Ohio University and a Masters in Business Administration from Kennesaw State University’s, International EMBA program.

Dustin lives in Johns Creek, Georgia with his wife and two kids. His hobbies include triathlons, hiking, golfing and international travel.

Bryson Koehler is leading the technology transformation of Equifax, a global data, analytics and technology company. As a vision-driven, no-nonsense leader, he inspires his global technology teams to build products and services that create data insights – empowering customers and partners to make more informed decisions. Koehler is recognized for creating positive change within an organization through innovative technology and relentless relationship building.

Previously, Koehler drove efforts to bring IBM Watson together with a full suite of cloud native capabilities as a common platform aimed at providing world-class, developer-friendly cognitive tools. These efforts culminated in the relaunch of IBM Watson and Cloud Platform. Additionally, he was chief technology and information officer at The Weather Channel Companies (TWCC) before it was acquired in 2015 by IBM.

Koehler is an active member of his community. He helps shape Georgia’s technology community by serving on the boards of directors for the Technology Association of Georgia (TAG) and the Atlanta Chief Information Officer (CIO) Advisory Board. Koehler also sits on the board of directors for Atlanta Habitat for Humanity, which is now one of the largest affordable, single-family housing developers in Atlanta, and the board of Technology and Data Committee of Realogy, a leading provider of residential real estate services.

Koehler holds bachelor’s degrees in political science and communications from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Ken Meyer is a Senior Vice President and the Divisional Chief Information Officer for Digital Channels & Innovation at Truist Financial Corporation. In this role, Meyer is responsible for digital applications and integration, enterprise CRM, intelligent automation, mobile and online banking, open banking, MarTech, emerging channels and innovation.

Prior to the merger of BB&T and SunTrust, Banks, Inc. in December 2019, Meyer was the Consumer Chief Technology Officer for SunTrust, responsible for the technology strategy, delivery, and support of SunTrust Mortgage, Retail Banking, and Private Wealth Management. Meyer also had responsibility for Marketing technology and enterprise-wide digital assets. Meyer was previously the Enterprise Solutions Chief Technology Officer for the bank, overseeing enterprise architecture, shared services delivery, governance and execution methodology, investment planning, strategy, and the financial oversight of SunTrust’s Enterprise Information Services (EIS) organization.

Meyer also held multiple positions in SunTrust’s Wholesale segment, most recently as Head of Wholesale Lending Operations, where he was responsible for supporting Small Business Banking, Commercial and Business Banking, Private Wealth Management, Equipment Finance, and Commercial Real Estate, Letters of Credit and Trade Services, Syndicated Loan Servicing, and the Lending Operations Back Office. Prior to that position, Meyer led the Wholesale Administration team, overseeing Wholesale Operations strategy and execution, mobilization of outsourcing initiatives and operational excellence. He worked closely with the Wholesale leadership team on strategic initiatives inclusive of process and technology enablement, location consolidation and targeted outsourcing.

Meyer joined SunTrust in December 2013 from Accenture, where he gained experience working with leading financial institutions, including four years supporting SunTrust. Other clients included Santander, Farmers Insurance, BB&T, Toyota Financial Services, Wachovia/Wells Fargo, Bank of America and Morgan Stanley. His industry experience has centered on retail and commercial banking clients, leading large transformation and business process design programs, and large system implementations.

Meyer is a graduate of the University of Georgia and lives in Atlanta with his wife, Bridgette, and their four children, Oliver, Olivia, Nora and Stella.

Mike Reidenbach is the Executive Vice President and Worldwide Chief Information Officer of EVO Payments International, an international financial services organization licensed to operate in over fifty countries around the world.  In this capacity, Mike is responsible for all System, Application Development, Networking, Data Security, Operations and Telecommunications functions for the organization.  In addition, Mike is a key member of the company’s corporate development, acquisition and integration efforts.

Prior to his role at EVO Payments International, Mike spent seventeen years with Global Payments, an international financial services organization, most recently as an Executive Vice President and the Worldwide Chief Information Officer for the company.  During his tenure, he was responsible for the Application Development, Systems, Network, Data Security, Computer Operations and Telecommunications areas for the company, as well as the Project Management Office, Quality Assurance and Product divisions.  As such, he was responsible for the company’s overall systems and applications architectures, major project initiatives and all product offerings.

Mike is a member of the Chadwick Martin Bailey Technology Panel, as well as the Project Management Institute.  He also sits on the Board of Directors of the Technology Association of Georgia and on the Board of Advisors to the Association of Telecommunication Professionals.  Mike is also on the Board of Directors of the FinTech Society of TAG, and he serves as a Board Member of Global Knowledge, an IT Training company based in Cary, NC.  Finally, Mike was also a member of the PCI Council Board of Advisors and the Payments Processors Information Sharing Council (PPISC), an organization that is part of the FS-ISAC.

Prior to Global Payments, Mike spent nine years as an Aircraft Commander and Instructor Pilot for the U.S. Air Force upon his graduation from the United States Air Force Academy.  He flew several aircraft types during numerous operational missions throughout the world, including Desert Shield and Desert Storm.

Mike received his Bachelors in Computer Science from the United States Air Force Academy, and he has earned two Masters Degrees (in Management Information Systems and Business Administration/Finance) from the University System of Georgia.

Nandan Sheth, Head of Carat and Global Digital Commerce at Fiserv, is a seasoned financial technology executive with 20+ years of experience in the industry. Mr. Sheth has started multiple financial technology companies that have successfully driven product innovation in the payments and digital commerce marketplace. Most recently Nandan served as President & Co-Founder of Acculynk, a digital debit routing and alternative payment provider.

Fiserv acquired Acculynk in 2017. At Fiserv Nandan is responsible for the omnichannel commerce business for the enterprise merchant segment. Nandan and his team help global clients leverage Fiserv’s next generation digital commerce solutions, helping them to drive more commerce and optimize payments flows.

Prior to Acculynk, Nandan was co-founded of Harbor Payments where he served as Chief Operating Officer. Harbor Payments was sold to American Express in December 2006. Nandan has also worked for professional service firms and Fortune 1000 corporations across North America and Europe. Nandan also serves on the South East board of the Boys & Girls Clubs of America where he is a National Trustee, Mentor at Creative Destructive Labs and Charter Member at TiE Atlanta and Fast Company Impact Council Member & Board Member Technology Association of Georgia.

Nandan holds a Bachelor of Science Degree with Honors in Business Computing Systems from City University (London, UK), as well as an MBA from Cass Business School (London, UK).

Romeen Sheth is President at Metasys Technologies. He leads strategic initiatives across recruitment and delivery, sales and marketing, and inorganic growth. Prior to joining MTI Group, Romeen was a Management Consultant at McKinsey & Company. At McKinsey he specialized in customer value creation, strategic transformation, merger integration, organizational design and capability building development. Romeen was an integral member of the McKinsey Academy team during his tenure and led talent transformation engagements for large scale, global organizations.

Romeen has been featured consistently by national organizations for his thought leadership. He has been featured by the Financial Times, BBC, Harvard Law School Center on the Legal Profession and Kenan Institute for Ethics at Duke University. He has also been appointed as a Board Member for several organizations; most notably he is an Affiliated Fellow at the Harvard Law School Center on the Legal Profession and is an appointed member of the Legal Services Corporation (LSC) Emerging Leader’s Council. The LSC is the nation’s largest publicly funded non-profit established by the US Congress. Appointees are nominated by the LSC Board, all of whom are directly appointed by the President of the United States.

Romeen has a JD from Harvard Law School and a BA (magna cum laude) from Duke University.

Ian is a senior executive with a track record of driving growth across the full spectrum of business and consumer financial services and financial technology markets.

With over 30 years experience of operating in banking and payments, Ian has particular functional expertise in the product lifecycle, from ideation to development, implementation and optimization. His particular focus is on how product combines with pricing, distribution, customer experience and marketing, to deliver customer and commercial value.

Currently Head of Product for Elavon’s North America business, Ian is responsible for ensuring Elavon’s small, medium & large customers, across its priority verticals, have all the payment and commerce tools, to help them run, grow and control their business.

Martin Tilson is Chairman of the Southeast Investor Group (SEIG), which is a collaborative membership composed of partners from 32 of the Venture Capital Funds in the Southeast, 7 corporate venture funds, and 25 individual Investors and family offices. Members are capable of investing in the range of $2M to $15M. The 60 members reside in nine southeast states plus D.C., Texas, and Boston.

Since founding in 1995, the Group has invested in more than 250 companies, reviewed more than 10,000 plans and has had more than 1000 companies present to members. Annually SEIG members invest in an average of 30% of companies presented.

Martin is an investor and also provides strategic business and financial advice to management of select companies. He served in management and chaired the technology practices at two AmLaw 100 law firms:  McKenna, Long, Aldridge LLP, (now Dentons); and Kilpatrick Stockton LLP (now Kilpatrick Townsend). He served as Atlanta Managing Partner/Firm Executive Committee for Burr & Forman, a 350-member regional firm.

Martin is considered by several publications as one of the top leaders in Technology in the Southeast having founded several regional venture forums, and supported hundreds of growth technology companies. He has managed over 500 venture or private equity transactions.

He serves on the Board of Advisors of the Emory Goizueta Business School, the Board of Advisors of the Emory Winship Cancer Institute, the Board of Directors of the Technology Association of Georgia (TAG).

Martin is past Vice-Chairman of the Metro Atlanta Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors, past member of the Atlanta United Way Tocqueville Society Cabinet, past Board member of the Atlanta International School, past member of the Board of Trustees of the University of the South (Sewanee). He is also a past Board member of the Ga. Tech College of Computing, and currently serves on the Ga. Tech T:GER program Board of Advisors.

Sanjeev’s insights and day-to-day involvement enable Pyramid Consulting to provide value-added IT solutions to numerous Global 1000 companies, as well as many growing, mid-tier firms. Sanjeev co-founded Pyramid in 1996 after garnering more than 16 years of software development and marketing experience, serving in senior management roles for several leading software consulting firms, including Wipro, TCS, and Unisys. While managing large software development and integration projects for clients operating in a number of vertical markets, he honed his technology expertise and consistently delivered to his clients targeted, cost-effective IT solutions. Sanjeev earned a bachelor’s degree in electrical and electronics engineering at the Birla Institute of Technology & Science in Pilani, India. He currently serves on the board of the Technology Association of Georgia (TAG) and GMSDC.

As Market Leader, Michael oversees the execution of growth in Atlanta and Augusta, ensuring a coordinated and seamless client experience in these markets. An accounting professional since 2002, Michael has extensive experience providing audit and business advisory services to clients largely in the technology industry. He leads the office’s THInc group, which is a specialty practice focused on serving innovative companies in the technology, health and life sciences and industrial sectors.

Michael’s clients primarily represent the emerging technology, SaaS, biotechnology and business service industries, and include development enterprises, venture capital-backed companies and multinational companies ranging from pre-revenue up to $500 million. Clients depend on him for assistance with diverse accounting matters, including revenue recognition, complex equity transactions, business combinations, and Sarbanes-Oxley compliance.

In addition to traditional audit and consulting services, Michael works with clients on various special projects, including assistance with raising capital, internal control documentation, and merger and acquisition transactions.

Nancy Williams is a Technology Industry Executive with years of progressive experience in business development and large-scale account management with organizations such as IBM, Unisys and Comforce.  Skilled in Customer Relationship Management (CRM), Project Management Office (PMO), Recruiting, Technical Recruiting, and Change Management.  She is also a strong educated professional with a Bachelor of Business Administration (B.B.A.) focused in BBA, CIS from Georgia State University.

With a passion for entrepreneurship, Nancy leveraged her previous IT experience to partner with Roz Alford in 1995 as a Principal with ASAP Solutions Group, LLC. Under Nancy’s leadership, ASAP experienced significant growth, expansion and diversification.  She was very instrumental in launching branch offices in New Jersey/New York, Chicago, Dallas and Hyderabad, India and enabling ASAP to provide comprehensive Talent Management Solutions across 46 states and beyond.

As the current CEO, Nancy provides active hands-on leadership and direction to the company’s four business units of Staffing, Consulting, Workforce Compliance and Managed Services.  Nancy and her team work hard to ensure ASAP’s continued and sustained growth by developing and implementing business strategies that are customer-centric and addressing our clients’ most common and complex contingent workforce challenges.

Nancy has recently been named in the Staffing Industry Analysts 2018 Global Power 150 – Women in Staffing, a list of the 150 most influential women in North America, Europe and around the globe. Nancy was also named to the Staffing Industry Analysts 2018 Americas 100 list.

Nancy has also been recently become a member of the prominent International Women’s Forum.  The International Women’s Forum builds better global leadership across careers, continents and cultures by connecting the world’s most preeminent women of significant and diverse achievement.

Nancy has been inducted into the prestigious group of Women of Distinction.  This honorable group is comprised of WBE’s (Women Business Enterprises) that have given countless hours, held distinguished positions within the organization and support to the WBENC organization.  She is known as a thought leader and advisor within WBENC and the 14 Regional Partnership Organizations.

In addition to her leadership at ASAP, Nancy reaches out to the community through various avenues of professional and non-profit organizations.  She has been a Board Member with the C5 Youth Foundation of Georgia as well as an Executive Committee Officer for the Georgia Campaign for Adolescent Pregnancy Prevention (GCAPP). Nancy played a pivotal role in the establishment of a jobs program for youth supporting Partnership Against Domestic Violence (PADV). She actively participates in the promotion and growth of women-owned businesses.  She is a founding member of Women Impacting Public Policy (WIPP), a founding member of WeConnect (Certification of Women Business Across Many Countries Worldwide) and champions the cause of several organizations including: Women’s Business Enterprise National Council (WBENC), Technology Associations of Georgia (TAG), TechBridge and the Greater Women’s Business Council (GWBC). Nancy graduated from Georgia State University with a BBA in Computer Systems.

Peter M. Williams, Director, is Head of Community Strategy & Operations for BlackRock Atlanta. He oversees BlackRock’s strategy for community engagement and brand-building efforts across the Metro-Atlanta region. In addition, he is responsible for corporate relations, university engagement and BlackRock’s local social impact efforts.

Prior to joining the Atlanta Innovation Hub build team, he was responsible for site selection and location strategy for BlackRock’s newest innovation hub and was a Business Strategist within BlackRock’s software engineering function serving as the chief of staff to the head of software engineering. He was responsible for strategic project management, internal and external communications and firm wide coordination with key partners.

Before joining BlackRock’s technology business, he was responsible for maintaining relationships with financial advisors for the Retirement & Digital Wealth Solutions effort. His responsibilities included business development, project management and relationship management. From 2011-2014 he was a member of the US & Canada Defined Contribution Group, BlackRock’s 401(k) business. Peter was responsible enhancing the client experience through his institutional client servicing efforts. From 2007-2010 he was a member of BlackRock’s Global Consultant Relations Group. He was responsible for developing and maintaining relationships with US investment consultants, as well as preparing new business proposals and external communications. He began his career with BlackRock through the Merrill Lynch Investment Managers’ Analyst Program in 2006.

Mr. Williams earned a BA degree in Public Policy Studies and a Certificate in Markets and Management Studies from Duke University in 2007.

John C. Yates is the partner-in-charge of the Technology Practice. Mr. Yates is one of the pioneers of the technology law field and has been practicing exclusively in this area for over 35 years. The firm’s technology practice has represented hundreds of technology companies and provides legal services in IPOs, mergers and acquisitions, patent prosecution, Internet law, biotech and medical devices, ecommerce/distribution, corporate finance and venture capital, international law and dispute resolution.

Mr. Yates is internationally recognized in the technology law field. He has founded and been a member of the Board of Directors of leading technology organizations for over three decades. Mr. Yates co-founded the Southeastern Software Association (SSA), Southeastern Medical Device Association (SEMDA) and Technology Association of Georgia (TAG). He serves on the editorial board of leading technology publications, and his articles/blogs have been cited in the technology law area, including citation by the U.S. Supreme Court in Kodak vs. Image Technical Services. He is a co-author of articles published in The Law and Business of Computer Software and The Handbook of Business Management. Mr. Yates is frequently quoted in business publications, including The Wall Street Journal, The Economist, and the Atlanta Business Chronicle. Mr. Yates has also been recognized in a Harvard Business School case study (“Ockham Technologies: Living on the Razor’s Edge”) as a leading lawyer representing fast growth companies.

Mr. Yates is a frequent speaker at national and international business and technology law organizations. He has delivered more than 250 speeches during his career. He has also spoken at annual technology law seminars sponsored by the Georgia Bar Association, North Carolina Bar Foundation, Minnesota Computer Law Institute, ITechLaw Association and American Bar Association’s Section of Science and Technology.

In 2001, the Technology Association of Georgia honored Mr. Yates by making him the first recipient of the “Leader of Influence Award” for his outstanding service to the region’s technology community. He has also been selected by eCompanies as one of the “Technology Leaders in Atlanta” and by the Atlanta Business Chronicle as one of the “Most Influential Leaders in Atlanta.”

In 2002, the United Way of Metropolitan Atlanta created the John Yates Award for Community Leadership honoring his work on behalf of the community as co-chair of the United Way’s Atlanta Technology Initiative for 2001-02. The award is presented to the United Way campaign member who surpasses expectations and inspires others to use their unique gifts in ways that impact the community.

In 2003, Mr. Yates was Chairman of the Georgia Technology Celebration, the largest gathering of technology executives in Georgia’s history. He also received the 2003 Community Builder Award from the Technology Association of Georgia for his service on behalf of the technology community in the state.

Mr. Yates is currently co-authoring a book, entitled “The Art of Business Friendship,” and is a columnist for various online computer and legal publications. He was selected as a “Georgia Super Lawyer” in the fields of Business/Corporate (Technology) in 2004 – 2017 and is among the top five percent of the state’s attorneys to be so honored.

Education
Duke University, B.A., magna cum laude, 1978
Angier B. Duke Memorial Scholar

Duke University, J.D., 1981

CHAIRMAN AND CEO OF ZUZU, INC. AND MANAGING PARTNER OF ZAKAS & LEONARD LLP

Dennis Zakas is a technology lawyer and entrepreneur.  After practicing law as a partner with three AmLaw 100 law firms, Zakas founded Zakas & Leonard, LLP, a boutique law firm focused on the tech sector. He has represented technology companies and investors in a wide variety of transactions. On many occasions, Zakas has been listed in Best Lawyers in America and as a Mergers & Acquisitions Super Lawyer.

In addition to practicing law, Zakas is the Chairman and CEO of Zuzu Inc., an Atlanta technology company. Their Trusted Sources platform enables a network of invited members to share recommendations of local services providers. The platform also facilitates member-to-member communications and member-to-provider communications. Previously Zakas was the founder and CEO of Group Office Buys, LLC (GOB), an e-commerce office products company, which was sold to a competitor in 2016.

Zakas applies his experience as a “tech lawyer” and as a tech company founder in counseling startup, early-stage and venture-backed technology companies, as well as investors in tech companies. He has served as a mentor for companies in The Farm (powered by Boomtown) accelerator and the Global Good Fund.

Zakas has been a member of the Board of Directors of TAG since 1999.  He was named a 2005 TAG Volunteer of the Year for his role as the founder and initial chair of the Georgia Technology Summit. At several subsequent Summits, TAG recognized Zakas for his contributions. He also founded TAG’s Top 40/10 Innovative Companies Competition and chairs the Top 40/10 Committee.  Zakas has served as Counsel and Georgia Co-chair of the Society of International Business Fellows (SIBF). He is also a member of the Association for Corporate Growth (ACG). Zakas represented Heritage Growth Partners in its investment in East West MFG, a transaction selected by ACG in November of 2017 as a Deal of the Year.

Dennis has three degrees from the University of Virginia: B.A. (High Honors, Economics), M.A. (Economics) and J.D.