Many organizations have skipped their new year’s resolutions and opted instead for new technology solutions this new year – starting with leadership. As the role of the CIO continues to evolve, organizations recognize the importance of top talent. Congratulations and best of luck to all of the new CIOs, CTOs, CISOs, and CDOs as they hit the ground running this year!
Dara Meath – Senior Vice President, Chief Technology Officer at Build-A-Bear Workshop, Inc.
Dara Meath joined Build-A-Bear Workshop Inc. as the company’s new Senior Vice President, Chief Technology Officer. Reporting to the Chief Financial Officer, Meath will lead Build-A-Bear’s technology team and work closely with strategic partners to support the company’s digital transformation initiatives. She brings over 20 years of technology leadership experience, with her most recent role as the Divisional Chief Information Officer, Leader of Data, Digital, and E-Commerce at Conair LLC. In a LinkedIn post announcing her new role, she said, “I’m extremely excited to join an innovative company that brings smiles to so many in the world!”
Bill Bowers – Chief Information Officer at Mannington Mills
Mannington Mills, one of the world’s leading makers of residential and commercial fine flooring, has appointed Bill Bowers as Chief Information Officer (CIO). Bowers joins the company after serving in various IT leadership roles at Mohawk Industries for nearly 29 years. He will begin working with Mannington Mills out of Calhoun, Georgia, and looks forward to the opportunity.
Kevin Smith – Chief Information Officer at Cloudera
Kevin Smith has joined Cloudera as the firm’s new Chief Information Officer. Smith, a seasoned professional, brings over 30 years of experience leading IT initiatives at companies including Aurora, Stripe, Twitch, Facebook, Apple, and Cisco. Smith’s vast range of experience delivering value-driven technology-enabled business outcomes should serve him well as he takes the reigns at Cloudera.
Laura Groschen – Chief Information Officer at Acadia Healthcare
Acadia Healthcare, a leading provider of behavioral healthcare services across the United States, tapped Laura Groschen as its new Chief Information Officer (CIO). She will report to the CEO and shape and advance Acadia’s IT strategy, driving continued digital transformation across the company’s scaled behavioral health capabilities. Groschen joins Acadia with over 25 years of experience driving strategic transformation at large consumer-focused IT and healthcare organizations. Acadia’s CEO Chris Hunter expressed her excitement for Groschen joining the company and said, “[Groschen] brings the right complement of IT and business leadership experience and a strong history of leveraging technology and supporting a culture of innovation for leading healthcare companies.”
Jason Snyder – Chief Information Officer for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts
Incoming Massachusetts state Governor Maura Healey has appointed Jason Snyder to take over as Chief Information Officer (CIO) upon the retirement of Curtis Wood. This is a return to a government for Snyder, who previously served the Commonwealth of Massachusetts as Chief Technology Officer (CTO) from 2006 to 2013. He currently works at Harvard as the CTO, driving the university’s technology strategy, cloud strategy, DevOps, enterprise architecture, and identity and access management. Snyder will join the Commonwealth of Massachusetts’ staff the week of Jan. 23.
David Foster – Chief Information Officer at Colgate-Palmolive
Colgate-Palmolive has promoted David Foster to Chief Information Officer, effective immediately. As CIO, Foster will lead the Global Information Technology team and continue implementing digital transformation across the organization. He has been with Colgate-Palmolive since 1996 and has held many strategic leadership roles, including leading digital applications, creating new organizational capabilities, and developing new systems across many planning and execution processes. In a LinkedIn post celebrating the promotion, Foster said, “I am fortunate to have an incredible organization and leadership team as we move into the new year, and I am looking forward to what we can do together in 2023 and beyond!”
Ryan Branfort – Chief Information Officer at Wilson & Company
Wilson & Company has appointed Ryan Branfort as their first-ever Chief Information Officer (CIO). Branfort has served as Senior Vice President for Wilson & Company for the last 33 years, managing the firm’s survey, geospatial and remote sensing (SGR) services. In his new role, Branfort will lead the organization’s information technology team, serve on the executive leadership team and support the board of directors for initiatives on information and technology.
Brian Kenah – Chief Technology Officer at Azalea Health
Azalea Health, a leading provider of fully-integrated cloud-based healthcare IT solutions and services, announced Brian Kenah as Chief Technology Officer (CTO). A seasoned leader with more than 25 years of experience, Kenah has helped to engineer change at Sharecare, Streamline Health, and NextGen Healthcare. Kenah will guide Azalea’s engineering capabilities while setting the go-forward strategy and operational execution plan for the company’s software development initiatives, M&A integrations, internal support platforms, and technology roadmap.
Brad Miller – Chief Information Officer at Moderna
Moderna, a biotechnology company pioneering messenger RNA (mRNA) therapeutics and vaccines, recently announced Brad Miller as Chief Information Officer. Miller brings over 20 years of experience and has held leadership roles at companies including Microsoft, Amazon, Citi, Mastercard, and Capital One. Miller will use his extensive expertise leveraging digital and IT solutions to solve complex business challenges at Moderna and help the company continue its mission of utilizing mRNA tech to create transformative medicines for patients around the world.
JP Hurtado – Chief Information Officer at Holiday Inn Club Vacations
JP Hurtado has joined Holiday Inn Club Vacations, a leading national vacation ownership company, as Chief Information Officer (CIO). In this newly created role, Hurtado will lead the company’s various Information Technology (IT) teams and steer and accelerate the company’s digital transformation and technology strategy. Hurtado brings over 20 years of experience in end-to-end technology development and data management from his leadership roles at Dave & Buster’s Inc., Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd., and Capgemini.
Vadim Supitskiy – Chief Digital and Information Officer at Forbes
Forbes, the iconic business information brand that convenes and curates the most influential leaders driving change, has promoted Vadim Supitskiy to Chief Digital and Information Officer. Supitskiy, a 15-year Forbes veteran, most recently served as Chief Technology Officer, and before that as SVP, Engineering. In his new role, Supitskiy will spearhead the global technology and information systems direction and manage product and strategic growth initiatives, helping to ensure that the company remains at the forefront of technological innovation.
Harold Rivas – Chief Information Security Officer at Trellix
Trellix, the cybersecurity company delivering the future of extended detection and response, appointed Harold Rivas as Chief Information Security Officer. Rivas will lead the firm’s global security and compliance initiatives from the company’s new office in Plano, Tex. He will also help to lead the company’s efforts to protect against threats, manage compliance needs and third-party risks, and implement industry-wide best practices. Rivas brings a wide range of experience from his leadership roles at loanDepot, Santander Consumer, Mr. Cooper, and Fujitsu America.
Robert Cain – Chief Information Officer at Schneider Electric
Schneider Electric, a leader in the digital transformation of energy management and automation, has promoted Robert Cain to Chief Information Officer (CIO) for its North American region. In this pivotal role, Cain will own the digital transformation process and IT landscape evolution for the company’s business operations in North America and work to simplify finance and ensure supply chain resiliency. “It is truly an honor to take this role and become a partner for the North America region on the precipice of a bold digital transformation,” he said.
Andrew Macaulay – Chief Technology Officer at TMRW Sports
Andrew Macaulay has been named Chief Technology Officer (CTO) for TMRW Sports, the new business venture founded by Tiger Woods, Rory McIlroy, and Mike McCarley. Macaulay will lead the development and execution of TRMW Sports’ strategy, execution, and approach for all technology, as well as serve as a liaison between TMRW Sports/TGL and the PGA TOUR corporate partnership leaders, broadcast partners, and media planning teams. As the former CTO at Topgolf, he led the development of all their innovative ways to experience and modernize the game of golf – in-person, virtually, and digitally. Macaulay has also held executive roles at WesTower Communications, Clearwire, Capgemini Consulting, and Level 3 Communications.
Benjamin Lyon – Chief Technology Officer at Aptiv PLC
Aptiv PLC, a global technology company focused on making mobility safer, greener, and more connected, announced Benjamin Lyon as Senior Vice President and Chief Technology Officer (CTO). As Aptiv’s CTO, Lyon will drive the company’s long-term technology roadmap and guide their global engineering organization to strengthen its tools and processes, enhance its skills, and recruit and develop world-class engineering talent. Lyon most recently served as Chief Engineer and EVP of Engineering at Astra and served in many roles at Apple for nearly 20 years.
Omer Grossman – Global Chief Information Officer at CyberArk
CyberArk, the global leader in Identity Security, appointed Omer Grossman as Global Chief Information Officer (CIO). Grossman will use his extensive experience in cybersecurity, cloud infrastructure, and building scalable, resilient IT environments to lead CyberArk’s Global Information Technology group. He most recently served in the Israel Defense Forces for over 25 years, where he was the head of their Cyber Defense Operations Center.
Craig Felchle – Chief Technology Officer for the State of North Dakota
The State of North Dakota has named Craig Felchle Chief Technology Officer (CTO). Felchle, a born and raised North Dakotan, has been serving as the state’s cloud and infrastructure services director since 2020 and has served the state in various IT capacities since 2007. “I am passionate about continuing to lead North Dakota in its transformational journey to ensure we have the best and most effective technologies for our customers and our citizens,” he said. Felchle is taking the reins from Duane Schell, who served as North Dakota’s CTO for the past four years.
Michael Lenart – Chief Technology Officer at Commonwealth Care Alliance
Commonwealth Care Alliance, a multi-state integrated care system influencing innovative models of complex care nationwide, named Michael Lenart as Chief Technology Officer (CTO). In this role, Lenart will be responsible for the product engineering group comprised of solution architecture, application, and integration software engineering, quality assurance, and support/maintenance operations. In a post on LinkedIn announcing his new role, Lenart said, “This is an awesome opportunity to bring new and innovative healthcare to people with significant needs.”
Zain Cheng – Chief Technology Officer at Horizen Labs
Horizen Labs, a leading blockchain innovator securing the world’s transition to Web3, promoted Zain Cheng to Chief Technology Officer (CTO). Cheng previously served as the VP of Engineering at Horizen Labs, where he led four Product engineering teams across Tools, Sidechains, Smart Contracts, and Infrastructure, with a keen focus on rapid iterative development. Rob Viglione, Co-Founder of Horizen and Horizen Labs, said, “Zain’s commitment to advancing Web3 technology is unmatched. He has a passion for creating a seamless user experience and taking the Horizen Labs platform to the next level.” Cheng will lead the company’s engineering efforts and will work to support and scale the evolution of Web3 adoption through the company’s networks and beyond as CTO.
John H. Sudduth – Chief Information Officer at ABMS
The American Board of Medical Specialties (ABMS), the leading organization that oversees the standards for physician Board Certification in the United States, appointed John H. Sudduth as Chief Information Officer (CIO). In this role, Sudduth will guide Member Boards on their technology needs as well as oversee the operations of the Information Services department. Sudduth most recently served as CIO for a public utility in Chicago, where he oversaw IT about policy, strategy, support, and operations. Before that, he served as CIO for the Illinois Department of Health, in which he was responsible for developing and implementing the Agency’s information technology strategic plan.
Sean Mullaney – Chief Technology Officer at Algolia
Algolia, the leading API-First Platform for Search and Discovery, named Sean Mullaney as their new Chief Technology Officer (CTO). Bernadette Nixon, Algolia CEO, said, “[Mullaney’s] deep engineering experience, customer-centric mindset, strong values, and willingness to roll up his sleeves, made him a perfect fit for Algolia. We are thrilled to welcome him into our organization and can’t wait to see what we can accomplish together.” Before joining Algolia, Mullaney served as CIO for Stripe in Europe, VP of Engineering for Zalando, and in many roles at Google.
Beau Mersereau – Global Chief Technology Officer at Toppan Merrill
Beau Mersereau has been promoted to Global Chief Technology Officer at Toppan Merrill following a six-month tenure as their CTO. Before joining Toppan Merrill, he worked at Fish & Richardson, a global law firm, where he served as Director for Applications, Development, and Support for 18 years and as Chief Legal Technology Solutions Officer for his last few years at the company. Mersereau said, “I’m excited to join Toppan Merrill as CTO and contribute to the company’s ongoing success…I look forward to continuing to drive our success by advancing our technology strategy in support of our customers.”
Jay Smith – Chief Technology Officer at Verizon Value Segment
Verizon appointed Jay Smith as Chief Technology Officer (CTO) for Verizon Value Segment. As CTO, Smith will lead technology products and services for the Verizon Value Segment consisting of Visible, Verizon Prepaid, and TracFone. Before this role, Smith served as CIO & Head of Innovation for TracFone Wireless, Inc., which was officially acquired by Verizon in late 2021. Smith’s previous leadership roles include Global Segment CIO for the World Fuel Service, Senior Director of Technology at NASCAR, and Director of Technology for ADT Security Services.
Evin Hunt – Chief Technology Officer at IDEOlogy Health
IDEOlogy Health, a leading medical education company, announced that Evin Hunt will join the company as Chief Technology Officer. In his role as CTO, Hunt will build and lead the company’s technology team, including its rapidly growing Sound Bites division and supporting services. Hunt, who has a great passion for mobile technology and communications, brings over 12 years of experience in the space, his most recent role as CTO at Commio Voice and Text Messaging. Mike Grambling, CEO at IDEOlogy, expressed his excitement in a recent press release. “[Hunt’s] leadership and broad experience in building successful technology organizations in the mobile space will be essential as we continue to expand Sound Bites capabilities, so physicians consider IDEOlogy their first choice when it comes to staying up-to-date,” said Grambling.
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