Leading CIOs honored for leadership, innovation, and business impact.
NEW YORK, Nov. 14, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — The 2025 NewYorkCIO ORBIE Awards recognized the exceptional leadership and innovation of top technology executives from AIG, Wells Fargo, Tapestry Inc., TIAA, J.Crew Group, Hollister Inc. and Ultimate Medical Academy. Hosted by NewYorkCIO, 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 seven categories: Leadership, Super Global, Global, Large Enterprise, Enterprise, Large Corporate and Corporate. The ceremony, which took place at Ziegfeld Ballroom brought together top executives and industry leaders to celebrate excellence in technology leadership.
“Great CIOs understand how connections drive transformation,” said Shane Brauner, NewYorkCIO Chair. “The ORBIE® Awards recognize CIOs who leverage relationships to drive innovation, solve complex challenges, and shape the future of New York.”
Meet the 2025 NewYorkCIO ORBIE Award Winners:
John Repko, EVP & Global Chief Information Officer, AIG (ret.), received the Leadership ORBIE.
Bridget Engle, Head of Technology, Wells Fargo, received the Super Global ORBIE for organizations over $40 billion annual revenue and multi-national operations.
Yang Lu, CIO, Tapestry Inc., received the Global ORBIE for organizations over $4 billion annual revenue & multi-national operations.
Ajit Naidu, CIO – Retirement, Wealth, Marketing, & Digital Client Technology, TIAA, received the Large Enterprise ORBIE for organizations over $7 billion annual revenue.
Danielle Schmelkin, CIO, J.Crew Group, received the Enterprise ORBIE for organizations over $3 billion annual revenue.
Ariane Schiereck, CIO, Hollister Inc., received the Large Corporate ORBIE for organizations over $1.5 billion annual revenue.
Andy Rhodes, CIO, Ultimate Medical Academy, received the Corporate ORBIE for organizations up to $1.5 billion annual revenue.
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
NewYorkCIO ORBIE Keynote & Attendance:
The keynote address for the NewYorkCIO ORBIE Awards was delivered by John Repko, EVP & Global Chief Information Officer, AIG (ret.), who was interviewed by Harry Moseley. Nearly 300 guests attended, representing leading Greater New York organizations and their technology partners.
The following sponsors made the 2025 NewYorkCIO ORBIE Awards possible:
- Underwriters: Qualitest, SHI, Slalom Consulting, & T-Mobile for Business
- Gold Sponsors: Comcast Business, Deloitte, & Fortinet
- Silver Sponsors: Authority Partners, Cloudflare, Cognizant, EXL, Hexaware Technologies, Nasuni, Nutanix, Palo Alto Networks, Persistent, & Visionet
- Bronze Sponsors: Between Pixels, Agilant, & Everest Global
- Media Partner: Crain’s New York Business
- National Partner: Year Up United
To learn more about sponsorship opportunities and how to connect with leading C-suite executives across North America, click here.
About NewYorkCIO:
NewYorkCIO is the preeminent peer leadership network of chief information officers (CIOs) in Greater New York. As one of over 40 chapters of the Inspire Leadership Network, NewYorkCIO belongs to a national membership organization exclusively comprised of C-suite leaders from public and private businesses, government, education, healthcare, and nonprofit institutions.
NewYorkCIO 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
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A photo accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/9094943f-2db7-4641-8843-6f1420f26dd0
