Our Speakers

Shelly Anzalone Director of Technology, Authorizations and Fraud , FNBO

Shelly Anzalone

Payments and technology - both are constantly changing and bring on new challenges. These changes coupled with leading teams through the solve and implementation is what keeps work interesting and exciting for me.

Adam Barney Staff Software Engineer, Rocket Mortgage

Adam Barney

Adam is a nerd. That kept me humble and nearly friendless (sniff) through school, but he wears it as a badge of honor now. After buying a Commodore 64 with money from his paper route in the 4th grade, he’s never stopped learning about computers and how to make these stupid machines do cool things. When he's not slinging code for his 9-to-5 job, he's slinging code for himself to keep current on things, playing with electronics and IoT, 3D printing, and watching far too much TV.

Nikhil Barthwal Sr. Software Engineer, Facebook

Nikhil Barthwal

Nikhil Barthwal is passionate about functional programming. He has several years of work experience in both big companies & smaller startups and also acts as a mentor to several startups. Outside of work, he speaks at international conferences on several topics related to Distributed systems & Programming Languages. You can know more about him via his homepage www.nikhilbarthwal.com.

Mike Benkovich

Mike Benkovich

A software architect, Azure expert, and former Microsoft evangelist, Mike Benkovich dedicates huge amounts of his time to helping his fellow developers and burgeoning programmers learn about new technologies and platforms. Mike’s website www.benkotips.com equips developers with tips and resources to help them get to grips with technologies including cloud, data and devices, and he produces online courses covering areas like Azure development, data architecture strategies and serverless computing. Follow Mike on Twitter @BenkoTips

Robert Boedigheimer Principal Systems Developer

Robert Boedigheimer

Robert Boedigheimer works for Schwan's Home Delivery providing business solutions with web technologies. He is a Microsoft MVP, a Progress Ninja (Fiddler), an ASPInsider, a Pluralsight author, and a 3rd degree black belt in Tae Kwon Do. Robert regularly speaks at national and international events.

Christopher Bohn Assistant Director for Capstone, UNL School of Computing

Christopher Bohn

Dr. Chris Bohn is an Associate Professor of Practice and the School of Computing's Assistant Director for Capstone at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. After serving in the U.S. Air Force 1993-2017, he joined the UNL faculty in 2017. He holds a bachelor's degree in electrical engineering from Purdue University, a master's degree in computer engineering from the Air Force Institute of Technology, and a doctoral degree in computer & information science from The Ohio State University. He is the author of the textbook Programming at the Hardware/Software Interface published by Great River Learning.

Brandon Bruno Solutions Engineer, Sitecore, Inc

Brandon Bruno

Brandon has been hacking away at code since a dusty Commodore 64 appeared from his parents' attic in the early 90's, but has spent the last 15 years building client solutions with .NET, JavaScript, and Sitecore. A former Solutions Architect and 2018-2021 Sitecore Technology MVP, Brandon is now a Solutions Engineer at Sitecore, Inc. He focuses on solution architecture, content management, application security, and dodging Atlanta traffic.

Caitlin Cabrera Software Engineer, Kolide

Caitlin Cabrera

Caitlin writes about infosec, Ruby on Rails and works as a Software Engineer at Kolide. Caitlin has a masters degree in Computer Science and enjoys teaching others about what she’s learned in both academia and industry. Caitlin is from Louisville, KY and is probably lifting weights when she’s not writing code.

Steven Carlson Platform Security Vulnerability Management Lead, Fivetran

Steven Carlson

Steven Carlson is a software engineer who is passionate about clean secure code. He is highly motivated to learn and mentor associates with a positive attitude. If Steven isn’t polishing software, he is speaking at local conferences or surfing the gravel seas on his gravel bicycle.

Jacob Charles Owner, Bison Cloud Solutions

Jacob Charles

My name is Jacob Charles. I've worked in the IT industry for over 8 years. I started as a software engineer and moved to a Cloud DevOps Manager for KBR Space and Mission Solutions. I've had the great opportunity to solve a variety of problems and grew a passion for security and infrastructure automation. Last year I turned my passion into a product that everyone can benefit from. I founded Bison Cloud Solutions in order to help others improve cloud security and infrastructure automation.

Scott Connerly Director I - SVPE Impact Product Engineerjng, Nelnet

Scott Connerly

Scott builds dev teams. If he wasn't Head of Impact Engineering, he'd probably be in DevOps by now. If not in DevOps, he'd probably be a carpenter. When he's not accidentally implementing #NoEstimates in NCE, you can find him hiking in Colorado and 3d printing tchotchkes for his kids. FILDI like Ze Frank.

Ross Coudeyras Head of Security and Compliance | Data Protection Officer, Remesh

Ross Coudeyras

I have been in the technology field for 16 years with the last eight focused on security, compliance, and privacy. I work in SaaS B:B tech, and I also moonlight as an adjunct instructor of cybersecurity and privacy at Doane University. My hobbies include Dungeons and Dragons, video games, and the gym.

Luke Derowitsch Senior Scrum Master, National Indemnity

Luke Derowitsch

I have had the privilege of wearing many hats in my life. From student loans, to dog supplies, to mortgage, to church work, to insurance. All of these industries/fields have played an enjoyable part of my life. However, one of the things that applies to all of these is servant leadership. That is my passion. Helping others achieve their goals in a fun, strategic way. Thus the career in agile.

Jared Dietz Lead Developer, First National Bank of Omaha

Jared Dietz

I'm a engineering team lead at First National Bank of Omaha. My main interests are full stack engineering and the developer experience. I love to build things and mentor other engineers.

Arthur Doler Senior Software Engineer, Community & Culture Steward, Aviture

Arthur Doler

Arthur (or Art, take your pick) has been a software engineer for 19 years and has worked on things as exciting as analysis software for casinos and things as boring as banking websites. He is an advocate for talking openly about mental health and psychology in the technical world, and he spends a lot of time thinking about how we program and why we program, and about the tools, structures, cultures, and mental processes that help and hinder us from our ultimate goal of writing amazing things. His hair is brown and his thorax is a shiny blue color.

Mike Driscoll Software Engineer, Teach Me Python LLC

Mike Driscoll

Mike Driscoll has been programming with the Python language for more than a decade. When Mike isn't programming for work, he writes about Python on his blog. Mike is also a contributor to Real Python. He has worked with Packt Publishing and No Starch Press as a technical reviewer for their books. Finally, Mike is the author of several books on the Python programming language.

Ryan Ebke Director of Product, Cordova

Ryan Ebke

Hi, I'm Ryan Ebke. I've been in software development for 14 years in a variaty of roles in Software Development and Software product design/delivery. My main focuses are eCommerce, .NET and Node based development.

Gloria Eddins ADA Coordinator, State of Nebraska

Gloria Eddins

I have worked for the state of Nebraska for almost 20 years, starting out at Game and Parks.
I moved to Department of Administrative Services 9 years ago. I became the State’s ADA coordinator in 2019. I promptly completed my ADA Coordinator Certification through the Great Plains ADA. I serve on the State Rehabilitation Council for Vocational Rehab.
I serve on the Olmstead Steering Committee for Health and Human Services.
I am also a board member for my local neighborhood organization and serve the city of Lincoln on the planning commission. I am passionate about accessibility. My hope is to continue to open doors that were once closed.

Michael Fairchild Accessibility Coach, Deque Systems

Michael Fairchild

Michael Fairchild is an Accessibility Consultant and Coach at Deque Systems. He spends most of his time helping organizations make their digital content accessibile to people with disabilities. He spent nearly a decade as a Web Applications Engineer at the University of Nebraska, where his passion for digital accessibility grew into a full time job. Michael is a Certified Professional in Web Accessibility, helps run the Nebraska Digitial Accessibility meetup, and really enjoys a good doughy cookie.

Benjamin Ferguson Senior Programmer/Analyst, Duncan Aviation

Benjamin Ferguson

Professionally, I am a senior programmer/analyst with Duncan Aviation and have been developing software ever since graduating from SCC - Milford in 2002. I enjoy presenting at local conferences and schools to give back to the developer community in Lincoln, NE.

Personally, I am a husband and father of 5. I'm also a youth minister, worship leader, football coach, and a mentor.

Tim Frisch UX Designer, Don't Panic Labs

Mark Fuller Sr. Director, Enterprise Agility, Fiserv

Mark Fuller

Mark Fuller is an experienced software development executive with a passion for helping companies thrill their customers. His speciality is leading teams using agile/lean/devops development methodologies at large-scale enterprises, with a wealth of experience working with global clients and diverse teams. Mark is continually helping leaders and teams optimize their software development through innovation and continuous improvement.

Mark and his wife Anne have lived and worked in various countries, including Germany and Italy. Today, they reside in Omaha where they enjoy spending time together watching concerts, broadway plays, and cheering on their four adult children.

Austin Gil Developer Advocate, Akamai

Austin Gil

Over the last ten years, I’ve built projects for award-winning agencies, innovative tech start-ups, and government organizations.

Today, I create cool stuff for the web and share what I learn through writing, open-source, YouTube and Twitch, The Function Call, speaking and workshops.

Brian Gorman Owner/Trainer/Developer, Major Guidance Solutions

Brian Gorman

Brian is a Microsoft Azure MVP and is an experienced speaker, author, trainer, and .Net developer with MCSA: Web App Certification, MCSD: App Builder, AZ-900/104/204/220/303/304/400/500, DP-900/300/420, and MCT (4th Year) certifications. Brian has a masters of science degree in computer information systems, and a bachelor of science degree in computer science. Additionally, Brian has over ten years of experience instructing college courses online in SQL databases, C#/VB.Net/and Java object-oriented programming, and Microsoft Office. Brian has created many online technical training courses that can be found online on various platforms. Brian has also published a couple of books with APress entitled "Practical Entity Framework" and its second edition for EFCore6. Brian's next book, entitled "Developing Solutions for Microsoft Azure Certification Companion" is due to be published in late May.

Chad Green Director of IT Architecture, Glennis Solutions

Chad Green

Chad Green is a manager, software development, architect, community leader, Microsoft MVP, and most importantly a father and husband. Over his career spanning three decades, Chad has managed groups from 3 to 63 people, worked on projects in a wide range of markets including education, healthcare, military, government, workforce management, financial services, chemical research, and electronic commerce. Being a big believer in giving back and wanting to ensure that there are cool events for others, Chad founded and chairs the annual Code PaLOUsa conference, organizers the Louisville .NET Meetup user group and the Monthly Tech Leader Coffee and Discussion, and has helped other groups like the Louisville Tech Ladies and events like Cincy Deliver.

Mary Grygleski Senior Developer Advocate, DataStax

Mary Grygleski

Mary is a Java Champion and a passionate Streaming Developer Advocate at DataStax, a leading data management company that champions Open Source software and specializes in Big Data, DB-as-a-service, Streaming, and Cloud-Native systems. She spent 3.5 years previously as a very effective advocate at IBM, focusing on Java, Jakarta EE, OpenJ9, Open Source, Cloud, and Distributed Systems. She transitioned from Unix/C to Java around 2000 and has never looked back since then. She considers herself a polyglot and loves to continue learning new and better ways to solve real-life problems. She is an active tech community builder outside of her day job, and currently the President of the Chicago Java Users Group (CJUG), as well as a co-organizer for several IBM-sponsored meetup groups in the Greater Chicago area.

Vaibhav Gujral Director, Global Microsoft Cloud CoE, Capgemini

Vaibhav Gujral

Vaibhav is a thought leader and a seasoned cloud professional currently working at Capgemini as a Director in Global Microsoft Cloud CoE, where he provides trusted technology advisory to the clients while demonstrating a deep understanding of cloud technologies.

He specializes in cloud strategy and governance with deep technical expertise in cloud security, cloud architecture, application architecture, micro-services architecture, and DevOps practices. He helps organizations adopt the cloud the right way by clearly understanding the business drivers and developing a cost-effective solution utilizing suitable architectural patterns and design principles. In addition, he has led several cloud transformation and cloud migration projects for clients located across geographies in the insurance, banking, real estate, and healthcare industries.

He has been awarded Microsoft Most Valuable Professional (MVP) award for the Microsoft Azure category since 2020, and he is a Microsoft Certified Trainer. He holds numerous cloud certifications, including Microsoft Certified Azure Solutions Architect Expert and AWS Certified Solutions Architect Associate. He has a Bachelor of Engineering degree with Information Technology as his specialization.

He has been an active member of the global Azure community. Apart from being a regular speaker at several user groups, events, and conferences, he also runs the Omaha Azure user group (https://omahaazure.org/), a meetup community of more than 1000 members. He also moderates a Twitter community for Microsoft Azure with over 600 members.

He regularly blogs at https://vaibhavgujral.com/ and runs his own YouTube channel - https://bit.ly/3r4uAK9.

Rich Hagarty Developer Advocate, IBM

Rich Hagarty

Rich Hagarty is a software developer and Developer Advocate at IBM, currently focusing on Java and Open Source related technologies. Based in Austin, TX, Rich has been active in the developer advocacy community for the past 6 years, working on cloud computing and AI technologies. He has created numerous learning paths, code patterns, articles, and videos - all to help developers understand and utilize IBM services, such as Watson Discovery and Assistant, IBM Cloud Pak for Data, as well as Red Hat OpenShift container security and deployment. Previous to IBM, Rich worked at HP, where he was a contributor to the OpenStack open source project, focusing on UI dashboards and storage device configuration. Rich's passion is to engage and share new and exciting technologies with developers.

David Handlos Sr. Software Engineer, Q2 Software

David Handlos

David is an engineer with 20+ years of IT experience working in software development, quality assurance, and data science. He has been designing and implementing customized automated performance testing solutions since 2005 for environments supporting thousands of customers per hour. David is currently a Sr. Software Engineer at Q2 Software, a leading provider of digital banking and lending solutions.

Evan Hennis Software Engineer

Evan Hennis

Evan is a Google Developer Expert in Machine learning. He has a computer science degree from Iowa State and a master's degree from Georgia Tech with a specialization in machine learning. During the day, he is a software engineer at Microsoft. He has been writing .NET code for the last 19 years. He recently started teaching 'Advanced C#' at Des Moines Area Community College.

Nick Hershberger IT Manager, Ameritas

Nick Hershberger

I’m a manager, agile coach, and team leader with a passion for building effective teams. For over 20 years, I’ve been helping software development teams deliver large-scale, world-class solutions to customers. Learning from experiences and communicating my skills to others energize me. Overall, my passion for application development is combined with a love for big-picture development and daily operational leadership.

J.D. Hillen Software Engineer II, Garmin

J.D. Hillen

Hailing from the heart of Kansas City’s Silicon Prairie, J.D. Hillen is a Software Engineer II at GPS and wearables company, Garmin. Since the age of 15, he's been fascinated with the connection between creativity and code. His love for all things tech has allowed him to work for a wide variety of advertising agencies, marketing firms and even the craft beer industry. When he’s not coding, you’ll find him spending time with his wife and two boys or in the pit of a metal show.

Billy Hollis Agent Provocateur, Next Version Systems

Billy Hollis

Billy Hollis is a UX generalist, developer, software architect, author, and long-time speaker at major tech conferences. He leads a team of world-class multi-platform developers at Next Version Systems, where the team creates and implements trailblazing UX designs for companies from Fortune 100 down to medium-sized technology companies.

Billy has been recognized by Microsoft both in their prestigious, business-oriented Regional Director program, and was a Microsoft Most Valuable Professional (MVP) awardee for fifteen years. He has also done video courses for Pluralsight and LinkedIn Learning.

Timothy Ingledue Enterprise Infrastructure Lead Developer, Orion Tech

Timothy Ingledue

Timothy Ingledue is an accomplished software engineer with over two decades of experience in the field. Specializing in the Microsoft and AWS cloud technology stacks, Timothy has worked on a variety of projects across different industries, ranging from industrial to finance to e-commerce.

Throughout his career, Timothy has demonstrated a deep understanding of software development principles, including software design, coding, testing, and deployment. He has a strong background in C#, .NET, Web Assembly, Blazor, Azure, DynamoDB, and SQL Server, among other technologies. He is also experienced in agile methodologies, DevOps practices, and cloud infrastructure.

In addition to his technical skills, Timothy is also an effective communicator and collaborator, able to work effectively with both technical and non-technical stakeholders. He is committed to staying up-to-date with the latest industry trends and technologies, and is passionate about sharing his knowledge and expertise with others through presentations and mentoring.

David Kerber

David Kerber

I've been in technology for 18 years and led teams of engineering, product, user experience, sales, and operations professionals. I've consulted with dozens of companies and led product and engineering teams in cloud security and commerce. I ran my own consulting firm for 8 years. I've also had the opportunity to work in startups during seed, rapid growth, and later growth stages.

I've coded in Java, Grooby, Ruby, PHP, Node/Typescript and worked with tons of technologies along the way. I have built cloud governance and security software for AWS, Azure, and Google Cloud. Currently I am advising Fortune 500 companies on security and compliance in AWS.

Jerry Koske Chief Technology Officer, Aviture Inc

Jerry Koske

Jerry has been in love with creating software since he was a kid in the 1980s writing game code from the back of computer magazines. In his over 30 year career Jerry has done almost everything to include running a large multiplayer entertainment BBS in the 90s, automating the data fulfillment center for a major telemarketing company, leading numerous development teams for many companies, consulting/teaching engineering practices to fortune 500 companies, leading R&D efforts, providing application & enterprise architecture, and is currently acting as the Chief Technology Officer for Aviture where he oversees numerous software development efforts across the US Government, Finance, Logistics, Healthcare, Retail and Hospitality industries. Jerry currently spends most of his time thinking about how to create better environments for software engineers, focusing on creating cultures that empower amazing people to do amazing things and make a real difference in someone's world. Software engineering is fun and rewarding, and everyone should feel that way!

Jim Kudirka Founder, Chief Architect, Premier Software Systems, LLC

Jim Kudirka

Jim is the Founder and Chief Architect of Premier Software Systems, a company leading the change toward sustainable and repeatable best practices in software engineering. Through both practice and training, he has achieved mastery of the software development process and now dedicates his time to mentoring and coaching organizations.

Jim has over 28 years of software engineering experience, with 20+ years leading development teams and projects. He is passionate about good software design techniques and applying sound engineering principles that result in reduced time to market, exceptional quality, and minimizing overall cost.

Jim is a native Nebraskan, has a wife and two children, and received an Electrical Engineering degree from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.

Kevin Logan Software Engineer, Omnitech Inc

Kevin Logan

I'm a husband of 16 years and father of 4. I've lived in Sioux Falls, SD and have been working for Omnitech since 2007. I play guitar (mostly bass) at our church a few times a month, ride my bike to work when it's not icy and am always learning new things (I prefer reading books). I've also become more interested in Bitcoin and the economy in the last year.

I had the priviledge of speaking at NE Code in 2016 and 2018.

Find more about me at AlignedDev and (@alignedDev) / Twitter.

Joel Lord Developer Advocate, MongoDB

Joel Lord

Joel Lord is passionate about web and technology in general. He likes to learn new things but most of all, he likes to share his discoveries. He does so by travelling at various conferences all across the globe. He graduated from college in computer programming in the last millennium. Apart for a little break to get his BSc in computational astrophysics, he was always in the industry. As a Developer Advocate at MongoDB, he meets with developers to help them make the web a better place. During his free time, he is usually found stargazing in a camping site somewhere.

Amanda Martinez Engineering Manager, Flywheel

Scott McAllister Developer Advocate, ngrok

Scott McAllister

Scott McAllister is a Developer Advocate for ngrok. He has been building software in several industries for over a decade. Now he's helping others learn about a wide range of web technologies and incident management principles. When he's not coding, writing or speaking he enjoys long walks with his wife, skipping rocks with his kids, and is happy whenever Real Salt Lake, Seattle Sounders FC, Manchester City, St. Louis Cardinals, Seattle Mariners, Chicago Bulls, Seattle Storm, Seattle Seahawks, OL Reign FC, St. Louis Blues, Seattle Kraken, Barcelona, Fiorentina, Borussia Dortmund or Mainz 05 can manage a win.

Dwayne McDaniel Developer Advocate, GitGuardian

Dwayne McDaniel

Dwayne has been working as a Developer Relations professional since 2015 and has been involved in tech communities since 2005. He loves sharing his knowledge, and he has done so by giving talks at over a hundred events worldwide. Dwayne currently lives in Chicago. Outside of tech, he loves karaoke, live music, and performing improv.

Cheryl Nelson Design Studio Program Lead, UNL - Raikes School

Jaime Niswonger Chief Technology Officer, Keyhole Software

Jaime Niswonger

Jaime Niswonger is a change agent for enterprise software with more than three decades of experience as an architect, technical lead, mentor, speaker, and project manager. Jaime is highly successful in guiding organizations to avoid the pitfalls of new technology adoption through strategic and tactical leadership, which he does daily for Keyhole Software clients. He is an avid learner and constantly seeks ways to improve his skill set and stay current with the fast-moving technology landscape.

Jake Partusch Senior Full Stack Engineer, Vendia

Jake Partusch

Jake is a software architect, speaker, and engineer who loves all things JavaScript. He is constantly on the search for new skills and techniques to build highly-available, performant and user-friendly web platforms. Jake is a Senior Full Stack engineer at Vendia where he leads the delivery of customer-centric features across Vendia's platforms. When he’s not writing code, Jake loves to read, golf, and spend time with his family.

Matt Payne software engineer

Matt Payne

Matt Payne stumbled upon computers the summer after seventh grade. He's spent time as a software engineer, manager, and instructor. He taught full-time at the University of Nebraska at Omaha's Math & Computer Science department during the early and mid-1990s. During that time, he learned how gratifying it is to help people discover the fun of computer programming and especially how fun it is to help someone get a job. These joys were one of the things that led to Matt being named AIM's Technology Guru of the year for 2001. Matt is active in the Omaha Technology community and blogs at MattPayne.org. Matt likes explaining (with examples and a graph) that one does not have to start young to have an incredible career in technology. Just remember Arthur Ashe's advice: "Start where you are. Use what you have. Do what you can."

Zach Perkins Platform Engineer, Mindbody

Zach Perkins

I'm a seasoned tech professional with a breadth of experience in development processes and cloud infrastructure. I've had the opportunity to work with Azure, AWS and VMWare automation tools to optimize delivery of cloud resources and applications. My professional focus is on building sustainable platforms for application systems using the cloud and Infrastructure-as-code.

Chris Powell Software Engineer, Hudl

Chris Powell

A few things to know about me is that I like to live an active lifestyle: hiking, paddleboarding, sports, etc are some of the my favorite activities. I've been fortunate to travel often in my life to places like: Singapore, Paraguay, Rome, Sydney, Nairobi, etc. And most importantly, I'm a husband and father. Often times, you can find me taking some action with the point of making those people in my life happier.

Professionally: Earned a bachelor's degree in Mass Communications at Kansas State University, focused coursework in advertising and journalism. Earned another bachelor's degree in computer science from University of Colorado at Boulder.

Rodrigo Ramirez Software Engineer II, Mutual of Omaha

Rodrigo Ramirez

I love technology and its possibilities, that's why I picked the computer science path and I've been working as a Software Engineer for 15 years in multiple companies and in 3 different contries. I believe sharing different ideas, solutions and cultures can achieve greater results. My family is my major treasure and I consider myself a music, movies and videogames lover.

Mike Ravenelle Senior Software Engineer, Bosch

Mike Ravenelle

Meet Mike Ravenelle, a computer science professional with a passion for technology and video games. Born and raised in Connecticut, Mike graduated high school from Norfolk, NE and then moved to Lincoln to study computer science at the University of Nebraska. He started his career 8 years ago at Bosch, where he works on creating and developing products for various communication product lines using technologies such as .NET, ASP.NET Core, Dev Ops, MFC, Python, CMAKE, Conan, Swift and QT. His current focus is on cross platform C++ support on macOS for desktop applications.

In his free time, Mike is a self-proclaimed nerd who enjoys playing World of Warcraft and other video games. One of his biggest passions is video game emulation, and he has contributed to various emulation projects. He loves making things run on hardware they were never intended to run on. He is also a fully licensed skydiver who enjoys the art of testing gravity. When he's not working, playing games, or falling from the sky, Mike enjoys spending time with his lovely wife and son.

Guy Royse Developer Advocate, Redis

Guy Royse

Guy works for Redis as a Developer Advocate. Combining his decades of experience in writing software with a passion for sharing what he has learned, Guy goes out into developer communities and helps others build great software.

In his personal life, Guy is a hard-boiled geek interested in role-playing games, science fiction, and technology. He also has a slightly less geeky interest in history and linguistics. In his spare time, he volunteers for his local Cub Scout Pack, goes camping, and studies history and linguistics.

Guy lives in Ohio with his wife, his three teenage sons, and an entire wall of games.

Anne Ruskamp Principal Engineer, Don't Panic Labs

Anne Ruskamp

Anne has spent her tenure in software engineering within the Nebraska Global family of companies and most recently has moved into the role of Principal Engineer at Don't Panic Labs. Having both gone deep on a single product for nearly a decade and also wide through a variety of domains in professional services, she has a unique perspective of the challenges and opportunities faced by developers and teams.

Tyler Sanderson Senior Consultant, Improving

Tyler Sanderson

Tyler Sanderson is a Front-End Developer who is passionate about the web and technology. As a Senior Consultant at Improving, he helps companies build modern front-ends using React and Next.js. Tyler is from Lincoln, Nebraska, has a wife and two children, and received an Industrial Engineering degree and MBA from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.

Dona Sarkar Director of Tech, Accessibility, Microsoft

Dona Sarkar

Hi, I'm Dona and I cause corporate shenanigans. What is that? That's taking that feeling of, "Is it seriously Monday again" and turning it into, "I can’t wait to see what we do tomorrow" at work. Yes, at work because work can be fun! Currently, at my day job, I'm causing shenanigans as the Director of Tech for Microsoft Accessibility. This is a REALLY cool job because I get to work with every product team to make sure we're considering accessibility for all of our thousands of products. This is so the 1.3 billion (yes, with a B) people on earth who live with a disability, neurodiversity, or mental health concern can live freer and better lives. Did you know the spending power of this audience is around 8 trillion (I know!)?

Anyway, I'm also a speaker (my fave audience is corporate leaders), a business coach, and a multi-published author (it turns out fiction writing is really useful in software!). I'm the owner of the ethical luxury fashion brand called Prima Dona Studios and I have (very) recently become a restauranteur. A few years ago, I was named one of Fast Company’s 100 Most Productive People and Cosmopolitan magazine's Businessperson of the Year for my multi-faceted (aka weird) life. And yes, I'm always ready to get on a plane and come see YOU.

Aaron Sayles Principal Frontend Developer , Medical Solutions

Aaron Sayles

I've been programming professionally for over a decade, dabbling with both frontend and backend throughout my time. Several years ago, however, I connected especially with ReactJs and have made efforts to focus on the frontend space ever since. I love the challenges this space constantly throws my way, pushing me to think outside the box regularly to not only provide solid solutions but to make the developer experience shine as well.

Erik Shafer Software Engineer, Trility

Erik Shafer

Erik is a software engineer with a passion for learning, designing, implementing, and teaching solutions. His current adventure is in e-commerce where he builds maintainable, resilient, replayable, observable, and high-performance systems for an industry that never sleeps. He has designed, built, migrated, refactored, and maintained systems in .NET, JVM, and even some NodeJS. Current obsessions include event sourcing, CQRS, event-driven architecture, distributed and observable systems, and breaking down complex business domains.

When not working with software or developing solutions for the business, he enjoys powerlifting, traveling, listening to heavy metal, and playing either online games or tabletop games like Dungeons & Dragons.

Brent Stewart Co-Founder, Alien Arc Technologies

Brent Stewart

As a professional software developer with over two decades of experience, I have seen many development trends come and go and learned that there is not a shortcut to being a great developer. I enjoy teaching others what I have learned and try to mentor others whenever I can. I am a co-organizer of the Kansas City .NET User Group and love speaking at conferences.

I am a creator at heart and have started multiple businesses over the years in a variety of industries. My latest venture is Alien Arc Technologies which allows me to take my ideas and give them form. I love quality in all things and I always try to provide the best quality in everything I do. If it is worth doing, then it is worth doing right.

Jeremy Suing Manager, Business Systems, Mutual of Omaha

Jeremy Suing

Jeremy Suing is a Manager, Business Systems for Mutual of Omaha in Workplace Solutions. Mr. Suing has been involved in management and development of enterprise software systems for more than 25 years, working in both large corporate and educational environments. Mr. Suing has received the Certified Scrum Master, Certified Product Owner, and Certified Scrum Developer designations from the ScrumAlliance. Prior to joining Mutual of Omaha in March 2023, he was a Software Engineering Manager with Spreetail for 10 months and had spent the previous 16 and a half years to that with the Jeffrey S. Raikes School and the School of Computing at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln (UNL) as the Senior Program Lead for Design Studio and a Lecturer, respectfully. Prior to joining UNL, Mr. Suing had 7 years of software engineering and project management experience working directly with ERP software solutions for Oracle USA, Inc. (formerly J.D. Edwards & Company and then PeopleSoft, Inc.). He has a Master of Science in Computer Science from the University of Colorado at Denver and received his Bachelor of Science in Computer Science and Mathematics from the University of Nebraska at Kearney.

Brandon Suponchick Chief Engineer, Aviture

Brandon Suponchick

Hi I'm Brandon. I'm a problem solver at heart, and my medium is software. I've spent the last 18 years in the software industry helping to make a positive impact in the lives of my customers. I've been developer, technical lead, solution architect, cloud architect, manager and mentor. In my current role I manage a team of around 100 engineers spread across 15 or so projects and the entire country.

I believe that, in our industry, we have a huge potential to create positive impact. It's really hard to change the world, but as Software Engineers, we can change the world for someone. The moment when you can use technology to show someone that the problem they've been dealing with for years can truly be better is an amazing experience, and I love sharing my passion for making impact with others in our community.

Joel Tosi Co-Founder, Hands-On Coach, Dojo & Co

Joel Tosi

Just a dude trying to help out people and teams that are trying to learn and create interesting products. With experience in dev, architecture, management, and product - I try to help teams communicate more effectively and build their products in a maintainable way that allows room for product discovery.

Wendy Urbanek Agile Consultant, Pacific Life Insurance

Wendy Urbanek

I'm Wendy and I am an Agile Consultant at Pacific Life Insurance, but my career in IT started long ago. My focus areas are visualization and guiding teams into learning new ways of working by breaking down the barriers of siloed knowledge, challenging the status quo, and fostering transparency and psychological safety. As a coach, I love the art of facilitation and am a student of Liberating Structures.

Whenever anyone asked "What do you really want to be when you grow up?", I'd always say that I wanted to be motivational speaker - but unfortunately, I couldn't settle on a topic that I was passionate about. Then came Agile and agility…the lean and people-centric natural of agility is what truly gravitated me towards new ways of working. It is my joy to share agility with others. As a coach, I am able to live my passions of mentoring and teaching by guiding and supporting others in their own agile journey.

Rob Versaw VP, Innovation, Envista

Rob Versaw

As the VP of Innovation at Envista, Rob Versaw leads the company's innovation efforts to develop new products, technologies, and solutions that drive growth and create value for customers. He works closely with the company's R&D teams to identify emerging trends and technologies and develop strategies to bring new products to market. His work has won many awards--including for the ground breaking AI enabled DTX software. Prior to his role at Envista, Rob held varying product and technology focused roles at Amazon, Fortive and Overstock.com.

John Wirtz Chief Product Officer, Hudl

John Wirtz

As Hudl’s Chief Product Officer, John Wirtz leads Hudl’s product management, design and hardware teams, and is responsible for Hudl’s product strategy and vision. John holds a bachelor’s in business and computer science and a master’s in business administration from the Jeffrey S. Raikes School of Computer Science and Management at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln. In 2006, he teamed up with fellow Raikes School students David Graff and Brian Kaiser to co-found Hudl, with a goal to help sports teams find a better solution to sharing video.

Now Hudl serves more than 6M users and 200,000 teams worldwide, at every level of more than 40 sports. Based in Lincoln, Nebraska, and fueled by a global team of more than 4,000 professionals in 19 countries, Hudl continues to change the way sports are seen. John leads product strategy and design for Hudl’s suite of video and data products, including tools for recruiting, opponent scouting, game planning, livestreaming and training. The latest product innovations include smart cameras that can automatically capture and livestream every moment on the court or field. John’s long-term vision has helped the company stay at the forefront of the sports technology industry.

In his free time, John serves on multiple community boards and enjoys mentoring the next generation of entrepreneurs. John and his family reside in Lincoln, Nebraska.

Andrew Zetterman VP, Technology, Quantum Workplace