Large Corporate Finalists

Damu Bashyam is Executive Vice President – Chief Information and Innovation Officer and a member of Berkadia’s Management Committee. In this role, Damu leads global technology organization, spanning comprehensive technology strategy, product development, design, engineering, data and analytics, artificial intelligence, and enterprise IT. Under his leadership, Berkadia has modernized technology platforms and enabled industry-leading data, and AI-driven capabilities that deliver measurable business outcomes, all while investing in Berkadia’s culture and talent transformation.

Under Damu’s leadership, Berkadia transformed technology from a delivery function into a strategic business capability aligned to enterprise growth. He established a business-aligned operating model, launched an AI Council, modernized more than 90 legacy applications, migrated all systems to the cloud, and built the data foundation needed to scale innovation. With that foundation in place, Berkadia developed Berkie and the AI Harness, enabling secure integration of AI into business workflows. Rather than pursuing isolated pilots, Berkadia embedded AI into core processes that deliver measurable productivity, capacity, and decision-making improvements, positioning the company as a data- and AI-driven industry leader.

Ekta Chopra was appointed e.l.f. Beauty’s first Chief Technology & AI Officer in April 2026, overseeing Enterprise AI, Technology & Engineering, Data & Analytics, Martech, and Cybersecurity. Joining as Chief Digital Officer in 2016, she spearheaded e.l.f.’s digital transformation across commerce, data, and AI-driven products. With 25+ years spanning private equity and retail, she is a sought-after speaker at SXSW, CES, and NRF, and was named among Women in Retail’s 25 Most Inspirational Women Leaders in 2026.

Under my leadership, our team delivered a portfolio of transformational initiatives in parallel without disrupting day-to-day operations. We executed a full-scale SAP implementation with zero business interruption, a rarity at this scope, now serving as the operational backbone for finance, supply chain, and analytics. Simultaneously, we integrated the Rhode acquisition on an accelerated timeline while preserving its brand equity. We re-platformed digital commerce onto Shopify, improving performance, conversion, and speed-to-market. And we deployed an enterprise AI strategy that engages our community at unprecedented scale. A modern ERP, an integrated acquisition, a re-platformed ecosystem, all delivered without taking the business offline.

Ken Feyder is a senior technology executive with 30+ years of progressive leadership experience. Currently, as Head of IT for the Americas at Hermes, he is driving strategic technology innovation supporting company’s continued growth. Ken is a member of the Forbes Technology Council and serves on the Board of the Kaufman Music Center in NYC. He holds an MBA from Franklin University, a BA from Binghamton University, and has completed International Finance studies at Oxford.

Since joining Hermes, my story has been about leading brand-appropriate IT transformation that is enthusiastically adopted by the business — all while investing in the team. Our success comes from a measured, disciplined approach to enabling growth and innovation, one that stays true to our brand’s core values and remains strategically aligned to global direction from Paris. As we drive right-sized technology innovation, we measure success by more than simple ROI — it’s reflected in strong IT/business relationships, high retention, and a relentless focus on people. With so much still ahead of us, I remain excited about my future with Hermes!

As CIO of Konica Minolta, Cathy Lilli leads the company’s technology strategy and transformation, delivering simple, modern solutions that enhance productivity and create value for employees and customers. With nearly 30 years of IT experience, she brings deep expertise in solving complex systems and processes, leading strategic initiatives and collaborating across the organization. Lilli joined Konica Minolta in 2001 after beginning her career with IBM and working in the finance and banking industry.

Three years ago, we set a guiding principle at KMBS — Simple, Modern, Effective — and began transforming IT from a fragmented set of systems into a foundation the business could grow on. We put all seven direct sales channels on Salesforce, shifting our culture from silo selling to cross-selling. Since adoption, sales calls and meetings are up more than 50%, win rate is up 9%, and revenue per rep has grown 50%. We migrated the business to a global Microsoft 365 tenant. And our data platform is now enabling new revenue streams for our dealer channel.

Arvind Sahu is the Global CIO at Crayola, where he leads the company’s worldwide technology strategy, digital transformation, cybersecurity, data and AI, enterprise applications, and IT operations. He has spearheaded enterprise-wide transformation initiatives impacting thousands of employees globally, delivering significant operational efficiencies, business growth, and AI-driven innovation. Arvind is passionate about developing future leaders and positioning technology as a strategic driver of business value and competitive advantage.

As Global CIO of Crayola, I led a global business and technology transformation that united teams across multiple continents around a shared vision for innovation, operational excellence, and growth. By standardizing business processes, modernizing core platforms, and advancing data, AI, and digital capabilities, we created a foundation for faster and informed decision-making, greater agility, and enhanced customer experiences. Equally important, we transformed IT into a trusted strategic business partner, developed future leaders, and built high-performing global teams. This has helped Crayola become an innovative, resilient, and data-driven organization positioned for long-term success and growth.

Senior business leader, CIO and CTO with a demonstrated history of building company value through customer focused innovation. Possession of a proven background in virtually all areas within the advertising ecosystem that include technology strategy and  nancial planning, Systems Analysis, Design and Development, and Implementation and Support. Internal and external client focused executive with the ability to drive results and create and deliver best practices through the use of several methodologies while consulting in the Big 4 arena. Leading Infrastructure with a strong cyber security and compliance background.

The greatest accomplishment has been the transformation of our companies back office systems and infrastructure, which includes a fully dedicated cyber team and subsequent applications. We inherited a myriad of SSO applications, multiple on prem MSFT environments and multiple collaboration tools. COVID sped up the work effort where we were able to consolicade the collaboration tools on Teams and then continue the consolidation of our business support systems as well as our identity management platforms onto the MSFT suite.