Global Finalists

Global Chief Information Officer at Driscoll’s, where he leads global technology strategy, digital transformation, cybersecurity, infrastructure, and enterprise applications. With more than 25 years of technology leadership experience, he is recognized for aligning innovation with business outcomes, modernizing enterprise platforms, and advancing data and AI capabilities. Sankar is passionate about building high-performing teams, fostering cross-functional collaboration, and leveraging technology to drive growth, operational excellence, and competitive advantage.

Under my leadership, the technology organization delivered a major enterprise transformation that modernized core business systems and established a scalable digital foundation for future growth. By replacing fragmented legacy platforms with a unified global solution, the team improved operational consistency, reliability, and long-term business agility. We also developed and launched an enterprise AI strategy that aligns innovation with measurable business outcomes and responsible governance. Rather than treating AI as a standalone initiative, we integrated it into our broader digital transformation efforts, creating a clear roadmap for adoption. Together, these accomplishments strengthened organizational resilience, scalability, and readiness for future opportunities.

Shweta Gummidipudi is the Chief Information Officer at Twilio, where she leads global information technology strategy, enterprise engineering, and AI and data-driven innovation. A technology executive with over two decades of experience, she is scaling Twilio’s internal digital ecosystem and spearheading AI integration to drive operational excellence. Before joining Twilio in October 2025, she held leadership positions at Snowflake and NVIDIA. She holds a Master’s in Computer Science and Engineering from San José State University.

Joining Twilio as CIO with a remit spanning all internal technology and data functions, my mission was to break down silos. I established a centralized organization unifying marketing, sales, finance, HR, and infrastructure under a single vision, the catalyst for our Data Governance and Platform Unification roadmaps, both designed to make our enterprise data AI-ready. Through our Customer Zero program, we use Twilio’s own products to prototype conversational AI internally before they reach the market. I also serve as Executive Sponsor for our largest system transformation, re-engineering our opportunity-to-revenue flow to accelerate how we serve customers.

Awinash Sinha is Chief Digital & Information Officer at Zoom, leading global IT and go-to-market operations while driving enterprise-scale transformation through automation and AI. With decades of executive experience with technology, Big 4 consulting, automotive, and finance sector companies, he consistently turns bold strategy into measurable business results. Beyond Zoom, Awinash advises tier-1 VC-backed startups, serves on venture advisory boards, and is a board member of the Children’s Discovery Museum of San Jose.

Awinash Sinha is transforming Zoom’s growth through enterprise-wide AI-driven innovation, guided by a philosophy that treats technology as a value accelerator. His team built advanced demand generation, smarter cross-sell models, and a global channel ecosystem driving international revenue growth while reducing cost of sales and improving renewal rates. Internally, a "Customer Zero" approach—adopting Zoom’s own products first—has strengthened customer support, improving CSAT and reducing resolution times. Agentic AI workflows have further accelerated time to market and driven operational efficiency across the business. The results show that when technology, talent, and strategy converge, growth and efficiency become sustained multipliers, not tradeoffs.

As SVP and CIO at Synopsys, I lead the global technology strategy for 30,000 employees. Backed by over 25 years in IT, a BE/MS in Electrical Engineering, and four patents in data and routing algorithms, I champion an "Everyone is a CIO" philosophy. Overseeing two million compute cores, I drive practical enterprise AI adoption, empowering decentralized engineering teams and transforming IT into a core engine that accelerates global R&D and business growth.

My greatest success is not a specific technology deployment; it is the culture of radical decentralization we have built. My leadership philosophy is that "Everyone is a CIO." By empowering the individuals, we eliminated executive bottlenecks. We transformed our organization from a top-down hierarchy into a federated engine of independent problem solvers - all working towards common goals. I think the true measure of my leadership is not just what the team accomplishes under my direction—it is that they are fully empowered and capable of driving the business forward, thriving equally well with or without me.

Kevin Smith transforms technology organizations into customer-obsessed powerhouses that deliver measurable business outcomes. With 25+ years leading Corporate Engineering and IT at iconic companies including Meta (Facebook), Twitch, Stripe, and Lyft, he consistently converts complex challenges into competitive advantages through strategic automation and operational excellence. His people-first philosophy now centers on building AI-native organizations, replacing headcount growth with platforms that multiply team member capabilities.

I measure transformational technology leadership by creating sustainable competitive advantage through people-first approaches across diverse organizations. My greatest achievement is developing a repeatable methodology that scales across companies, from Facebook to Twitch, to Stripe, to Aurora and Lyft’s continued evolution. This approach delivers strong results: a 35% increase in profitable deals, $1 million saved by building in-house rather than upgrading legacy systems, and over 54,000 hours returned to employees since 2025 through AI-powered agents. That’s what it looks like when a team restructures work around AI instead of bolting it on.