MIT Sloan CIO Symposium Announces Leading Chief Information Officers as Finalists for 2023 CIO Leadership Award

CAMBRIDGE, Mass., April 27, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- The 20th annual MIT Sloan CIO Symposium today announced the four finalists for the Annual MIT Sloan CIO Leadership Award. The winner will be announced on May 15, 2023.

For more than a decade, the Award has recognized Chief Information Officers (CIOs) who lead their organizations to deliver exemplary levels of business value through innovative use of IT.

"We are thrilled to recognize this year's finalists for the MIT Sloan CIO Leadership Award," said Dr. George Westerman, Award Co-Chair. "Their innovative solutions and exceptional leadership are truly inspiring, setting an example for IT leaders around the world to follow."

The 2023 MIT Sloan CIO Leadership Award finalists are:

• Tom Peck, Executive Vice President & Chief Information and Digital Officer at Sysco
• Oğuz Sezgin, Chief Information Officer, Digital Transformation Leader at Koç Holding
• Deepa Soni, Chief Information Officer at The Hartford

"I am very proud to accept this nomination on behalf of Sysco and the amazing technology team that I am honored to lead," said Tom Peck. "At Sysco, we are reinventing the food distribution and food service market and technology is a key enabler of our transformation. I'm also excited to be part of the MIT Sloan CIO Symposium, where I get the opportunity to collaborate with some of the best and brightest in the tech community."

"At The Hartford, we are operating as a 213-year-old startup bringing the power and scale of leading-edge technologies to shape the future of insurance for our customers," said Deepa Soni. "I am honored to be named a finalist for the prestigious MIT Sloan CIO Leadership Award. It's a testament to the awesome talent, and strong collaborative partnerships that are driving digital and data transformation at The Hartford."

"I am truly honored to receive the MIT Sloan CIO leadership recognition and incredibly proud of all our teams that made this success possible," said Oğuz Sezgin. "Koç Holding has always been one step ahead of change in its journey of nearly 100 years with a strong focus on creating value for all stakeholders. This is a well-deserved acknowledgment of our organization's remarkable progress driven by the successful execution of our transformational strategies, with a particular focus on digital transformation."

Award finalists will be formally recognized at an exclusive dinner for in-person attendees of the MIT Sloan CIO Symposium on May 15, 2023, where the winner will be announced. All finalists will also have opportunities to share their insights in panels on the day of the Symposium. 

After two rounds of extensive review, a panel of judges that includes CIOs, academic researchers and IT professionals selected the Award finalists who exhibit the key traits of a CIO leader in the following areas:

Judging Criteria

Key characteristics of CIO leadership include:

Exceptional Communicator – Articulates a vision for strategic business value from IT and works across the organization to build partnership around this vision. Focuses communications on value and innovation, not technology. Helps all IT staff to understand the business and speak the language of business leaders.

Recognized IT Leader – Clearly demonstrates value-for-money in the management of core IT services – providing the right services at the right price and the right level of quality. Recognized among peers as an effective leader of the IT unit.

Driver of Business Value – Understands the business and needs of the CEO, CFO, Line-of-Business heads and other senior executives. Ensures clear focus on potential and realized value in all IT initiatives. Incorporates IT into business decision-making by participating in key strategic conversations, suggesting innovative uses of IT, and for managing risk.

Trusted Partner – Exercises authority beyond IT itself. Considered a trusted member of the senior executive team, not just a technology leader. Suggests innovative uses of IT to transform the business – and successfully executes the changes. May receive additional non-IT responsibilities such as Chief Operating Officer or VP of Strategy, or strategic temporary roles such as Head of M&A integration.

These criteria are adapted from the award-winning book The Real Business of IT: How CIOs Create and Communicate Value, which draws extensively upon research conducted at MIT Sloan.

To register to attend the MIT Sloan CIO Symposium, taking place May 15-16, 2023 visit: mitcio.com/register/.

Attendees will gain access to all the events and networking opportunities taking place the evening before the panels. This includes the Innovation Showcase, highlighting 10 outstanding early-stage companies with cutting-edge solutions that combine both value and innovation to Enterprise IT, and the MIT Sloan CIO Leadership Award seated dinner where the 2023 Award Winner will be announced.

About the MIT Sloan CIO Symposium

The MIT Sloan CIO Symposium is the premier global conference for CIOs and digital business executives to become more effective leaders. CIOs and senior IT executives explore enterprise technology innovations, business practices and receive actionable information that enables them to meet the challenges of today and the future. The Symposium offers a unique learning environment by bringing together the academic thought leadership of MIT with the in-the-trenches experience of leading global CIOs and industry experts. The MIT Sloan CIO Symposium is organized and developed by the MIT Sloan Boston Alumni Association. For more information and to register for this year's Symposium, visit www.mitcio.com.

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SOURCE MIT Sloan CIO Symposium