Finalists Named for the 2026 National ORBIE® Awards

National ORBIE Awards Honor CIOs and CISOs Advancing Business Growth and Cyber Resilience

SAN JOSE, Calif., Feb. 17, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- For over 25 years, the ORBIE Awards have recognized technology executives for outstanding leadership and business value created by technology innovation and enterprise security. Annually, ORBIE winners from over 50 Inspire Leadership Network chapters across North America are eligible for the National ORBIE Awards.

The 2026 National ORBIE Awards finalists are:

Super Global Finalists – includes CIOs for organizations over $25 billion annual revenue & multi-national operations:

Dr. Besufekad Alemayehu, SVP, Digital Manufacturing & Supply, Merck & Co., Inc.
Nathalie D’Hers, Corporate VP Microsoft Employee Experience, Microsoft
Motti Finkelstein, CIO – Global IT, Intel Corporation
Seemantini Godbole, Chief Digital & Information Officer, Lowe’s
Jennifer Hartsock, Chief Information & Digital Officer, Cargill
Ed McLaughlin, President & CTO, Mastercard
Laura Money, EVP, Chief Information & Technology Innovation Officer, Sun Life Financial
Earl Newsome, VP & CIO, Cummins Inc.

Global Finalists – includes CIOs for organizations over $3 billion annual revenue & multi-national operations:

Mark Bloom, Global CIO, Arthur J Gallagher & Co
Vishal Kumar, Global CIO, Monster Beverage Corp
Mark Molitor, CIO, Milwaukee Tool
Sameer Purao, SVP, CIO & CDO, Celanese
Saurabh Raisinghani, EVP & CTO, Ford Credit
Viren Shah, SVP & Chief Digital & Information Officer, AGCO Corporation
Derek Shaw, CIO, H.B. Fuller
Seshadri Tirumala, CIO, WESTERN DIGITAL

Large Enterprise Finalists – includes CIOs for organizations over $3 billion annual revenue:

Michael Carrel, SVP & CTO, Nationwide Financial, Nationwide
Rob Childs, SVP, Chief Digital & Information Officer, Ameren
Sastry Durvasula, Chief Operating, Information & Digital Officer, TIAA
Sathish Muthukrishnan, Chief Information, Data & Digital Officer, Ally Financial
Kavita Rao, SVP & CIO, CoBank
Billy Runyan, EVP & CIO, LPL Financial
John Russell, CTO, Dominion Energy
Greg Zeh, SVP & CIO, Weis Markets Inc

Enterprise Finalists – includes CIOs for organizations over $1.2 billion annual revenue:

Andrew Blackmon, CIO, United Launch Alliance
Venkat Gopalan, Chief Digital, Data & Technology Officer, Belcorp
Cris Kibbee, EVP & CIO, MV Transportation
Aparna Mathur, VP IT, Nabors Industries
Jody McDonough, VP of IT & CIO, SubZero Group Inc.
Chintan Patel, CIO, National DCP
Rob Spellman, CIO, Leidos QTC Health Services
Darlene Williams, Global SVP & CIO, Rocket Software

Large Corporate Finalists – includes CIOs for organizations over $800 million annual revenue:

Sanjay Chandra, VP, IT, Lucid Motors
Mark DeLorenzo, Senior Director of Global IT, IPG Photonics
Uma Gopinath, SVP & CIO, Porter Airlines
Michelle Kaufman, SVP, Technology, Distribution Management, Inc
Brian Minnix, CIO, Rack Room
Gisela Riggan, EVP & CIO, Prosperity Bank
Joel Tracy, CIO, IMC Logistics, LLC.
Thai Vong, CIO, ACR (Amercareroyal)

Corporate Finalists – includes CIOs for organizations up to $800 million annual revenue:

Mike Anderson, Chief Digital & Information Officer, NetSkope
Erik Jones, VP – Technology, Arizona Cardinals Football Club
Raman Krishnaswami, CIO, Eagleview Technologies
Sharon Milz, CIO, TIME
Raj Sampoornam, SVP & CIO, Byline Bank
Doug Saunders, CIO, Arctic Glacier
Scott Schemmel, CIO, Construction Resources
Christina Shuffield, EVP & CIO, Speedcast

Healthcare Finalists – includes CIOs of hospitals & healthcare organizations:

Kiran Achen, Chief Information & Digital Officer, Delta Dental of Missouri
Tom Barnett, Chief Information & Digital Officer, Baptist Memorial Health Care Corporation
Renee Fosberg, SVP, Chief Digital & Information Officer, Emerson Health
Laura Groschen, EVP & CIO, Acadia Healthcare
Scott Morgan, SVP & CIO, Health Care Service Corporation
Deb Muro, CIO, El Camino Health
Onyeka Nchege, EVP, Chief Digital & Information Officer, Novant Health
Amish Patel, CTO, Elevance Health

Nonprofit/Public Sector Finalists – includes CIOs of government, education & nonprofit organizations:

Reginal Bryant, SVP & CIO, Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond
Dr. Chris Crist, CIO, Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport
Rob Lloyd, CTO, City of Seattle
Dr. Bianca Lochner, CIO, City of Scottsdale
Juan Lucero, SVP & CIO, Denver International Airport
Bharath Prabhakaran, VP & CDO, University of Cincinnati
Art Thompson, CIO, City of Detroit
Scott West, CIO, Department of Ecology

CISO Large Enterprise Finalists – includes CISOs for organizations over $20 billion annual revenue:

Ron Banks, CISO, Toyota Financial Services
Christina Bray, CISO, Collins Aerospace
Sherron Burgess, Global SVP & CISO, BCD Travel
Kris Burkhardt, CISO, Accenture
Krishnan Chellakarai, CISO, Gilead Sciences
Upendra Mardikar, EVP & CISO, TIAA
Mary Rose Martinez, CISO & VP of Infrastructure, Marathon Petroleum
Abhay Raman, SVP & CISO, Sun Life Financial

CISO Enterprise Finalists – includes CISOs for organizations over $2 billion annual revenue:

Frank Aiello, CISO, Maximus
Michael Baker, Global CISO, DXC Technology
Marc Crudgington, VP IT Infrastructure & Cybersecurity, Crane Worldwide Logistics
Monique Hart, VP, IS & CISO, Piedmont Healthcare
Kim Keever, CISO, Cox Communications
Bob Litterer, CISO, Teradyne
Scott Moser, SVP & CISO, Sabre
Becky Palmer, VP & CISO, National Life Group

CISO Large Corporate Finalists – includes CISOs for organizations up to $2 billion annual revenue:

Joseph Berglund, Director of IT Operations & Cybersecurity, US Med-Equip
Kenny Cunningham, Senior Director, IT Security, OneDigital
Brian Elrod, VP & CISO, St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, Inc.
Esteban Gutierrez, CISO & VP IS, New Relic, Inc
Chris Liles, VP – IS, Privacy & Enterprise Technology Infrastructure, Wingstop Restaurant Inc.
Cheryl Nifong, CISO, University of Texas at Arlington
Murtaza Nisar, VP & CISO, Clario
Michael Smith, SVP & CISO, ATI Physical Therapy

The ORBIE^® Awards is the preeminent executive recognition for C-suite leaders. Since 1998, the ORBIE Awards have recognized leadership excellence, building relationships between executives and trusted business partners, and inspiring the next generation of leaders. Finalists and winners are selected through an independent peer-adjudicated process led by prior ORBIE recipients based on the following criteria:

Leadership and management effectiveness
Business value created by technology innovation
Business protection created by enterprise cybersecurity
Engagement in industry and community endeavors

The 2026 National ORBIE Awards are made possible by:

Premier Sponsor: Google Cloud & Lumen
Conference Sponsors: T-Mobile & SHI International
Awards Sponsors: Future Tech Enterprise

To learn more about partnership opportunities and how to connect with leading C-suite executives across North America, click here.

The National ORBIE winners will be announced live on August 6, 2026 during the National ORBIE Awards in San Jose, California. Learn how to get in the room.

About Inspire Leadership Network
Inspire Leadership Network is the preeminent peer leadership network of C-suite executives. With over 2,000 members across more than 50 local chapters, Inspire members serve public and private businesses, government, education, healthcare, and non-profit institutions. Inspire exists to help leaders thrive in today’s most challenging executive roles.

Media Contact
Nicole Lammes
nicole.lammes@inspirecxo.com

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