Call for CIO Leadership Award Nominations
Are you an exceptional CIO or know someone who is? The MIT Sloan CIO Symposium seeks nominations for this year's MIT Sloan CIO Leadership Award, which honors CIOs who lead their organizations by delivering business value and innovative use of IT in exceptional ways. The 2021 Award Winner will be announced after a virtual panel with all Award Finalists at the MIT Sloan CIO Symposium on Tuesday, May 18, 2021.
Nominees must hold the title of Chief Information Officer (CIO) or equivalent and must be the highest-level IT leader in the organization. Applicants, including self-nominations, are welcome from for-profit and not-for-profit organizations, and will be assessed on a common set of criteria. Recent award winners include:
2020 - Shamim Mohammad, Senior Vice President & Chief Information and Technology Officer, Carmax
2019 - Eash Sundaram, Executive Vice President & Chief Digital & Technology Officer, JetBlue
2018 - Harmeen Mehta, Global Chief Information Officer & Head of Digital, Bharti Airtel Limited
2017 - David Gledhill, Group CIO & Head of Group Technology & Operations, DBS
Past leadership award winners and their companies have received a competitive advantage by receiving this award through the recognition it brings.
"Receiving the MIT Sloan CIO Leadership Award is a great honor and truly a highlight of my career. I credit this recognition to our extraordinary CarMax technology team and dedicated associates who are passionate about delivering an iconic customer experience every day," said Shamim Mohammad, the 2020 Leadership Award recipient.
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.
CIO-Plus – 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.
