Leading CIOs honored for leadership, innovation, and business impact.
HOUSTON, April 25, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — The 2025 HoustonCIO ORBIE Awards recognized the exceptional leadership and innovation of top technology executives from Chevron, NOV, Nabors, Murphy Oil Corporation, Prosperity Bank, Jacuzzi Group, Speedcast, US Med-Equip, and Harris County, TX. Hosted by HoustonCIO, a chapter of the Inspire Leadership Network, the prestigious awards honor CIOs and C-suite technology leaders who drive business transformation and industry impact.
Winners were recognized across nine categories: Leadership, Super Global, Global, Large Enterprise, Enterprise, Large Corporate, Corporate, Healthcare, and Nonprofit/Public Sector. The ceremony, which took place at Marriott Marquis Houston brought together top executives and industry leaders to celebrate excellence in technology leadership.
“Amazing CIOs understand how connections drive transformation,” said Shachella James, HoustonCIO Chair. “The ORBIE® Awards recognize CIOs who leverage relationships to drive innovation, solve complex challenges, and deliver impacts that shape the future of their industries and beyond.”
Meet the 2025 HoustonCIO ORBIE Award Winners:
Bill Braun, CIO, Chevron (fmr), received the Leadership ORBIE.
Jay Kouns, CIO, Enterprise Solutions, NOV, received the Super Global ORBIE for organizations over $7.5 billion annual revenue and multi-national operations.
Aparna Mathur, CIO, Nabors, received the Global ORBIE for organizations over $2 billion annual revenue & multi-national operations.
Atif Riaz, CIDO, Murphy Oil Corporation, received the Large Enterprise ORBIE for organizations over $2.2 billion annual revenue.
Gisela Riggan, EVP & CIO, Prosperity Bank, received the Enterprise ORBIE for organizations over $800 million annual revenue.
Craig Gehrke, CIO, Jacuzzi Group, received the Large Corporate ORBIE for organizations over $400 million annual revenue.
Christina Shuffield, SVP, IT & Cybersecurity, Speedcast, received the Corporate ORBIE for organizations up to $400 million annual revenue.
Antonio Marin, CIO, US Med-Equip, received the Healthcare ORBIE for hospitals & healthcare organizations.
Sindhu Menon, ED & CIO, Harris County, TX, received the Nonprofit/Public Sector ORBIE for government, education, and nonprofit organizations.
About the ORBIE:
The ORBIE is the preeminent executive recognition for C-suite leaders. Since 1998, the ORBIE Awards have recognized leadership excellence, building relationships between executives and trusted business partners, and inspiring the next generation of executives. Finalists and winners are selected through an independent peer-adjudicated process led by prior ORBIE recipients based on the following criteria:
- Leadership and management effectiveness
- Business value created by technology innovation
- Engagement in industry and community endeavors
HoustonCIO ORBIE Keynote & Attendance:
The keynote address for the HoustonCIO ORBIE Awards was delivered by Bill Braun, CIO of Chevron (fmr), who was interviewed by Matt Anderson, General Manager of Strategy and Digital Performance, Chevron. Nearly 500 guests attended, representing leading Houston organizations and their technology partners.
The following sponsors made the 2025 HoustonCIO ORBIE Awards possible:
- Underwriters: Allata, Bluesky Partners, Google Cloud, Prosource IT, & Tata Consultancy Services
- Gold Sponsors: Andersen Lab, Authority Partners, CGInfinity, Comcast Business, & Zscaler
- Silver Sponsors: Ahead, CDW, Cerebra, NetApp, Palo Alto Networks, Tanium, & T-Mobile
- Bronze Sponsors: Between Pixels, Birlasoft, Cisco, EIT Consulting, Fiserv, Global Source IT, NTT Data, Pure Storage, & Techwave
- Media Partner: Houston Business Journal
To learn more about sponsorship opportunities and how to connect with leading C-suite executives across North America, click here.
About HoustonCIO:
HoustonCIO is the preeminent peer leadership network of chief information officers (CIOs) in Houston. As one of over 40 chapters of the Inspire Leadership Network, HoustonCIO belongs to a national membership organization exclusively comprised of C-suite leaders from public and private businesses, government, education, healthcare, and nonprofit institutions.
HoustonCIO is led by a CIO Advisory Board, with support from an executive director and staff. Underwriter executives support the chapter and ensure the programs remain non-commercial and exclusive to qualified CIOs and members.
About Inspire Leadership Network:
Inspire Leadership Network is the preeminent peer leadership network of C-suite executives. With nearly 2,000 members across more than 40 local chapters, Inspire members serve public and private businesses, government, education, healthcare, and non-profit institutions. Inspire exists to help leaders thrive in today’s most challenging executive roles.
Media Contact
Nicole Lammes
A photo accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/ac132576-4060-46df-ba72-1fa0661c23d2
