UAlbany Graduates Put Hybrid Skills to Use at Growing Albany Technology Firm

A young woman with long brown hair in a white dress and black graduation cap and gown poses in front of a sign that says "Home of the Great Danes"

Marion Lyons is one of nearly a dozen recent UAlbany graduates who've ended up at Aeon Nexus, a small but growing public-sector technology firm that's seeking employees with hybrid skills as it grows its Albany footprint. (Photos provided)

By Bethany Bump

ALBANY, N.Y. (April 9, 2026)— Marion Lyons was nearly done with her MBA and eager to get her career off the ground when she saw an opening for a business analyst position at Aeon Nexus, a small technology firm based in Albany that provides case management software for government clients in the legal and criminal justice systems.

“It literally felt like it was made for me because it combined my passions for law and tech and business,” she said.

A young woman with long brown hair in a black blazer folds her arms and smiles for a portrait against a gray backdrop. — Marion Lyons, '22

The Clifton Park native had long been interested in business, but grew fascinated with the legal field after getting accepted into UAlbany’s bachelor’s in business administration program. She graduated from the program with a minor in legal studies and economics in 2022 and briefly contemplated law school before deciding to pursue an MBA from Siena University.

“Out of everything I took at UAlbany, legal studies were my favorite courses,” she said. “So when this opened up, it felt completely meant to be, the way it combined all my interests.”

Aeon Nexus, a small but growing technology firm headquartered on downtown Albany’s State Street, has become a landing spot for Lyons and other recent UAlbany graduates whose interdisciplinary backgrounds in business, computer science, technology and other diverse fields make them attractive hires to a company that’s prioritizing early-career workers with hybrid skills. Such skill sets, with expertise spanning disciplines, will be invaluable as AI continues to evolve and disrupt the labor market, company officials say.

“We have an eye for talent, and from a business standpoint we see real value in establishing a recruiting pipeline with UAlbany to build a mission-driven workforce at Aeon Nexus,” said CEO Omar Usmani, who founded the company 25 years ago. “As we expand, we’re committed to hiring and training locally to help grow the Capital Region’s workforce and support Albany’s revitalization.”

The company aims to modernize the legal and justice system by providing software solutions that synchronize case management and workflow platforms across multiple government entities. Their flagship product, JusticeNexus, is designed to manage legal cases from start to finish for prosecutors, public defenders, courts and justice departments.

With clients in over a dozen states and growing, Aeon Nexus is in a growth spurt and working to expand its physical footprint in New York and California. At its Albany office, it employs nearly a dozen UAlbany graduates with backgrounds ranging from computer science, math, cybersecurity and business to history, psychology, English and the arts. This mix of disciplines is ideal for positions that blend coding, storytelling, analytical thinking and project management.

Marc McAdoo, who graduated from UAlbany in 2023 with a bachelor’s degree in math and computer science, started working for Aeon Nexus in 2024. As a developer, he is focused on database management and ensuring clients can transfer legacy data into the JusticeNexus platform.

The position comes with a lot of problem solving, he said, which is what drew him to pursue a STEM degree in the first place.

“When you solve problems, particularly in software, you really only have to solve the problem once, and then you have it going forward,” he said. “That’s something I like about it.”

A woman with long brown hair in a black shirt smiles for a portrait against a gray backdrop. — Jana Putzig, '24

Jana Putzig, a 2024 UAlbany graduate, arrived at Aeon Nexus by way of a career change.

After graduating from SUNY Plattsburgh with a journalism and public relations degree in 2016, she worked in institutional advancement in higher education for several years before deciding she wanted to go back to school to pursue business and marketing. She ended up enrolling in UAlbany’s MBA program, with a concentration in marketing.

“I actually applied for a marketing position at Aeon Nexus, and they moved me into a business analyst position because of my skill set, which I wouldn’t have been able to get without being exposed to all the facets of business at UAlbany,” she said.

McAdoo and other UAlbany graduates said soft skills, such as the ability to communicate effectively, are especially valued at Aeon Nexus, regardless of the technical know-how someone brings to the job.

“Even if you’re a developer, at some point you’re going to have to get on a call and talk to a client,” he said. “So you need those soft skills if you want to be someone that people want to work with.”

Similarly, Lyons believes the public speaking and leadership skills she cultivated through UAlbany’s Elevating Student Leaders Program have helped her on the job.

“I have the tech background and the interest in legal studies,” she said. “But I also have the ability to speak with clients, to run meetings, to handle public speaking — and those are skills I feel are really valued here.”