As the year winds down and calendars fill with reflections, one thing stands out clearly in 2025: leadership decisions defined momentum.
Across technology, data, security, AI, and digital transformation, organizations made bold bets on leaders who know how to scale systems and people. This edition brings together 24 CXOs whose appointments and leadership journeys shaped conversations across the enterprise this year.
From global CIOs modernizing legacy infrastructure to CEOs steering AI-first strategies, these leaders represent where enterprise leadership is heading next.
1. Raman Mehta - Chief Information Officer & Senior Vice President at The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company
Goodyear has appointed Raman Mehta as CIO and Senior Vice President to lead its global IT and digital strategy, with a strong mandate to accelerate AI-driven innovation. Most recently, CIO at Johnson Electric, Mehta has driven enterprise-wide transformation across ERP, smart manufacturing, analytics, and AI. His leadership experience spans Visteon, Fabrinet, FCA Fiat Chrysler Automobiles, and Oracle, bringing deep expertise in global manufacturing and technology modernization.
2. Annie Shea Weckesser - Senior Vice President & Chief Marketing and Communications Officer at Intel
Intel has named Annie Shea Weckesser as SVP and Chief Marketing & Communications Officer, unifying global marketing, communications, and brand under a single leadership function. She brings nearly two decades of experience leading brand and reputation strategy across high-growth technology companies. Prior to Intel, Annie served as CMO at SambaNova Systems and held senior roles at Uniphore, NIO, and Cisco Systems.
3. Ram Krishnan - Chief Executive Officer, PepsiCo North America
PepsiCo has appointed Ram Krishnan as CEO of PepsiCo North America, where he will lead integrated Foods and Beverages operations across the region. A nearly 20-year PepsiCo veteran, Krishnan previously served as CEO of PepsiCo U.S. and held global leadership roles across commercial strategy and international beverages. His appointment signals a renewed focus on scale, integration, and customer-centric growth.
4. Kiran Vuppu - U.S. Chief Information Officer at TD Bank
TD Bank has appointed Kiran Vuppu as U.S. Chief Information Officer to lead technology strategy and transformation across its U.S. businesses. He joins TD after more than eight years at Wells Fargo, most recently as EVP and Head of Client Insights and Commercial Lending Product Management. Kiran brings over two decades of financial services technology leadership from Wells Fargo, J.P. Morgan, Bank of America, IBM, and HCLTech.
5. Irvin Bishop Jr - Chief Digital Technology Officer at Burns & McDonnell
Burns & McDonnell has appointed Irvin Bishop Jr. as Chief Digital Technology Officer to lead digital and technology strategy across the firm. He brings over 35 years of experience across organizations including Black & Veatch, Young Living, and The Coca-Cola Company. Most recently, he served as CEO of Block and Mortar, scaling the business from concept to market impact. Bishop is also deeply committed to mentorship and community initiatives.
6. Gautam Samanta - Chief Commercial Officer at Altimetrik
Altimetrik has named Gautam Samanta as Chief Commercial Officer to lead its global commercial and go-to-market strategy. He joins from Coforge, where he helped scale the company into one of the fastest-growing technology services firms. Samanta built the Banking and Financial Services vertical into a $500M business. His career also includes senior leadership roles at Infosys and Capgemini.
7. Deepa Soni - Chief Information Officer at New York Life Insurance Company
New York Life has appointed Deepa Soni as Chief Information Officer, overseeing enterprise technology, cybersecurity, data, AI, and New York Life Ventures. She brings over 20 years of financial services leadership experience. Most recently, she served as CIO and COO at The Hartford, advancing AI, digital, and data strategies. Her career also includes leadership roles at BMO, M&T Bank, and KeyBank.
8. Amber Grewal - Chief Growth Officer at Eightfold AI
Eightfold AI has appointed Amber Grewal as Chief Growth Officer to unify product, sales, marketing, and customer success. She joins from Boston Consulting Group, where she served as Managing Director & Partner and Chief Talent Officer. Previously, she led global talent strategy at Intel and held senior roles at IBM and GE. Grewal is recognized globally for her impact in human capital transformation.
9. Philip Carter, CPA, MBA, CFA - Chief Financial Officer at Skyworks Solutions, Inc.
Skyworks Solutions has appointed Philip Carter as Chief Financial Officer, overseeing financial strategy, investor relations, and global finance and IT functions. He joins from AMD, where he served as Corporate VP and Chief Accounting Officer. Carter previously spent over seven years at Skyworks leading financial transformation initiatives. His career also includes senior roles at Broadcom and EY.
10. Scott Cenci - Chief Information and Data Officer at Acadia Pharmaceuticals
Acadia Pharmaceuticals has appointed Scott Cenci as Chief Information and Data Officer to lead digital, data, and AI transformation. He brings over 25 years of experience across biotech and pharmaceutical organizations. Most recently, he served as SVP of Global IT and Digital at Genmab, supporting rapid organizational and revenue growth. His background includes leadership roles at Biogen, Zoetis, and Pfizer.
11. Jason Carlin - Chief Executive Officer at Chryselys
Chryselys has appointed Jason Carlin as Chief Executive Officer to lead its next phase of growth. Carlin previously led product analytics at Novartis and supported the Sandoz division. His experience also includes senior roles at Bayer Pharmaceuticals and Eisai US. He brings deep expertise across analytics, oncology, and commercial insights.
12. Rajnish Mishra - Chief Development Officer at SonicWall
SonicWall has appointed Rajnish Mishra as Chief Development Officer to accelerate its cloud-native and hybrid security offerings. Mishra brings over 20 years of experience leading network and cloud security development teams. Most recently, he served as SVP of Engineering at Zscaler, helping scale the company from its early stages. His career also includes leadership roles at Cisco.
13. Milan Bhatt - Chief Executive Officer at Nous Infosystems
Nous Infosystems has appointed Milan Bhatt as Chief Executive Officer, bringing over two decades of enterprise technology and transformation experience. He joins from Hexaware Technologies, where he spent more than 10 years in senior leadership roles, most recently as President. His background also includes leadership positions at Symphony Teleca and HCLTech. Bhatt will focus on growth, scale, and global delivery excellence.
14. Rob Schilling - Chief Commercial Officer at C3 AI
C3 AI has appointed Rob Schilling as Chief Commercial Officer to lead global customer-facing operations. Schilling brings over 20 years of enterprise software sales leadership experience. He joins from Oracle, where he led cloud enterprise sales applications in North America. His background also includes senior roles at Nokia, SAP, and Siebel Systems.
15. Karandeep Anand - Chief Executive Officer at Character.AI
Character.AI has appointed Karandeep Anand as Chief Executive Officer during a critical growth phase for the company. Previously a board adviser, Anand brings leadership experience from Brex, Meta, and Microsoft. As CEO, he plans to improve AI model quality, enhance memory features, and increase platform transparency. Several platform updates are expected in the near term.
16. Robert Leibrock - Chief Financial Officer at ACI Worldwide
ACI Worldwide has appointed Robert Leibrock as Chief Financial Officer. He joins from Red Hat, where he served as SVP, Chief Operating Officer, and CFO. Before that, Leibrock spent nearly 20 years at IBM in senior finance and software leadership roles. He played a key role in IBM’s $34B acquisition of Red Hat.
17. Srinivas Mukkamala - Chief Executive Officer at Securin Inc.
Securin has appointed Dr. Srinivas Mukkamala as Chief Executive Officer, reinforcing its focus on AI-driven cybersecurity. A global security leader, he founded RiskSense, acquired by Ivanti in 2021. He later served as Ivanti’s Chief Product Officer, driving product innovation at scale. His solutions have been deployed across 88 Fortune 100 companies.
18. Yusuf Tayob - Chief Executive Officer at Perficient
Perficient has appointed Yusuf Tayob as Chief Executive Officer to scale its AI-native digital consulting services. Tayob spent over 24 years at Accenture, holding global leadership roles including Group CEO of Accenture Operations. He also served as Chair of the Global Communications, Media & Technology Practice. As CEO, he will deepen strategic alliances and drive innovation across client engagements.
19. Sanjay Macwan - Chief Information Officer at Sprinklr
Sprinklr has appointed Sanjay Macwan as Chief Information Officer to lead global IT, enterprise security, and data infrastructure and analytics. He brings over 30 years of experience in enterprise technology leadership. Most recently, Macwan served as CIO and CISO at Vonage. His career also includes senior roles at NBCUniversal and AT&T.
20. John Sapone - Chief Revenue Officer at NinjaOne
NinjaOne has appointed John Sapone as Chief Revenue Officer following the company’s $5B valuation and Series C extensions. Sapone brings over 20 years of experience scaling revenue at high-growth companies. Most recently, he led a Snowflake team that grew revenue from $1B to $4B. His background also includes leadership roles at ServiceNow and Nimble Storage.
21. Rajesh Murthy - Group Chief Executive Officer at Sopra Steria
Sopra Steria has appointed Rajesh Krishnamurthy as Group Chief Executive Officer to lead its global strategy and digital transformation agenda. He joins from Expleo Group, where he served as CEO and led a major transformation toward digital engineering and AI-led services. Previously, he held executive roles at CMA CGM and spent over 25 years at Infosys. His appointment marks a strategic inflection point for the Group.
22. Vivek Gupta - Chief Strategy Officer at Ayar Labs
Ayar Labs has appointed Vivek Gupta as its first Chief Strategy Officer to oversee global strategy, customer engagement, and product functions. He brings over two decades of experience across strategy, commercialization, and product innovation. Gupta has held leadership roles at Google, Qualcomm, and Atheros Communications. He will focus on accelerating market adoption of optical I/O technologies.
23. Rahul Patel - President and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) at Synaptics Incorporated
Synaptics Incorporated has appointed Rahul Patel as its President and Chief Executive Officer (CEO). With more than 30 years of leadership experience in the semiconductor industry, Rahul spent a decade at Qualcomm and over 13 years in various senior leadership roles at Broadcom, including serving as SVP and General Manager, Wireless Connectivity Group.
24. Bryan Palma - Chief Executive Officer at KnowBe4
KnowBe4 has appointed Bryan Palma as President and Chief Executive Officer, tasking him with leading the company’s next phase of growth in cybersecurity and human risk management. Palma brings more than two decades of experience scaling global technology and security organizations, most recently serving as CEO of Trellix. His prior leadership roles include President and CEO of FireEye and senior executive positions at Cisco, where he led large-scale security and services operations.
Why These Moves Matter
In 2025 alone, $5.54 trillion was spent on technology globally, yet most enterprises are still struggling to convert investment into impact.
That paradox is exactly what many of these leadership moves are designed to address.
The Enterprise Paradox of the Year 2025 - How massive investment met modest results
In collaboration with Brand Stori, CXO Spotlight analyzed leadership priorities, AI adoption patterns, and execution gaps across enterprises.
Inside the report:
- Why 88% of enterprises use AI, but only 5-6% see real business impact
- Why 97% of transformations fail despite record budgets
- What separates leaders who scale outcomes from those stuck in pilots
- The execution shifts required heading into 2026
👉 Follow CXO Spotlight for leadership intelligence
👉 Follow Brand Stori for clarity-driven execution thinking
Because the next competitive advantage won’t come from spending more. It will come from leading differently.
Looking Ahead
As we step into a new year, these leaders remind us that transformation is never just about technology - it’s about direction, discipline, and decision-making.
Here’s to the leaders who didn’t just keep pace in 2025; they set it.
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