Global Finalists

Kaushik Ghosh is vice president and CIO of Arrow’s global ECS business and ArrowSphere platform, with responsibility for leading the global information technology platforms, systems, capabilities and strategic initiatives. Ghosh has 25+ years of global leadership experience and is recognized as a transformational technology leader with a proven track record of driving digital evolution and delivering impactful enterprise solutions, and is passionate about leveraging technology to exceed strategic and financial goals and cultivate future leaders.

In 2024, I led the Arrow ECS team to a major milestone with the successful launch of ArrowSphere, our strategic digital distribution platform. This empowers North American channel partners with a comprehensive suite of six user-friendly applications, revolutionizing how they interact with us beyond a cloud management platform. ArrowSphere streamlines access to products, simplifies cloud management (including security, cost, and sustainability), and enhances operational efficiency through features like self-service ordering, renewal management, and API connectivity. We are now strategically positioned to extend this impactful platform to our European partners in 2025-2026, further driving digital engagement and growth.

Matt Mehlbrech is an award-winning IT executive with 25+ years of leadership experience across manufacturing, aerospace, and life sciences industries. Currently serving as CIO at Bio-Techne, he previously transformed CoorsTek's IT function while implementing AI, digital transformation, and Industry 4.0 technologies. A 2023 Colorado CIO of the Year, 2024 National CIO of the Year Finalist and two-time CIO 100 Award winner, Matt excels in driving innovation, optimizing operations, and developing high-performing teams.

Since joining Bio‑Techne, I have led a comprehensive transformation of the IT function, reshaping our customer engagement model, project delivery approach, and team culture. The business is highly dependent on web and eCommerce to support the customer’s find‑decide‑buy journey, yet prior transformation efforts had stalled despite significant investment. Within one year, my team delivered the long‑standing technology vision on time and under budget, while building strong internal capabilities. As a result, IT has been repositioned as a trusted partner and advisor, and the team has grown in skill, pride, and ownership—our most meaningful outcome.

Rhett has been working in IT in various capacities for nearly 40 years, having spent most of that time in consulting, building IT departments for growing companies. After working with the founders of Liberty Energy for many years, he chose to relocate to Denver, CO and join Liberty full time in 2018. He currently proudly serves as VP of Information Technology & CIO and is proud to represent Liberty and its amazing IT Team.

My greatest success and pride in serving as the IT leader at Liberty Energy is, and will always be, measured by the people who choose to allow me to do what I do. We have successes and failures, as every organization does. But it’s the people that make it worthwhile — the team members who allow me to lead and take pride in their successes, the business partners who work with us to deliver new ideas, and the other leaders who put me in a position to create this team. The best measure of success is the relationships made along the way.

Chris Smith has been instrumental in reimagining the mountain resort experience at Vail Resorts since 2015, serving millions of guests annually across more than 40 global destinations. As Chief Information Officer, he leads enterprise technology strategy spanning digital platforms, data, AI, and cybersecurity. Chris has pioneered industry-leading innovations including the My Epic app and Mobile Pass, while advancing digital commerce capabilities that position technology as a core driver of growth, guest experience, and competitive differentiation.

We transformed our technology organization to improve speed, accountability, and impact—including more than doubling our delivery capacity over two years while driving structural cost savings. This enabled enterprise-wide modernization, including a hybrid-cloud platform and integrated digital experiences. Despite the most challenging snow conditions in decades, we achieved record-high guest satisfaction and increased employee engagement significantly year over year. These outcomes reflect our ability to deliver at scale—simultaneously improving experience, accelerating innovation, and strengthening operational efficiency across the business.