Hi there, and welcome to the latest edition of the Forbes CIO newsletter.
I’m thrilled to announce that we have just launched the second annual edition of the Forbes CIO Next list, which highlights 50 innovative CIOs who are transforming business and elevating their role. You can check out our honorees here.
They include executives from a range of industries and company sizes, but all of them have one thing in common: A passion for using technology to shape the future of business. Some have also been busy helping the world tackle some of its most pressing challenges.
Pfizer’s chief digital and technology officer, Lidia Fonseca, tapped cloud-based supercomputers to run models that helped the company narrow down promising compounds for its Covid-19 antiviral drug Paxlovid five to 10 times faster than usual. Linda Jojo helped pilot United Airlines through the Covid storm (see our CIO Profile below) And Rajeev Ravindran, the CIO of logistics giant Ryder System launched a digital platform that makes it easier for customers to find shipping solutions in the midst of supply-chain chaos.
There are plenty of examples of tech leaders who are at the forefront of reinventing business models using technology. Vipin Gupta of Toyota Financial Services, a leading auto lending business in the U.S., has created a cloud-based platform that seeks to power lending for all kinds of mobility businesses selling everything from RVs to ATVs and electric vehicles. At Carbon Health, which doubled the number of clinics it has in the U.S. last year to 100, CTO Claire Hough is using technology to create a care model that mixes in-person visits with virtual appointments and remote monitoring of patients via wearables.
As well as highlighting individuals’ work via the list, we included a few collective data points about them here. Their average length of service in their role is just over three and a half years, which shows today’s leading tech executives don’t require that much time to have a significant impact on the businesses they work for. Almost a third of our honorees are women and many are people of color.
There’s still a long way to go to boost diversity in IT, but these accomplished executives can serve as great role models for future generations. Interestingly, only half of the executives on our CIO Next List actually used the acronym in their title. There’s been an explosion of longer titles for tech leaders. At Raytheon Technologies, for example, tech leader Vince Campisi is its Chief digital officer and SVP, Enterprise Services. At food seller and distributor Sysco, Tom Peck is its chief information and digital officer.
No matter what title they hold, it’s clear that the people who we honor are destined to play an ever more influential role in C-suites and boardrooms.
Thanks for reading, and do let me know if you have any suggestions for themes to cover in future issues. You can contact me on Twitter here and LinkedIn here.
P.S. An important reminder: If you’d like to hear top CIOs, including some of our CIO Next list members, speak at our flagship in-person Summit at the Ritz Carlton Hotel Half Moon Bay, California on May 23 and 24 be sure to sign up soon, The event is reserved for CIOs and executives with equivalent job titles such as CTO from large and innovative companies. You can apply to attend here.
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