TechXY Core

China Mountain Zhang by Maureen F. McHugh

Set in a 22nd century where the United States has undergone a socialist revolution and China has emerged as the world's dominant superpower, China Mountain Zhang is a quiet, confident piece of near-future world-building.

Why I recommend it: It feels like a close parallel universe. Not dystopian, but intimately unsettling, a future that feels lived in and that arrived gradually, through policy shifts and cultural drift rather than cataclysm. The descriptive writing is great. You feel the world. And you can't help but make comparisons to current U.S.-China relations and what global realignment might actually look like.

Maus by Art Spiegelman

The story of Vladek Spiegelman — a Jewish survivor of the Holocaust — told by his son, a cartoonist trying to understand his father’s past and their complicated relationship. The Jews are depicted as mice. The Nazis as cats. It is one of the most powerful works in the American literary canon.

Why I recommend it now: We live in a moment when we can no longer collectively agree on the meaning and weight of some of our most historically loaded terms. Words like nazi and holocaust get deployed casually, contested, used as memes and utterly stripped of their gravity. Maus does something remarkable: it renders the unspeakable both terrifying and real through an abstract, miniaturized comics format. The gap between the diminutive visual form and the enormity of what it depicts creates a kind of moral shock that prose and even video sometimes can’t. In an era of narrative fragmentation and historical revisionism, Maus is a corrective. Read it or reread it.

David Gonzalez

David Gonzalez is the Co-Founder and CEO of Arbol, a student financial success platform that helps colleges keep more students enrolled by tackling the real financial barriers that cause them to drop out. Arbol partners with colleges and universities to give students a clear, personalized picture of their financial situation and actionable steps they can take, while giving staff the data and tools they need to proactively remove financial roadblocks at scale. As a first-generation college graduate, David has seen firsthand how financial complexity and uncertainty can derail students' education. His work at Arbol is driven by a simple belief: when students have clarity, support, and a sustainable financial plan, they are far more likely to stay enrolled, graduate, and build the futures they envision for themselves.

Melissa Copeland

Melissa Copeland is the Founder and Principal of Blue Orbit Consulting, where she helps organizations transform customer experience and contact center operations. Since launching the firm in 2014, she has partnered with Fortune 500 companies to deliver measurable improvements in customer engagement, technology investments, and workforce management. Melissa's career combines global corporate leadership with entrepreneurial vision. After years of extensive travel in executive roles, she founded Blue Orbit Consulting to focus on projects closer to home while continuing to influence businesses worldwide. Today, she remains a trusted advisor for organizations seeking to elevate customer experience and achieve lasting results.

Jack McGowan

Jack McGowan is the Director of the Buffalo Angels and Executive Director of the Western New York Venture Association (WNYVA). Over the past two decades he has helped channel approximately $9 million of angel investment into 54 early-stage companies in the Buffalo/Upstate New York region and led the region's original startup-investor forum. This year, just a few months ago, he received the Community Catalyst Award at Upstate Venture Connect's Unleashed Founders Retreat for his longstanding impact on the startup ecosystem in Western New York.

Ion Valis

Ion Valis has built a career at the crossroads of politics, technology, and leadership. He started out in Washington, DC, where he spent six years as Press Secretary to two Congressmen. From there, he jumped into the private sector, helping Vodafone in London launch a bold international media initiative just as mobile technology was transforming the world. Back in Montreal, Ion joined a fast‑growing tech start‑up as a senior executive, then shifted gears to lead the Jeanne Sauvé Foundation, an international non‑profit dedicated to cultivating public leadership. Along the way, he wrote The Magnificent Mistake, a book about why failure can be our greatest teacher, and later delivered a TEDx talk on rethinking leadership systems. Today, as President of Prometheus Strategic Advisors and co‑host of the Boiling the Ocean podcast, Ion explores how leaders can navigate complexity with creativity and courage.

Juweria Dahir

Juweria Dahir is a leader in innovation, entrepreneurship, and governance. She is the founder of JD Vertex, a data evaluation firm that helps organizations and entrepreneurs turn data into meaningful stories that demonstrate impact. She also co-founded SheConnects, a startup supporting female founders in both for-profit and non-profit sectors through resources, networking, and support. Juweria served as the Director of Innovation and Entrepreneurship at BNMC, where she led the development of its first business accelerator for early-stage startups and continues to shape programs that support inclusive entrepreneurship and business growth. Her work builds on six years in city government as a City Planner and External Affairs Manager, where she advanced neighborhood development and economic policy. She also teaches business and entrepreneurship as an Adjunct Professor at Daemen University and holds a Master's degree from the School of Architecture and Planning at the University at Buffalo.

Sean McEvoy

Sean McEvoy is a Dynamics 365 and Power Platform expert with a passion for low-code/no-code solutions and artificial intelligence. As the Dynamics CRM Administrator for Bryant & Stratton College, he specializes in optimizing business processes, automation, and digital transformation.

Stephanie Armstrong

Stephanie is a visionary architect of brands and businesses. With a Midas touch for transforming brands, she has orchestrated groundbreaking partnerships with global titans like Pepsi, Universal Studios, and Louis Vuitton Moët Hennessy. She is the Co-Founder of Moxie Creative Studios, leveraging her strategic marketing acumen to propel businesses worldwide, generating over $40 million in growth.

Jessica L. Copeland

Jessica Copeland is chair of the cybersecurity and data privacy and law practice as well as the AI law practice at Bond, Schoeneck & King law firm, where she focuses on all aspects of technology law, including data privacy compliance, AI governance and intellectual property protection and litigation. She's on the front line for clients who have experienced data breaches and other incidents, often defending them in class action litigations or helping them navigate ransomware attacks, business email compromises and inadvertent disclosures. Jessica also protects patents and trademarks in federal and appellate courts and before the International Trade Commission for clients in industries such as medical and mechanical devices, computer software and hardware, pharmaceuticals, telecommunications and e-commerce technologies. Jessica earned her B.A. in Mathematics from New York University and her J.D. from St. John's University School of Law. Jessica is a Certified Information Privacy Professional/United States (CIPP/US) through the ANSI-accredited International Association of Privacy Professionals, has been ranked for IP litigation by New York Super Lawyers® for the past 10 years and was named part of the "Legal Elite of Western New York" by Buffalo Business First.

Larry Mietus

Larry Mietus (Chief Excuse Obliterator) is the Founder of Speaking of Strategy. He is an engaging speaker, business consultant, author, podcaster, and educator with a wealth of practical, hands-on experience. His expertise encompasses leadership development, organizational design, employee engagement, and sales and marketing strategies. His clients run the gamut from "Mom and Pop" businesses to international enterprises. He is a frequent contributor on LinkedIn. Larry has also been quoted in HR Magazine, the most widely read and respected Human Resources publication in the world. He is a guest speaker for Vistage International, the world's largest executive coaching organization. Larry is the author of "We Tried That Once" And Other Popular Excuses That Sabotage Business Success!

Frank Gullo

The host of TechXY Turbo, Frank Gullo is a business technology leader, author, and speaker. His work in technology spans information management, data and analytics, software development, security, and IT leadership. He created TechXY to provide independent technology content and insights. The podcast TechXY Turbo features unfiltered conversations about tech with guests from varied businesses and industries.