Think 2020

Ginni Rometty

Chairman, President, and CEO
IBM

Since becoming CEO in January 2012, Ginni has led IBM through the most significant transformation in its history, reinventing the company to lead in the new era of AI, blockchain, cybersecurity and quantum technologies, all delivered on IBM’s enterprise-strength cloud platform. Today, IBM is the world leader in AI and cloud computing for business, underpinned with trust and security.

IBM’s commitment to diversity and inclusion also has advanced under Ginni’s leadership. This includes extending parental leave and making it easier for women to return to the workforce through a “returnships” program with hands-on work experience in emerging technologies. This pioneering work was recognized in 2018 by the prestigious Catalyst Award for advancing diversity and women’s initiatives. IBM is the only tech company to have earned this recognition in the last 20 years and the only company ever to be honored four times.

Arvind Krishna

Senior Vice President, Cloud and Cognitive Software
IBM

Arvind Krishna leads the IBM business unit that provides the cloud and data platform on which the company’s clients build the future. His responsibilities include IBM Research, IBM Cloud, and IBM’s Security and Cognitive Applications businesses. In addition, he drove the company’s acquisition of Red Hat and oversees its IBM-Red Hat synergy efforts.

Arvind leads the unit’s strategy, product design, offering development, marketing, sales and service. He also guides IBM’s overall strategy in core and emerging technologies including artificial intelligence, quantum computing, blockchain, cloud platform services, data-driven solutions, and nanotechnology.

Arvind is the recipient of distinguished alumni awards from IITK and the University of Illinois, is the co-author of 15 patents, has been the editor of IEEE and ACM journals, and has published extensively in technical conferences and journals.

Jim Whitehurst

President and chief executive officer
Red Hat

Jim Whitehurst is president and chief executive officer of Red Hat, the world’s leading provider of open source enterprise IT software solutions and services. An avid advocate for open software as a catalyst for business innovation, Whitehurst has proven expertise in helping companies flourish—even in the most challenging economic and business environments.

Whitehurst has grown Red Hat and its influence by reaching key milestones—most notably in 2012, when Red Hat became the first US$1 billion open source software company. Company revenue reached almost US$3 billion in 2018.

In 2015, Whitehurst published The Open Organization: Igniting Passion and Performance, a book that shows how open management principles can help organizations succeed in a fast-paced, connected era.

During six years at Delta Air Lines, Whitehurst led significant international expansion and, as chief operating officer, oversaw all aspects of airline operations.

Mayim Bialik

Mayim Bialik is known for her role on the hit CBS comedy, The Big Bang Theory as Amy Farrah Fowler, for which she has received two Critics Choice Awards, four Emmy Award nominations and a SAG Award nomination. Bialik has appeared in numerous beloved roles throughout her dynamic acting career.

An acclaimed author, Bialik has written two #1 New York Times bestsellers, Girling Up: How to Be Strong, Smart and Spectacular, and the recently released Boying Up: How to Be Brave, Bold and Brilliant. She has also written a parenting book, Beyond the Sling, and a cookbook, Mayim’s Vegan Table. Bialik has recently dedicated her skills as a writer, actress, neuroscientist and mother to driving the lifestyle website GrokNation.com, which she started.

Following the end of Blossom, Bialik left acting for twelve years to earn a BS in Neuroscience from UCLA in 2000 with a minor in Hebrew & Jewish Studies. She went on to complete her Ph.D. in Neuroscience, also at UCLA, and then completed her doctorate in the fall of 2007.

Bridget van Kralingen

Senior Vice President of Global Industries, Clients, Platforms & Blockchain
IBM

Bridget van Kralingen is Senior Vice President of IBM Global Industries, Clients, Platforms & Blockchain. She leads a business unit that conceives, develops, and scales disruptive software cloud platforms for specific industries; opens new markets for the Watson artificial intelligence platform; and has established IBM as the clear leader in the emerging market for blockchain by leading the company-wide mission spanning R&D, solutions, platforms and services.

In parallel, she leads IBM’s top client segment, global enterprises that represent a significant portion of IBM’s annual revenues. Bridget is also responsible for IBM's global strategic partnerships and alliances with industry leaders such as Apple, SAP, Workday and Salesforce.

Since 2011, Bridget has been listed as one of Fortune Magazine's "50 Most Powerful Women in Business." She is a member of the Board of Directors of the Royal Bank of Canada.

Dr. Dario Gil

Director of IBM Research
IBM

Dr. Dario Gil is the Director of IBM Research, a global organization with over 3,000 researchers advancing the future of computing. Dr. Gil  leads innovation efforts by directing research strategies in Quantum, AI, Hybrid Cloud, Security, Industry Solutions, and Semiconductors and Systems. Dr. Gil is the 12th Director in its 74-year history.

Under his leadership, IBM was the first company in the world to build programmable quantum computers and make them universally available through the cloud. An advocate of collaborative research models, he co-chairs the MIT-IBM Watson AI Lab, a pioneering industrial-academic laboratory with a portfolio of more than 50 projects focused on advancing fundamental AI research to the broad benefit of industry and society.

Dr. Gil is a Trustee of the New York Hall of Science, which provides schools, families and undeserved communities with exposure to science, technology, engineering and math (STEM).