Technology Users Group Presents: 2024 Technology Year End Review and 2025 Trends (Free)

Jim is passionate about supporting the CPA profession and helping his peers embrace technology to prepare for the ever-changing landscape of business and automation. He has focused his entire career, over more than twenty years, on integrating technology into strategic plans and business processes alike. Jim is experienced in forming a variety of business entities, business expansions, divestitures, mergers and acquisitions, and business closures. He is a founding member of the COCPA Technology Users Group and recently served on the AICPA Certified Information Technology Professional Credential Committee. Jim currently serves on the AICPA COVID Technology Committee. He is eager to provide guidance on the importance of CPAs to be more adaptable and pivot toward new concepts, technologies, and needs of clients.

Mike is the Founder and CEO of NTM Advisory. He embraces disruption, brings calm to chaos, and enjoys delivering transformation programs to solve complex and challenging problems. He is a proven leader of diverse international teams successfully delivering to clients primarily in the financial services, healthcare, and retail industries.

Mike has over 15 years of Consulting and Industry experience – bringing the perspective of both a trusted advisor and a practitioner who has had to make hard decisions and deal with the consequences. Mike built his foundation of expertise with over a decade of experience at PwC across the Cybersecurity and Privacy, IT Infrastructure, Cloud Computing, and Advisory practices. He has designed and run security and privacy programs as a CISO and is an expert at efficiently using resources to pragmatically mitigate IT and business risks.

He holds the Certified Information Security Manager (CISM) certification from ISACA, the ITIL Foundations Certification and previously held the AWS Solutions Architect certification.

Mike holds a Bachelor's degree in Computer Science from the University of Notre Dame, and a Global Executive MBA from the Fuqua School of Business at Duke University, including embedded learning and professional experiences on 4 continents (Shanghai, New Delhi, Santiago, Berlin, and Durham, NC).

Steve is a Senior Manager with Plante Moran, a top 15 full-service accounting, tax, consulting and wealth management firm as a member of the Digital Transformation Services team within Management Consulting. For over nine years, Steve has focused on solving complex problems by focusing on process improvement primarily through ERP implementation. Steve leads the Accounting and Costing team during implementations, assessments and other improvement initiatives. In addition to his work with ERPs, Steve leads the firm’s service offerings related to Robotic Process Automation (RPA) and Corporate Performance Management (CPM) services.

Before Plante Moran, Steve was a Big 4 financial statement and systems auditor and also had a progressive career in industry, including experience as a Controller, Supply Chain Manager, IT Manager and adjunct professor that provides background to provide well-rounded pragmatic solutions to clients.

Steve graduated with a BBA from the University of Notre Dame and an MBA from Butler University. Steve is married, lives in Indianapolis, Indiana and has two children, both studying Accounting at Bellarmine University – so he is doing his best to solve the CPA shortage!

As a Senior Manager in Technology Consulting at Wipfli, I advise clients on specific industry strategy, software and applications such as ERP, CRM, BI, and cybersecurity solutions. I am attuned to the technology needs of various types of clients, from startup businesses to established companies, in industries such as construction, nonprofit, real estate, manufacturing, and distribution.

I believe that our clients have the answers at hand, they just need clarity, strategy, and planning to make those decisions confidently and see the future of their companies though the complexity of their daily challenges.

Clients appreciate my tailored individual technology assessments and purpose-built business solutions to help them overcome challenges and meet their strategic goals. I thrive on making the process of adopting technology straight forward, with better visioning and clear paths of implementation.

Wipfli’s technology consulting specialists bring experience, knowledge and best practices to empower your company. Whether it’s through developing a technology roadmap or implement purpose-built technology solutions we help you navigate security, insurance, risk, and operational, and human capital training needs. Wipfli can help you create the future you desire, fueling your imagination to realize your dreams.

As a former Solution Architect Practice Lead and Consultant, across ERP, CRM, and BI solutions, I learned that the technology is only as good as the business process that supports it. Key stakeholders must be committed and invested in the solution and it needs to be cascaded and adopted by all users, quickly and efficiently to maximize return on investment.

Growing up in Nebraska, my mom was a social worker and my dad was a biologist, I learned the values of culture inclusivity, hard work, and Midwest values. After college, as a global traveler, I loved meeting new people and am passionate about connecting with my community and supporting a culture of diversity. I lead and volunteer on a number of local and grass roots organizations supporting diversity and inclusion that creates opportunities for learning and growth.

Fun fact - I'm avid hobby gardener and spice fanatic. I grow and pickle hot peppers. Ask me about my favorite blend.

Blaise is a Director at A-LIGN and has over 15 years of experience in Security Compliance and Risk Management. He joined A-LIGN in 2013 and started the HITRUST/HIPAA and Healthcare Services practice in 2015. Having a very unique background as a CPA, CISA and CCSK, Blaise has performed over 500 SOC attestation reviews and over 300 HITRUST/HIPAA assessments for Global 1000 and Fortune 500 clients in various industries. Blaise is also a sought-after speaker and has delivered several speaking engagements at well-renowned conferences such as HIMSS, HITRUST, and ISACA. Blaise has also written dozens of blogs and whitepapers on the topics of Security Compliance, Telemedicine, Blockchain technology, and Third-Party Risk Management. Prior to joining A-LIGN, Blaise was a Senior Consultant at Century Payments, Inc., and an Advisory Associate at KPMG.

Wesley Hartman is the Founder of Automata Practice Development. He started in Information Technology in 2005 and specifically in IT for accounting in 2009 at Kirsch Kohn and Bridge, an accounting firm with 80 years of history.

At Kirsch Kohn and Bridge, he pioneered an RPA platform in 2014 with an automation to input K-1 data from a spreadsheet into tax software. From there he grew the platform to include, data mining, custom emailing and invoicing, and decision making. He has spoken at conferences to share his knowledge and experience in robot engineering along with other topics relating to technology and efficiency.

He is part of the AICPA Engage Tech+ committee and speaks at the AICPA Engage conference on how to implement emerging technology and methods for making practices more efficient using technology.

His focus is on analyzing procedures with the mindset of engineering efficiency and process improvement. He will break down tasks into pieces to look at all the cogs in the machine in order to find ways that technology can evolve and transform accounting.

Wesley holds a Bachelor's of Science in Computer Engineering and worked on an autonomous vehicle project, so automation is part of his identity. He also practices martial arts, enjoys building furniture in his garage, and puts together a haunted maze in his driveway for Halloween.