BlackLine CIO Sumit Johar Honored with Prestigious 2025 BayAreaCIO ORBIE Award

LOS ANGELES, Oct. 1, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- BlackLine, Inc. (Nasdaq: BL) today announced that Chief Information Officer Sumit Johar has been named the winner of the2025 BayAreaCIO ORBIE® Awardin the Large Corporate category. The prestigious award recognizes chief information officers who have demonstrated excellence in technology leadership. Mr. Johar was presented with the award at the BayAreaCIO ORBIE Awards ceremony on September 26th in San Jose. 

The ORBIE Awards are the premier technology executive recognition program in the United States, honoring CIOs who have showcased outstanding leadership, management effectiveness, and business value created through technological innovation. 

"We are incredibly proud of Sumit for this well-deserved recognition," said Owen Ryan, CEO of BlackLine. "Sumit's visionary leadership is a driving force behind our innovation. His work has been instrumental in scaling our IT operations and embedding an 'Automation First' culture, which is a critical enabler for the success of our unified Studio360 platform and our trusted AI, Verity." 

Mr. Johar won in the Large Corporate category for organizations with over $500 million in annual revenue.  In his role as CIO, he leads BlackLine's global IT, Information Security, and AI strategy, driving digital transformation and enterprise-wide systems. He has championed a "Customer Zero" philosophy that is brought to life through a close partnership with CTO Jeremy Ung and the product development organization. By deploying BlackLine's own technology—including the Studio360 platform—internally, this collaboration enhances product-market fit and ensures enterprise-scale operational excellence.

"I am truly honored to receive the ORBIE Award and accept it on behalf of the entire BlackLine IT team," said Sumit Johar, Chief Information Officer at BlackLine. "This award reflects our team's relentless dedication to innovation and our commitment to leveraging technology to solve complex business challenges. At BlackLine, we are passionate about the power of digital transformation, and I am grateful to be part of a company that is pioneering trusted, auditable AI for the Office of the CFO."

Finalists and winners for the ORBIE Awards are selected through a rigorous, independent peer-review process led by prior ORBIE recipients. The selection criteria focus on leadership and management effectiveness, business value created by technology innovation, and engagement in industry and community endeavors.

About BayAreaCIO
BayAreaCIO is the preeminent peer leadership network of chief information officers in the Bay Area. As one of over 40 chapters of the Inspire Leadership Network, BayAreaCIO provides a platform for technology leaders to collaborate and share best practices.

About BlackLine
BlackLine (Nasdaq: BL), the future-ready platform for the Office of the CFO, drives digital finance transformation by empowering organizations with accurate, efficient, and intelligent financial operations. BlackLine's comprehensive Studio360 platform addresses mission-critical processes, including record-to-report and invoice-to-cash, enabling unified and accurate data, streamlined and optimized processes, and real-time insight through visibility, automation, and AI. BlackLine's proven, collaborative approach ensures continuous transformation, delivering immediate impact and sustained value. With a proven track record of innovation, industry-leading R&D investment, and world-class security practices, more than 4,400 customers across multiple industries partner with BlackLine to lead their organizations into the future. For more information, please visit blackline.com.

SOURCE BlackLine