At a moment when emerging technologies are driving both the global economy and the news cycle, business leaders must not only keep up with an industry moving at a breakneck pace—they must look around the corner at what’s next. That’s why TIME is publishing its first-ever Executives of the Year: Tech & Data list, recognizing 50 leaders shaping the future of technology, artificial intelligence, cybersecurity, and digital innovation across industries.
See the full 2026 list here.
Among them are Bartley Richardson, CrowdStrike’s chief AI and autonomous systems officer, who is heading up a new AI research lab dedicated to building autonomous cybersecurity systems, and Reddit chief technology officer (CTO) Amit Puntambekar, who is shepherding AI adoption at one of the internet’s largest repositories of human conversation. At pharmaceutical giant Eli Lilly & Co., Diogo Rau oversaw the effort to build a supercomputer called LillyPod, which models biological processes and screens potential molecules before promising candidates enter wet lab experiments. Meanwhile, at OpenAI, Vijaye Raji, CTO of applications, is in charge of engineering for the ubiquitous ChatGPT, as well as the coding tool Codex.
To create the list, our editors and reporters across the newsroom evaluated the scale of each leader’s responsibilities, the significance of the investments and initiatives they oversee, and their demonstrated impact on how their organization operates, competes, and grows. What came together was a group of executives tasked with modernizing legacy systems and digital infrastructure. Those leaders include Monica Caldas, Liberty Mutual’s global chief information officer, who is rewiring the century-old insurance company for what she calls “the intelligence era,” and Ogi Redzic, who joined Caterpillar Inc. as SVP and chief digital officer in 2018 and has helped the equipment manufacturer rebuild itself around data to address customers’ labor and safety issues.
The list also highlights the creation of new or expanded roles designed to meet the fast-evolving moment. There’s Kathleen Grace, named Lionsgate’s first-ever chief AI officer in February and the first Hollywood studio executive to hold that particular title, as well as Delta’s Amala Duggirala, who joined the airline in January as EVP and chief digital and technology officer—a brand-new role overseeing its recently combined digital and technology organizations, encompassing both the enterprise technology that powers its global operations and the digital tools it creates for customers and employees alike.
Beyond the U.S., tech executives across Asia, Africa, and Europe are driving innovation. At Singapore-based Grab, CTO Suthen Thomas Paradatheth has helped the company transition from a ride-sharing platform to a superapp that processes millions of transactions a day across Southeast Asia. Felix Ike, co-founder and CTO of the Nigerian fintech company Moniepoint, has helped to establish the business as one of Africa’s leading financial platforms. At Paris-based Back Market, a global online marketplace for refurbished electronics, CTO Dawn Baker is applying an environmental mission to the company’s use of computing power. “We have to make sure we’re not using more than we need,” she says. “It’s about using AI smartly and not falling for the hype.”
These leaders and their fellow honorees are the catalysts of some of the most consequential transformations taking place across modern enterprise—translating innovation into meaning.
The post Introducing TIME Executives of the Year: Tech and Data appeared first on TIME.
