As 2022 draws to a close, organizations are making strategic technology moves to start the new year off strong. Some organizations are investing in digital transformation, while others are investing in technology leadership to transform IT from the ground up. Congratulations to these technology leaders for stepping up to the plate!
Juan Salas – Chief Information Officer at Smoothie King
Smoothie King recently named Juan Salas as Chief Information Officer. Salas brings over 20 years of technology leadership experience, working with companies including Gordon Ramsay North America, Popeye’s, Church’s Chicken Brands, Del Frisco’s Restaurant Group, and Romano’s Macaroni Grill. In working with Smoothie King, he will support the company in advancing its digital customer experience and store technology to help optimize operations.
Alex Charalambides – Chief Technology Officer at CNN
Warner Bros. Discovery recently appointed Alex Charalambides as Chief Technology Officer at CNN. Charalambides has three decades of experience in media and technology at organizations including Time, Inc as VP, Brand Engineering, and Co-Founder and CIO at LiveTechnology Holdings. He will be pairing up with CNN’s new Digital Chief to discover strategic consumer plans and drive their technical execution accordingly.
Sumit Nair – Vice President and Chief Information Officer at Essential Utilities
Sumit Nair has been appointed Vice President and Chief Information Officer at Essential Utilities, where he will help to drive success by overseeing 130 IT professionals and executing strategic and operational imperatives. Nair joins Essential as an experienced global IT executive with nearly 30 years of experience, including positions at GeoBlue, De Lage Landen, and Ikon, to name a few.
Markus Balz – Chief Technology Officer at GlassPoint
Markus Balz was announced as GlassPoint’s new Chief Technology Officer. Balz spent 20 years at schlaich bergermann partners, the international structural engineering and consulting firm, leading the development of technologies for solar power generation. About GlassPoint, Balz said “Decarbonizing industry as we know it is not easy, but, as the only company providing solutions proven at scale, GlassPoint is in a unique position to propel industry progress towards expanding net-zero goals today.” He will continue developing the company’s solar steam technology, research and development processes, and engineering strategy to help industrial companies decarbonize and meet future net-zero commitments.
David DiGiusto – Chief Technology Officer at Garuda Therapeutics
Garuda Therapeutics, a company that creates off-the-shelf, durable blood stem cell therapies, recently announced David DiGiusto, Ph.D., as Chief Technology Officer. Dr. DiGiusto most recently served as CTO and SVP Stem Cells and Regenerative Medicine at National Resilience Inc. and brings over 21 years of academic and 11 years of industrial experience in translational medicine with a focus on blood cells as therapeutic agents.
Edward Hudson – Chief Information Security Officer at the University of Kansas
Edward Hudson has joined the University of Kansas as the new Chief Information Security Officer (CISO) as of December 5th. Hudson most recently worked as the CISO for the California State University system, where he oversaw strategic information security and privacy efforts for the 23 campuses of the CSU system. He brings 20 years of IT security and IT governance experience to the role. He will use his background in IT collaboration and governance, leadership, and strategic planning to lead KU’s information security efforts.
Paul Higdon – Chief Technology Officer at Hazeltree
Hazeltree, a leader in treasury and liquidity management technology for the alternative asset industry, recently named Paul Higdon as Chief Technology Officer. Higdon will be focused on driving innovation to deliver customer value through the application of modern technologies, domain expertise, user-centered design, lean thinking, and agile delivery as CTO at Hazeltree. He brings over 20 years of experience in developing technology solutions and building successful software businesses in the financial services industry
Jonathan Shough – Chief Information Officer at Parexel
Jonathan Shough was named Chief Information Officer at Parexel, one of the world’s largest clinical research organizations (CROs), which provides the full range of Phase I to IV clinical development services to help life-saving treatments reach patients faster. He brings over 25 years of leadership and industry experience as former SVP & CIO at LabCorp Drug Development, Chief Information Officer and subsequently Chief Data Officer at Syneos Health, and Head of Global IT Network Services & End User Services at Quintiles. Shough’s track record as a respected ‘go-to’ technology and people leader within the pharmaceutical development industry will serve him well as he begins his tenure at Parexel.
Stan Lee – Chief Information Security Officer at Earnin
Stan Lee has been appointed Chief Information Security Officer (CISO) for Earnin, the leader in building products for a more equitable financial system and a better life for those living paycheck to paycheck. Lee recently served as Head of Security Strategy and Architecture at PayPal, as well as previous tenures as Director of Information Security and Product Security at Palo Alto Networks and Senior Manager of Information Security at Intuit. He will be Earnin’s first-ever CISO and will focus on security solutions to address growing cybersecurity and mobile risks.
Will Carter – Chief Information Officer at Lamina1
Lamina1, the Layer 1 blockchain and Metaverse project founded by science fiction icon Neal Stephenson and crypto pioneer Peter Vessenes, has chosen Will Carter as Chief Technology Officer (CTO). He previously served as CTO at Elixxir, an ultra-private messaging app for Web3 communities, and subsequently at the xx network, the first and only quantum-resistant and privacy-focused blockchain ecosystem. Carter’s experience in building Web3 technology and his passion for building rich, immersive experiences makes him an ideal fit for the vast creative and technical ambitions of Lamina1 as it sets out to define the foundation of its new blockchain and Open Metaverse initiatives.
Charles McColgan – Chief Information Officer at Fetch
Fetch, America’s No. 1 rewards app and leading consumer-engagement platform, has tapped Charles McColgan as the company’s first Chief Information Officer (CIO). As CIO, McColgan will lead the machine learning, data analytics, data engineering, data science, and analytics engineering teams. Before joining Fetch, McColgan served as Chief Technology Officer (CTO) at TeleSign, CTO at FrontBridge Technologies, and VP of Technology at Paramount Digital Entertainment.
Wade Bruce – Chief Technology Officer at Fetch
Wade Bruce, previously the Principal Engineering Lead, has been promoted to Chief Technology Officer at Fetch where he will lead software engineering and DevOps for the company. “I am honored to lead our software organization into the next phase of our growth as we build world-class products for our users and partners,” said Bruce on his promotion. Before joining Fetch in 2019, Bruce held previous roles at State Farm, insurtech startup Bunker, and social media management startup Spredfast.
Katie McCullough – Chief Information Security Officer at Panzura
Katie McCulough has been appointed Chief Information Security Officer (CISO) at Panzura, a hybrid multi-cloud data management company. As the company’s first CISO, McCullough will be responsible for security and compliance for the company and its customers, which is pivotal as customer data increasingly comes under threat from cyberattacks. McCullough joins the company with over 25 years of experience leading cloud solutions, security operations, managed operations, and compliance at companies including OneNeck IT Solutions and CDW/Berbee, to name a few.
Jason Loomis – Chief Information Security Officer at Freshworks
Freshworks Inc., a software company empowering the people who power business, has named Jason Loomis Chief Information Security Officer. He brings over 20 years of information technology and cybersecurity leadership to the table, having worked at MINDBODY, Inc., TechStyle Fashion Group, ProKarma, Ensequence, and Mellon Capital Management. Loomis’s impressive track record of operational excellence in security at a large scale makes him an excellent fit for the company as it continues its evolution into a security and reliability respected provider.
Thomas Morgan – Chief Data Officer at Bright MLS
Thomas Morgan was recently announced as the new Chief Data Officer (CDO) for Bright MLS, where he will be driving the company’s digital transformation initiatives. Morgan will advance Bright’s enterprise data management capabilities while optimizing technology to lead the company’s integrated data strategy, making an immediate impact on its strategic priorities all underpinned by data. Morgan brings more than two decades of multi-national experience, delivering key data initiatives for companies such as Anywhere Real Estate, ZapLabs, and Nielson Company.
Luis R. Lopez – Chief Information Officer at the U.S. Department of Education
The U.S. Department of Education has selected Luis R. Lopez as Chief Information Officer, effective December 18, 2022. His extensive experience delivering information technology services in large and complex government organizations is among the many advantages he brings to the table. In his most recent role as the Chief of Operational Services in the Enterprise Technology Services Division within the U.S. Department of Education, he helped modernize the infrastructure and position the department to move seamlessly to a remote and hybrid workforce. Lopez has also served as Chief Engineer at the Defense Health Agency and Chief of Operations at the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center and brings 17 years of IT experience.
Arthur Thompson – Chief Technology Officer at the Democratic National Committee
Arthur Thompson has been promoted to Chief Technology Officer (CTO) at the Democratic National Committee (DNC). Prior to his promotion, Thompson worked as the Head of Engineering and Interim Chief Security Officer for the committee. Prior to joining the DNC, Thompson held strategic roles at Jobcase Inc. and Wayfair. He holds a Bachelor of Science in Computer Science from William and Mary University.
Dimitris Agrafiotis – Chief Digital Officer at Generate Biomedicines
Generate Biomedicines announced Dimitris Agrafiotis Ph.D., FRSC, as Chief Digital Officer. Dr. Agrafiotis will lead multidisciplinary teams across technology, data science, automation, and digital transformation to support the rapid growth of the machine learning-powered biotech. His extensive experience includes serving as Vice President at Pfizer Digital, Chief Information Officer at Novartis Institutes for Biomedical Research, Chief Data Officer at Covance, and a host of leadership roles at Johnson & Johnson. While at Generate, Dr. Agrafiotis is excited to build innovative solutions like combining generative AI with bleeding-edge automation and wet-lab science to reprogram human biology.
Cindy Donovan – Senior Vice President and Chief Information Officer at Monro Inc.
Monro Inc. has promoted Cindy Donovan to Senior Vice President (SVP) and Chief Information Officer (CIO). As SVP and CIO, she will develop and implement the company’s information technology strategy and lead the company’s long-term strategic goals. Donovan’s leadership will ultimately drive technology enablement initiatives and improvements in IT operations. She has been with Monroe since 2019 and has served in various capacities in the digital wheelhouse. Prior to her time at Monro, Donovan worked at IEC Electronics Corp., Paychex, Carestream Health, and Eastman Kodak.
Nathan Thompson – Chief Information Officer at United BioSource LLC
United BioSource LLC (UBC), a leading provider of pharmaceutical support services, partnering with life science companies to make medicine and medical products safer and more accessible, has selected Nathan Thompson as Chief Information Officer. In his most recent role Thompson served as CIO at Premier Research, where he helped to build their evolution of technology enablement, create a modern data and analytics platform, and streamline IT processes and controls. Thompson brings over two decades of experience and has a proven track record of innovating and leading complex technology and operational business initiatives.
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