Ahmed
Anderson
Mike Anderson is a transformative and visionary business leader with a proven track record of helping companies leverage technology to drive positive business outcomes. For more than two decades, Mike has built and led high-performing teams across a wide range of disciplines, including sales, operations, business development, and technology. Mike currently serves as Senior Vice President, CIO and Digital Leader for North America for Schneider Electric. In addition to his role at Schneider Electric, Mike serves on numerous technology and industry advisory boards and volunteers his personal time working with nonprofits focused on mental health and suicide prevention and those that benefit the development of our future workforce in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics.
Baldwin
Lisa Baldwin is Chief Information Officer for Tiffany & Co. where she is responsible for technology globally. Tiffany operates 313 stores in the Americas, Asia-Pacific, Japan, Europe, UAE and Russia. Additionally, the company owns a significant stake in the world’s diamond supply through direct diamond sourcing and manufactures jewelry internally. Ms. Baldwin is leading a multi-year transformational systems program replacing key applications supporting the retail, merchandising, manufacturing, human resource and financial business units. Alongside the foundational systems work she is driving the omnichannel and digital customer experience, which includes modernization of the retail store. Previously, Ms. Baldwin was Vice President, Information Technology at Coach, Inc. where she led a corporate application development team. There she managed a global team and developed a multi-year IT strategy, established a PMO function, and led the implementation of a new data warehouse. Additionally, she drove the consolidation and replacement of home-grown demand planning applications. Prior to taking on leadership roles within the Retail Industry Ms. Baldwin was an Associate Partner with IBM Global Business Services. In her ten years with IBM she led many HR, Finance and Merchandising ERP implementations. Additionally, she spent several years working with Tiffany & Co. developing a global ecommerce platform and product information tool which are currently leveraged today to support over 60 sites (i.e., ecommerce, mobile, informational, employee store). Ms. Baldwin holds a Bachelor of Science in Education from Georgia State University and is a member of the National Retail Federation CIO Council. She is also on the Board of Directors for Reliance Steel & Aluminum Co.
Barker
Ellen Barker is senior vice president and chief information officer of Texas Instruments responsible for the Information Technology organization. In this role, she manages the information technology strategies and operational management of applications and infrastructure worldwide that enable TI’s changing business needs. Ellen joined TI in 1984. She holds a Bachelor of Business Administration from the University of Texas, Austin and a Master of Business Administration from the University of Dallas. In addition to her role at TI, she is on the board of directors for High Tech High Heels, a non-profit organization focused on increasing the number of girls entering a college degree program in science, technology, engineering and math, and Tech Titans, the largest technology trade association in Texas. Ellen is also on the Advisory Board of the Alliance for Women and Technology, and is a member of the Business Alliance Council for the National Alliance for Partnership in Equity (NAPE). Ellen believes in giving back to her community and helping others. She is a member of the executive leadership team for the American Heart Association - Go Red for Women, helps with TI’s United Way campaign and is a leader in her church. She has been married to her husband Alan for 35 years and they have two adult sons and daughters-in-law, and a granddaughter. Ellen is an avid golfer and enjoys traveling and spending time with family and friends.
Carrillo
Jesse Carrillo is responsible for directing all corporate technology, strategy and standards for Hines worldwide. Jesse joined Hines in 1994 to assist in the implementation of the firm's accounting and property management software. He was later promoted to Manager - Application Development, followed by Director - Application Development. He took over the responsibility for Hines IT as CTO in 2007 and promoted to CIO in 2009. Mr. Carrillo completed undergraduate studies at Trinity University, where he earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Computer Science, then received his Master of Business Administration (MBA) degree from the University of Texas at San Antonio. Mr. Carrillo is a member of the CIO Executive Council, Greater Houston Cybersecurity Task Force, Real Estate Cyber Consortium (RECC), Executive Vice-President of the Houston Chapter of Society of Information Management (SIM), Prospanica – Association of Hispanic Professionals, and serves on the Realcomm International Advisory Council. Along with contributing to several technology articles, he was a featured writer for the book, Building a Green IT Team, part of the Inside the Minds series from Aspatore Publishers. He is also a strong supporter of promoting Youth In IT through his involvement with Genesys Works (http://www.genesysworks.org) as a client and Board Member; he also serves as a VP on the Board of Trustees at The Shlenker School. Jesse has been recognized for his achievements by being named a Premier 100 recipient in 2016 by Computerworld Magazine, as well as the Julie Devine Digital Impact Award presented at the 2017 Realcomm Conference, and the Realcomm Lifetime Achievement Award in 2018.
Charalambous
Yanni Charalambous is Vice President and Chief Information Officer at Occidental Petroleum. He is responsible for the Information Technology (IT) organization and the strategy and deployment of IT across Occidental’s worldwide oil and gas, midstream, chemicals and corporate operations. Mr. Charalambous was appointed Vice President, Information Technology in 2013 and Vice President and Chief Information Officer in 2014. In this role, he led all aspects of the company’s global IT operations, including oilfield and plant automation, exploration and production systems, information management, business systems and process change. He joined Occidental in 2002 leading systems and infrastructure organizations in IT. Prior to joining Occidental, Mr. Charalambous served as a member of the management team at a startup. Mr. Charalambous began his career at Royal Dutch Shell where he advanced through positions of increasing responsibility working both in the U.S. and Europe. Mr. Charalambous holds a bachelor of science in Computer Science from the University of Louisiana, Lafayette, and a Master of Computer Science from the University of Houston, Clear Lake. He represents Occidental on the American Petroleum Institute’s Information Management and Technology Committee and the American Chemistry Council’s Chemical Information Technology Center (ChemITC ® ) committee. He is the vice chair of the board of ESCAPE Family Resource Center, a non-profit organization serving the Houston area, and a Corporate Fellow at the University of Houston-Downtown Marilyn Davis College of Business. He is a member of the Society of Petroleum Engineers where he Chaired the Digital Energy Technical Section for several years, and served as a member of the Advisory Board for the College of Science and Computer Engineering at the University of Houston-Clear Lake.
Elkins
Mr. Stephen Elkins serves as Chief Information Officer (CIO) for the City of Austin, Communications and Technology Management department, (CTM). As CIO, Mr. Elkins oversees the Department's use of information technology to improve performance and manage risk across the City's overall organization. Mr. Elkins leads the Department's enterprise architecture, information systems, information technology governance, smart cities roadmap, and information resources management programs in collaboration with all organizational components of the Department. Mr. Elkins came to the City of Austin with over 17 years of senior management experience in the semiconductor industry. In his 15 plus years at the City, he served as the Manager for the Project Management Office and Director of the Small, Minority Business Resources department. In 2010 he was appointed to the position of CIO. Mr. Elkins has been selected for numerous awards since being appointed as CIO. He was named nationally One of the Top 25 Doers, Dreamers, and Drivers for 2015 by Government Technology. Just recently he was named 2019 Texas Public Sector CIO of the Year. Mr. Elkins holds a Master of Business Administration and a Bachelors of Science in Electronic Engineering Technology. He is a certified Project Management Professional. He also sits on several non-profit board of directors.
Forbes
Brooke Forbes is Head of Technology for Fidelity Personal Investing, which provides a full range of investment and financial planning services to millions of individual investors including wealth management, retirement planning, and brokerage. Ms. Forbes has more than 25 years of experience in large-scale technology platform and development management, extensive leadership of global teams, and transformational program leadership. In her current role, she leads Personal Investing’s technology agenda of driving continuous improvements to both Fidelity’s customer and associate experience and accelerating engineering excellence and digital leadership. She also sits on the Advisory Board for Fidelity’s Women’s Leadership Group, the firm’s largest employee resource group. Previously, Ms. Forbes was Senior Vice President, Digital Planning and Advice, running both robo and hybrid advisory offerings. She led efforts to re-imagine and drastically simplify the omni-channel digital experience and deliver personalized education, financial planning, investment and savings solutions to help our younger investor and emerging wealth accumulators achieve their financial goals. She was also Senior Vice President, Omni-Channel Solutions and Associate Technology Platforms. In this role, she oversaw the voice, email and chat channels for Fidelity’s customers as well as the technology management, development and integration of the platforms that serve more than 20,000 customer-facing associates. Prior to joining Fidelity in 2010, Ms. Forbes was Director of Customer Relationship Management (CRM) Platforms and International Technology for Bank of America – Merrill Lynch Wealth Management, where she was responsible for the design, development, deployment and support of enterprise CRM platforms for Merrill Lynch worldwide for a user community of more than 30,000 users in more than 20 countries. Ms. Forbes received her Bachelor of Arts degree in international relations from Colgate University. She lives in the Boston area and is the proud mother to four children.
Goraya
Shuja Goraya is Chief Technology Officer for Precision Drilling. In this role he is responsible for engineering, manufacturing, sustaining and advance rig automation. He leads Precisions’ innovative initiatives that explore emerging technologies to significantly improve company’s business through implementing new strategies and solutions to enhance drilling performance and reduce environmental foot print. He is also the Chief Architect of Precision’s Digital Transformation initiatives and company’s industry standards engagements, university collaborations and technical community programs. Prior to joining Precision Drilling in 2018, he worked as S.VP. Drilling and Technology at NESR. He has over 25 years of experience in the oil and gas industry with about 23 years at Schlumberger, where he served as VP for a multi-billion dollar drilling business for North America, world-wide human resources director, led one of the engineering arms and VP drilling for Asia-Pac. He has held various senior technology and operations management roles in the United States, Canada, Middle East, Central Asia, Africa, and Asia-Pacific. Goraya is a member of Society of Petroleum Engineers (SPE) and Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE). Mr. Goraya holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Electrical Engineering.
Gupta
Jones
Larry Jones is a purpose-driven leader that delivers transformational change with key principles of business process integration, agile approaches, and next generation technology solutions. During his 30-year tenure, he has led significant projects and programs in Johnson & Johnson across Pharmaceuticals and Hospital Medical Devices. An experienced technology professional in healthcare, he is CIO for one of the largest medical device companies in the world. As member of the $27B Medical Device senior leadership team, he led initiatives to drive lean business processes, cloud-based solutions, and integrated insights. Currently, he is focused on driving digital surgery IOT connectivity solutions for the company’s surgical robotics and machine learning platforms in Oncology, Orthopedics, and General Surgery. Leveraging agile principles as a lean approach to achieving business results, he has sponsored program execution with 50+ agile teams in Medical Devices. With a strong commitment to the Johnson & Johnson Credo and servant leadership values, his leadership teams have driven consistently high employee engagement results and technology execution. He is the executive sponsor for the Corporate chapter of the Johnson & Johnson African American Leadership Council and J&J’s regional Diversity & Inclusion Leadership Council. Fascinated with the opportunity of transforming lives in healthcare through next generation technology, Larry has served as a Healthcare advisory council member for Microsoft and Verizon. In addition to his efforts on non-profit boards, he is an engaged member of the prestigious Executive Leadership Council. He also serves as 2020 Chairperson for BETFBDPA Board of Directors, replacing renown founder of 40+ years, Earl Pace. In 2019 Larry was honored by ITSMF and The Harlem Fine Arts Society for African American Lifetime Achievement in Technology. He was also a finalist for InspireCIO’s NY/NJ CIO of the year for 2019. Larry Jones has a MS / MBA in computer engineering from the University of Pennsylvania & Wharton School. He lives with his lovely wife and best friend, Luciana in Millstone Township, New Jersey.
Kail
Mike D. Kail is the CTO at Everest.org, where he is responsible for the FinTech Cloud Platform and Engineering Teams. Previously, he served as Yahoo's CIO and SVP of Infrastructure and as VP of IT Operations at Netflix. Prior to that, he was VP of IT Operations at Attensity. He has been recognized widely for his insightful industry commentary on Twitter, and was named by the Huffington Post as one of the Top 100 Most Social CIOs on Twitter. He holds a B.S. in Computer Science from Iowa State University.
Khurana
Akash has more than 20 years of IT experience, where his most recent assignment before joining McDermott was as the Senior IT Director of Global Product Lines and Regional P&Ls at Baker Hughes. He has also served in a variety of progressive leadership roles at GE Healthcare and Power & Water divisions. He began his career as an Enterprise Resource Planning business consultant and a technology leader at a leading retail company in the late 1990s. Akash joined McDermott in April 2015 where he has been leading business transformation as the CIO and CDO of the Global Information Technology and Digital organization. He has been featured in major publications including Forbes, Gartner, ZDNet, Energy CIO Insights and Computer Weekly. Akash is a three-time consecutive award winner of the CIO 100, and in 2018, he was named a MIT Sloan Leadership Award finalist and Houston CIO of the Year. His most recent accomplishment includes being named 2019 CIO of the Year by Oracle. In addition to holding many accolades, Akash holds an Advisory Board Member position with SymphonyAI, the world’s largest & fastest growing Artificial Intelligence (AI) company, focused on building innovative solutions for the industrial vertical. Akash is recognized as a technology leader for his vision, developing the right talent, streamlining processes and ensuring that IT delivers integrated strategic technology solutions aligned to business needs.
Kota
PRAKASH KOTA, is Autodesk’s Chief Information Officer. He is responsible for Autodesk’s global infrastructure, enterprise operations, and workforce collaboration and productivity services. Millions of Autodesk customers around the world depend on Autodesk products for their business livelihood. Kota’s team ensures they have access to their products and entitlements in a reliable, resilient, and highly available environment. Kota has led several successful initiatives that strengthened Autodesk’s core business operations making it agile, cost effective, and stable. He transformed his teams from an engineering and operations focus into end-to-end service oriented teams that deliver value faster to business units. He is passionate about the digital transformation of Autodesk and aligning the employee and customer experience. He has accelerated this transformation for employees by providing IT services on demand through a self-service portal and also through the implementation of modern cloud employee collaboration and productivity tools. He has redefined IT Operations for the digital agenda to enhance operational agility and accelerate the transformation of IT and business processes. He has introduced automation services such as artificial intelligence, machine learning and most recently robotic process automation which has led to savings, increased productivity, accuracy, reliability, and scalability. Kota has been with Autodesk for 11+ years and has held many roles within IT including, Director DevOps, Sr. Director of Enterprise Operations, and Vice President of Enterprise Infrastructure and Operations. He holds a master’s degree in computer science from Oklahoma State University, and a bachelor’s degree in electronics and communication from the University of Madras.
Kozik
Sue Kozik joined Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Lousiana in August 2018 as Senior Vice President, Chief Information Officer. In this role, Kozik leads IT strategies that enable Blue Cross to maintain its leadership position in a constantly changing and intensely competitive marketplace. She also leads the Enterprise Project Management Office and the IT Cybersecurity functions. Kozik is an innovative business leader with a proven track record of delivering results in highly regulated and competitive industries. She came to Blue Cross from Seattle-based Group Health, a $4 billion nonprofit integrated healthcare delivery system that recently became part of Kaiser Permanente. Prior to Group Health, she held executive positions at Independence Blue Cross, TIAA, Lucent Technologies, Penn Mutual Life Insurance Company and CIGNA. For a number of her CIO roles, Kozik was the first leader in the company to hold that executive position, bringing technology to the conversation and to the board level. She has been honored by the IT industry with many prestigious awards, including the CIO 100 Award and the HP Innovation Award, and was recognized by the Washington Diversity Council as one of its 2016 “Most Powerful and Influential Women.” She was profiled in Dan Roberts and Brian Watson’s 2016 book Confessions of a Successful CIO—the Conversation Continues. Kozik graduated from Bates College in Lewiston, Maine, and served as a member of the college’s board of trustees for 15 years. Since 2012, Kozik has been a member of the board of directors at Tech Impact, and she continues to work with a number of technology startups and advisory boards.
Liu
Xia Liu is Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer for WEC Energy Group. Previously, she was Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer for CenterPoint Energy. Headquartered in Houston, Texas, CenterPoint Energy is a Fortune 500 publicly traded Company with total assets of $30 billion that provides electric and natural gas distribution services in 8 states. Ms. Liu oversaw CenterPoint’s finance organization, including accounting, corporate strategy, financial planning, commercial risk, investor relations, treasury, tax and enterprise performance measurement. She came to CenterPoint Energy in 2019 from Southern Company, a Fortune 500 company headquartered in Atlanta Georgia. During her two decades with Southern Company, she held more than a dozen leadership roles across three states and five business units. Xia served as executive vice president, chief financial officer and treasurer of Georgia Power Company, overseeing the financial matters for Southern Company’s largest subsidiary. She also served as vice president, chief financial officer and treasurer for Gulf Power Company in Pensacola, Florida. Prior to this role, she was senior vice president of finance and treasurer for Southern Company, heading corporate development, corporate planning, treasury, enterprise risk management, pension and insurance management functions. Xia is a board member of Enable Midstream Partners, a publicly traded company headquartered in Oklahoma City. She is chair of the finance and audit committee on the board of directors for Pact, a nonprofit international development organization that works to improve the lives of those challenged by poverty. She has also served as a director on numerous nonprofit boards, including Florida TaxWatch, Gulf Coast Health Systems, Georgia Council on Economic Education, Public Broadcasting Atlanta, Atlanta Symphony Orchestra and Pensacola Symphony Orchestra. Xia earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees in finance from Renmin University of China and a master’s degree in business administration from Emory University. She also completed two years of study in the Ph.D. in Economics program at Emory University. Xia is a chartered financial analyst (CFA), an International Women’s Forum Leadership Foundation fellow, a graduate of Leadership Atlanta and has completed executive programs at Harvard University and INSEAD Business School in France.
Lynch
Jyoti currently serves as Chief Information Officer at European Wax Center, a leading wax specialty personal care brand with over 750 retail locations. She is responsible for delivering efficient and scalable solutions focused on improving the business, increasing profitability and enhancing the 360-degree guest experience. Jyoti is a strategic business driven leader with over 25 years of multi-channel technology experience in building and transforming organizations to grow company revenue and improve cost structure. Her retail and digital experience range from Jamba Juice, Fortium Partners, Blockbuster and Speed Commerce. She was recently awarded D CEO’s 2019 Outstanding CIO for Mid-Size companies and the Dallas Business Journal’s 2019 Women in Technology award. She serves on the board for Per Scholas and the College of Business at University of Texas, Arlington. Most recently, Jyoti served as Senior Vice President and CIO of Jamba Juice, a leading smoothie and juice franchisor with over 800 locations. She was a key member of the executive team that spearheaded the successful $200M acquisition of Jamba Juice by Focus Brands. Post-acquisition, Jyoti led the technology consolidation efforts between the two companies and built a digital multi-platform ecosystem that is leveraged across the Focus Brands portfolio. Jyoti holds a bachelor’s degree and master’s degree in Electrical Engineering from the Missouri University of Science and Technology.
Mathias
Michael Mathias is Executive Vice President and Chief Information Officer at Blue Shield of California, a 4-million-member nonprofit health plan that serves the state’s commercial, individual and government markets. Michael oversees all aspects of business operations, from enrollment to claims processing, and leads the teams responsible for delivering customer service to members. He also directs the company’s technology strategy and operations and oversees Blue Shield’s technology investments. He leads a diverse group of employees and consultants who manage Blue Shield’s extensive Information Technology infrastructure and software. Michael’s personal experiences with the health care system drive his commitment to ensuring Blue Shield members experience exceptional customer service. This commitment guides the strategic direction he sets, with a focus on streamlining processes and introducing technology solutions that make it easier for us to serve our members. Michael joined Blue Shield in 2013, with more than 25 years of industry experience. Previously he served for 16 years at Aetna, beginning as systems engineering manager and ultimately holding the positions of chief technology officer and chief information officer, directing the company’s information delivery systems and long-term technology strategy. He also held prior roles with U.S. HealthCare, Inc., UBS and Educational Testing Services. Michael serves as a member of the CIO Executive Council Advisory Board for IDG Communications, Inc. He is a 2019 inductee into the CIO Hall of Fame. He was honored as the 2019 Bay Area CIO of the Year. In 2017 received the Guys Who Get It Award from the Institute for Women’s Leadership and a 2016 Multicultural Leaders Award from the National Diversity Council. He also serves on the board of directors for Blue Shield of California Foundation. He holds a bachelor’s degree in computer science from Long Island University, Brooklyn, New York.
Moore
Tony Moore was selected in July 2019 to serve as Prairie View A&M University's chief information officer (CIO). He has been a leader in higher education technology over the past 15 years. As the PVAMU CIO, Moore provides the overall vision and leadership in formulating innovative solutions and programs that support the university’s mission and strategic goals. He has over 24 years of leading change and organizational transformation in various business environments. Throughout the course of his career, he has consistently proven to be an effective asset in designing enterprise management solutions through a combination of budget forecasting, cost-saving procurement and integration. He constantly builds strategies to build 21st century advances in an academic setting promoting effective and efficient use of technology. Prior to his appointment as PVMAU, he served as Vice President of Technology Management at the Xavier University of Louisiana [2015-2019], VP of Information and Resource Management at Southern University System [2010-2015], and Chief Information Officer at Baton Rouge, LA [2006-2010]. Moore holds a B.S. in Computer Science from Southern University and an M.S. in System Science from Louisiana State University.
Nallani
Sridhar Nallani is the Executive Vice President and Chief Information Officer at Blackcountry. He was formerly the Executive Vice President and Chief Information Officer at Gap Inc, where he drove digital transformation at scale, for all of the Gap brands ($16 Bill revenue), with a singular focus on amplifying customer experience, connecting the online and offline worlds, using a unified architecture with data, ecommerce, mobile, cloud, AI/ML and omni strategies at the core. He focused on innovation, an agile mindset and building an inspired rock star team as the keys to the next phase of this retail transformation. Prior to Gap Inc, Sridhar was the SVP and CTO of Charlotte Russe, a fast fashion retailer ($1 Bill+ Revenues), where he reported to the CEO Jenny Ming (former Old Navy founder) and led the end to end transformation from a legacy technology stack, with waterfall methodologies to an Agile mindset, ecommerce in the cloud and Big Data and Machine Learning driving use cases throughout the retail cycle. Earlier to that he had senior leadership roles at Macy’s, Gymboree, tria beauty and Microsoft. He holds a Bachelor’s in Computer Science from Osmania University, India and Masters in Computer Science from the Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge.
Nath
A recognized technology leader known for strategic planning to achieve business goals and objectives, Dilip Nath is an accomplished Higher Education and Health Care industry executive with over 20 years of experience in driving IT solutions. Dilip provides leadership for continued development of a robust and secure environment as measured by successful ROI’s, operational improvement, and organizational development. In his current role as Deputy Chief Information Officer, Dilip leads a high performing and responsive IT department consisting of over 100 employees, while aligning technology initiatives with business objectives. Being the first member of his family to relocate from Bangladesh to the United States, Dilip began a new and exciting chapter of his life in the U.S. by himself at the age of 16 years old. Shortly after, Dilip became the first member of his family to gain higher education. With a focus on strategic solution analysis to further business goals, Dilip has implemented many technical and business solutions providing accessibility to patient’s financial records to both the Hospital and Academic Administration. Additionally, Dilip spearheaded the delivery of an enterprise-wide application roll out for the following systems: EMR, CPOE, ERP, Cost Accounting, Revenue Cycle and ADT System. Continuously striving to accomplish every obstacle in front of him, he serves as the day-to-day lead for directing and managing the various functions within the Division of Information Technology, and organizes with and provides advice to the organization senior leadership regarding emerging technology, information management, information assurance, and digital transformation. Dilip is an adjunct Professor and a Community activist and continues his active role in society, not only joining but also has founded Organizations to bring issues regarding minority communities to the forefront. Recipient of many prestigious awards for his commitment in leadership from US Congress, NYC Borough Presidents and other nonprofit Organizations.
Parrotta
Nick Parrotta is Chief Digital and Information Officer at HARMAN, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. HARMAN combines passion and purpose to design and deliver smart products, systems, software, and services that connect people wherever they are. We lead with integrity, innovate with intention, and drive operational excellence to inspire breakthrough performances that generate customer value. As CDIO, Nick is responsible for building diverse digital talent, driving strategic vision, speed of innovation, operational excellence, benefits realization and cyber protection across HARMAN. Nick reports to the Chief Executive Officer and is a member of the Senior Leadership Committee. HARMAN’s digital organization is focused on delivering innovative solutions for employees and customers that are simpler, smarter, scalable and secure. The organization is reinventing connected experiences through the use of cloud, analytics, automation, artificial intelligence and ensuring digital trust. Nick is a recognized digital thought leader who co-champions HARMAN’s Experiences Per Mile Advisory Council and serves on the Cisco Global Customer Advisory Board. Nick joined HARMAN in 2017 with over 20 years of digital leadership experience, including with General Electric Company, Kaiser Permanente, IBM, and PricewaterhouseCoopers. Nick is a strong ally and supporter in all areas of diversity and inclusion. Nick actively supports the HARMAN Women’s Network and sponsored the creation of a Digital chapter to address the unique needs of women in technology. He is an early adopter of many diversity programs, including a recent return to work pilot for caregivers who are looking to rejoin the workforce after a break in their careers. Prior to joining HARMAN, Nick was an executive sponsor of the GE Women’s Network. Nick earned his MBA from Southern Methodist University in Dallas, Texas and holds a Bachelor of Arts in psychology from St. John Fisher College in Rochester, NY.
Pauling
Kerry Pauling is Chief Executive Officer of KP4 Solutions. Kerry Pauling began his career with Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. in October, 1991 as an Industrial Engineer for the Logistics Division. In 1994, Kerry became the Manager of Industrial Engineering for the Logistics Division. Kerry joined the Information Systems Division in 1996 as director for logistic applications. Kerry assumed responsibility for the back office store application systems in 2002 where his involvement with RFID began. In 2003, Kerry assumed responsibility for corporate financial systems and was promoted to Vice President. In 2005, Kerry assumed responsibility of ISD Global Sourcing and Procurement for Domestic and International locations along with having responsibility for SAM’s information systems. In 2007, Kerry assumed responsibility for several of the ISD infrastructure areas to include Data Centers, IT Operations, Business Continuity, Database Systems and Administration and Walmart’s Global .Com Infrastructure. In 2011, Kerry assumed responsibility for all International systems and was promoted to Senior Vice President. Kerry became the Senior Vice President of the Global Back Office Solutions team in 2014, and was responsible for the deployment of processes and systems for Walmart’s global corporate back office transformation in all countries in which Walmart does business. On January 2017, Kerry became the Chief Technology Officer for Walmart International and was responsible for helping meet the ever-changing needs of our customers around the world through innovative technology solutions.
Piccione
Leading the charge for inclusive technology teams, Teena Piccione coaches and advises people around the globe, while also guiding her own organization through the opportunity of diversity and inclusion in the workplace. Teena is the Managing Director Telco, Media & Entertainment for Google Cloud at Google. Previously Teena was the EVP, CIO for RTI International, a non-profit research institute dedicated to improving the human condition by turning knowledge into practice. In this role, Teena strengthens operational discipline within Global Technology Solutions to deliver on new capabilities while ensuring RTI meets all client commitments. Additionally, she sponsors and leads the enterprise Digital Transformation program – foundational practice that strengthens RTI International’s core practices and prepares for the future. Prior to joining RTI International, Teena was SVP and COO at Fidelity Investments focused on modernization and innovation. She began her career as an international consultant and joined AT&T where she was appointed Vice President and leader of the Big Data Center of Excellence. Teena’s contributions to Diversity and Inclusion span a 20+ year career & include awards like IT Women to Watch in STEM, Women to Watch by Diversity Journal, IT Executive of the Year at Innotech, Diversity Champion Award at AT&T, and Women of Color Community Service of Excellence award. Her awards have been for her hands-on work and willingness to champion D&I as an executive. Teena works actively with Future Business Leaders of America (FBLA), Rewriting the Code, and sponsors D&I training at RTI International. She helped launch Triangle Women in STEM, a program for the Research Triangle Park region in North Carolina and accelerated university internship collaboration. Teena sits on advisory committees with NC Tech and NC State University where she works with other leaders in the region to share learning. A mother of 2 daughters who code, Teena enjoys music & gardening when she’s not fighting for equity in technology 86,400 seconds a day.
Powers
Dalia Powers is the Senior Vice President of Platform Innovation and Engineering (DH&A). Dalia leads the development of the Longitudinal Human Record (LHR), Population Health platforms, software applications for digital channels, and the migration of data products to the cloud, while working closely with IT to partner on these key initiatives. Dalia brings over 20 years of progressive leadership experience enabling technology and digital solutions mostly across Technology and Financial Services companies. Most recently she served as the division CIO and SVP heading Enterprise Services across CBRE, where she delivered engineering excellence across the globe with responsibility for Enterprise Architecture, DevOps, cloud transformation, the Agile Center of Excellence, and Innovation. Additionally, Dalia was responsible for Marketing and Research running Product, Design and Technology teams, and accelerating digital delivery for all business lines through oversight of the development center in India. Prior to CBRE, Dalia served as USAA’s CIO of Enterprise Technology Solutions and General Manager over the Dallas region. She led Digital, Marketing and Social, Security and Fraud, Auto Experience, Content Management and the Contact Center. Under her leadership, the teams used Augmented Reality, AI and ML to deliver outcomes. Before USAA, Dalia served as CTO/CIO for Capital One’s Auto Finance division responsible for Consumer Products, Loan Originations and Data Platforms. She led the migration of all applications to the public cloud, developed a new data platform, revamped loan decisioning, and introduced new products using Design Thinking and Agile. Dalia spearheaded the establishment of a Women in Technology chapter in Plano, Texas and served as the Technology Accountable Executive for Diversity and Inclusion. Prior to Capital One, Dalia was with Dell/EMC’s where she was Site Lead for Richardson, Texas as well as in charge of the Cloud Management Group, a globally distributed organization with six product lines. Dalia also led globally distributed Engineering teams at CA Technologies where she rose through the ranks after starting her career at IBM as a software developer. Recently, Dalia was recognized as one of the Nation’s Top CIOs by the National Diversity Council and was also recognized by the Dallas Business Journal award as one of the top Women Technology Executives in Dallas. She is passionate about developing talent and volunteering her time, and serves on the DFW Alliance of Technology and Women (DFW*ATW) Advisory Council, is a member of the Dallas CIO chapter and served on Southern Methodist University’s executive committee of the Industry Advisory Board.
Ramasamy
As an executive at Fortune 100 companies, Neal Ramasamy has motivated and developed leaders and built organizations where technology and innovation intersect with business needs. With his highly effective leadership teams, he transformed technology organizations and business practices to successfully take on mission-critical digital, innovation, mergers and transformation programs; supported extensive turnarounds of business lines; and assisted to drive growth of both new and mature businesses. His versatility lead to him leading key positions in both financial services and high-tech industries and brought him leadership roles in a wide range of disciplines, including technology, digital and general management. Neal serves as Chief Technology Officer for New York Life Insurance Company, having served as the Chief Information Officer for the Enterprise organization and the Retirement group, prior to this appointment. At Fidelity, Neal was the technology executive for the Brokerage services organization, leading the digital transformation to position Fidelity as the largest Brokerage company. At Fiserv, as the Chief Information Officer for the Wealth and Brokerage group, he successfully led a technology and business turnaround. Prior to this, he was the Chief Information Officer at Instinet Brokerage, helping grow a new business, prior to its acquisition. Neal started his career with IBM consulting. Neal serves on the advisory board of RiskSense and YearUp and is an active supporter of other non-profits organizations. Neal holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Computer Science and Engineering from Bharathiar University.
Schuster
Julieta is Business Technology an IT executive with multinational experience for over 19 years at Procter & Gamble. She was recognized by HITEC (Hispanic IT Executive Council) as HITEC 100 (top 100 Hispanic IT executives in the U.S.) in November 2014. Her international experience with Procter & Gamble covers working in Venezuela, Latin America; Toronto-Canada, Frankfurt-Germany and Cincinnati, OH- USA. In her current role, Julieta is the division CIO for Global Feminine Care, Family Care and P&G Ventures businesses. Julieta is responsible for all aspects of Information and Digital Technology, Data & Analytics and Information Security for Procter and Gamble’s Global Feminine Care, Family Care and P&G Ventures. Julieta also serves as IT sponsor for Hispanic Community at P&G and plays a critical executive role in the Corporate Hispanic Leadership Team and in the IT Women Leadership Team. Julieta holds a bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering from Universidad Simon Bolivar, Caracas, Venezuela. She is also PMP certified since May 2005. She currently resides with her husband and two daughters in Cincinnati, Ohio.
Sethi
Neelu Sethi is the SVP & Chief Information Officer of ReddyIce, where she is responsible for IT strategies and operational management of IT applications and infrastructure of the largest manufacturer of packaged ice products in the United States, distributing approximately 1.8 million tons of ice annually to 82,000 customer locations. With reputation of a proven servant leader, Neelu has over 24 years of experience in CPG, Hospitality, Healthcare and Textile industries. She is known for delivering business results by engaging people. She has been recognized as ‘Top 15 Business Women’ in Dallas, ‘WomenInTechnology’ award honoree by DallasBusinessJournal, Stevie Gold ‘Digital Transformer of the year’ winner of 2018 American Business Awards, CGT’s ‘IT Excellence’ Award winner, 2018 ‘Dallas Power 50’ Awardee, 2019 & 2020 Orbie CIO Finalist and TechTitans CIO Finalist. As a business technologist, Neelu offers a unique blend of executive acumen, global team-building, IT solutions development that enables innovation, problem solving and value creation culture. Prior to joining ReddyIce, Neelu held various executive positions with ClubCorp, Dr Pepper Snapple Group and McKesson. She has successfully led IT Operations delivering broad range of business solutions for Corporate, Commercial and Supply Chain functions including Logistics, Manufacturing, Warehousing, Engineering, Procurement, Consumer Relations, Facilities and Environmental Health & Safety. Her achievements extend across numerous disciplines including strategy, digital transformation, delivering complex system implementations and enterprise wide IT operations including Mergers & Acquisitions. Neelu holds a Masters Degree in Computer Applications from Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), India and a Masters degree in Mathematics from Delhi University, India. She is a motivational speaker and is an active participant of the CIO Technology Executive Network, National Diversity & Inclusion Forums, Women Leadership Groups and serves as a board member of two non-profit organizations. She lives in Dallas with her husband and their son.
Sullivan
Michael Sullivan is vice president and chief information officer at Southern Company Gas, one of America’s most respected companies and a leading producer of clean, safe, reliable and affordable energy. In his role, Sullivan leads all aspects of the strategic delivery of technologies that support Southern’s gas utilities and related businesses. A highly collaborative business partner, Sullivan focuses on delivering an IT strategy that enables the company to achieve its goals and objectives while aligning with the overall enterprise IT strategy across the Southern Company System. Sullivan has 33 years of experience in driving transformative technology strategies across complex organizations, including the transmission and distribution businesses of a major regional electric utility. He is highly skilled at strengthening the business through innovation and is deeply experienced in integrating new technologies to streamline processes and improve productivity. Prior to joining Southern Company, Sullivan served as American Electric Power’s (AEP) director of IT demand management. In this role, he was responsible for the full breadth of IT solutions and drove enterprise planning and the strategic roadmap for the utility’s transmission business. He also established a mobile center of excellence. He previously served as director of AEP’s portfolio management office for the transmission and distribution businesses across multiple geographies. Before AEP, Sullivan held a number of senior enterprise technology leadership roles at major insurance companies, including Allstate Insurance, Nationwide Insurance and Century Insurance Group. Earlier in his career, he was director of e-business and solution delivery at interactive agency Proxicom Inc. Sullivan has a deep technical background, having managed $1.9 billion in portfolios, with extensive expertise in IT strategy and project management, solution delivery, application development and technology implementation and operations. Michael earned his B. S. Degree in Computer Science from Bradley University. He serves on the Board of TAG (Technology Association of Georgia), TAG D&I, Per Scholas. He is the Executive Sponsor for Southern Company Gas’s African American ERG (Employee Resource Group), Technology EAC (Employee Action Council) as well as the leadership team mentor for the Georgia Power African American ERG. He is a member of GeorgiaCIO, ITSMF (Information Technology Senior Management Forum) and AABE (American Association of Blacks in Energy Atlanta).
Valleru
Sri Valleru currently serves as senior vice president, chief information officer and chief digital officer for Nabors Industries. As the CIO and CDO of the Company, he is responsible for integrating Information Technology and Digital Operations Technology across the Company, including the Controls and Automation and Robotics, by exploiting synergies across various work groups and technology offerings. Valleru provides direction to offerings including rig controls, automation, infrastructure, platforms, software development, advanced data analytics, information security and project management to further accelerate Company’s technology development and digital transformation efforts. Valleru began his career as a software engineer at CAPE International and was named vice president of technology and development after Nabors acquired the company in 1997. Three years later, Valleru was promoted to vice president and chief information officer, providing strategic direction towards product innovation and business development. As the first CIO of the Company, Valleru integrated 24/7 operations and successfully established a cost-effective IT organization resulting in the IT department being recognized as leader in corporate culture transformation. Under Valleru’s leadership, Nabors launched multiple products, including MyWells.com®, myNabors.com and RigCLOUD® platforms, and implemented ERP systems. Valleru has been instrumental in successfully completing multiple billion+ mergers, acquisitions and separations timely. In 2018, Nabors was named the Editor’s Choice and as one of the top 20 most promising oil & gas technology solution providers by CIOReview Magazine, which featured an in-depth interview with Valleru as part of the June 2018 issue. Valleru holds a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering from Nagarjuna University in India. He has also been honored with the outstanding Asian Pacific American Employee Award from the OCA of Greater Houston. Valleru is passionate about children’ education and is actively working on establishing a nonprofit foundation and schools to provide integrated education to the youth of tomorrow.
Virupakshi
Sudhakar is the CIO at Par Pacific and is a business and technology transformation leader with over 20 years of progressive accountability in technology transformation focused on driving business results. His distinguished career has taken him to the inner circles of world-class companies spanning multiple industries, countries and continents. This vast exposure along with his real-world perspectives on best practices and intimate knowledge of the systems, data and processes helps him to achieve and retain leadership positions to enable value-driven transformation initiatives across the organization. Innovation and continuous improvement are his passionate areas and expertise. His experience and knowledge enable him to lead and provide several key strategic business & IT solutions in all domains across the globe. Sudhakar Co-led an E2E SAP S/4 Transformation at Tesoro/Andeavor by implementing cutting-edge IT capabilities across all business processes. In addition, he was a strong advocate for Single Source of Truth & Data for Every Decision initiative. Sudhakar is on Advisory board for Tardid Technologies, SYCUZ and VacationsXP. He has a MBA from Bangalore University with specialization in Finance, Information Technology & HR.
Wilkinson
James L. Wilkinson was brought on as the Chief Information Officer for the F-35 Platform, Lockheed Martin Aeronautics Company in June 2018. James leads and influences the development and execution of all information and cybersecurity capabilities across F-35 program. James will serve as the primary liaison Government CIOs and International supply chain partners. He also service on the Aeronautics Diversity and Inclusion Council. James was the former Vice President for Wholesale and International, Enterprise Information Security at Wells Fargo Bank. He is responsible for information security risk for the M&A of GE Capital Finance Integration and facilitating business objectives. Prior to joining Wells Fargo, James is a retired lieutenant colonel in the U.S. Army with 22 years of experience in information technology, operations and cybersecurity for the Department of Defense. He has worked at multiple levels of government including Joint, Operations, and Special Operation organizations. Previously, James served at U.S. Army Cyber Command as the Chief of Cyber Mission Forces and Advanced Concepts and Technology Directorate. He was a Secretary of the Army, senior IT fellow at Microsoft Corporation; the deputy CIO for Joint Task Force Civil Support; and the chief information management officer for Special Operations Command Central. He also served in the U.S. Marine Corps. James serves on several boards to include: Dallas County Community College Industry board for Cybersecurity, Grambling State University-College of Arts and Sciences, Cybersecurity Advisory board and Stillman College – Cybersecurity Advisory Board. He is a member of Information Technology Senior Management Forum (ITSMF). James holds a Master’s in Computer Resource Information Management from Webster University and a Business Administration degree from Morehouse College. He also earned several graduate certificates from Harvard University, Kennedy School of Government; National Defense University; Naval Postgraduate School; Marine Corps University; and the Air Force Institute of Technology.
Wong
Noel Wong is CIO and VP of Information Technology at Tulane University. Noel, a graduate of City University of New York, is an award-winning senior information technology executive with 30 years of experience. Upon his arrival at Tulane, he launched an IT transformation, focusing the IT department on delivering innovative solutions to meet the strategic needs of Tulane University. His current initiatives include a Student Information Data Warehouse (SIDW), migration to the cloud for disaster recovery services, and the creation of the Tulane Investment Council designed to introduce a shared governance process into decision-making and IT resource allocation. Noel brings to Tulane achievement in such areas as strategic planning and governance, IT organizational transformation, regulatory compliance and cybersecurity, and infrastructure and cloud computing.