THE TOP AI THOUGHT LEADERS
A community of innovators driving the future of AI
Welcome to our inaugural H2O AI 100 list, where visionaries are breaking barriers and driving innovation. These individuals are making the AI wave, not following it.
We combined the power of AI with industry expertise to identify the best in the business. Using Anthropic’s Claude Sonnet 3.5, OpenAI’s GPT-4o, our own Enterprise h2oGPTe, and the sharp insights of several industry experts, we meticulously evaluated hundreds of applications. These tools and our judges' expertise enabled us to measure the impact, innovation, leadership, and scalability of each candidate's AI innovations through their public track record and nomination details.
The result? A list curated by AI and refined by our expert team, showcasing the top 100 individuals who are transforming bold ideas into AI-driven realities. Enjoy the journey!
Featured Winners
ENTERPRISE | PUBLIC SECTOR | AI FOR GOOD / RESEARCH SCIENTIST
Teresa Heitsenrether
ORGANIZATION: JPMorgan Chase
TITLE: CDAO
AI HIGHLIGHT: Achieved 22% revenue growth, $9 trillion in new assets, and advanced AI-driven investment strategies
Gassia Fox
ORGANIZATION: BlackRock
TITLE: Global Head of BlackRock Private Markets Technology
AI HIGHLIGHT: Developed AI-driven predictive analytics to transform financial forecasting and risk assessment
Harald Schneider
ORGANIZATION: Equifax
TITLE: CDAO
AI HIGHLIGHT: Leveraged AI and alternative data to expand financial access for small businesses and millions of consumers
Priscilla Almodovar
ORGANIZATION: Fannie Mae
TITLE: President and CEO
AI HIGHLIGHT: Scaled AI to transform mortgage operations and reduce bias. Priscilla is the only Latina CEO on the Fortune 500 today
Dr. Timnit Gebru
ORGANIZATION: The Distributed AI Research Institute
TITLE: Founder & Executive Director
AI HIGHLIGHT: Launched the Data Workers' Inquiry project to advocate for the rights of data workers
Dan Jermyn
ORGANIZATION: Commonwealth Bank of Australia
TITLE: Chief Decision Scientist
AI HIGHLIGHT: Led AI to save $100M+ in fraud and boost customer engagement
Sabrina Dahlgren
ORGANIZATION: Kaiser Permanente
TITLE: Managing Director of Analytics
AI HIGHLIGHT: Developed data analytics technology that significantly enhanced healthcare outcomes
Chintan Mehta
ORGANIZATION: Wells Fargo
TITLE: EVP, CIO, Innovation and Strategy, Technology Fellow
AI HIGHLIGHT: Accelerated AI adoption by targeting 100 million virtual assistant interactions
Anna Yip
ORGANIZATION: Singtel
TITLE: CEO
AI HIGHLIGHT: Advanced AI in telecommunications to enhance operations, boosting call center efficiency and optimizing marketing communications to help retain staff
Andy Markus
ORGANIZATION: AT&T
TITLE: Chief Data Officer - AT&T Communications
AI HIGHLIGHT: Drove $2.5 billion in annualized value to AT&T and AT&T customers using AI
Dr. Swatee Singh
ORGANIZATION: TIAA
TITLE: CIO Data, AI and Corporate Tech
AI HIGHLIGHT: Led the development of next-gen AI and machine learning platforms to improve TIAA's enterprise data strategy
Agus Sudjianto
ORGANIZATION: H2O.ai, Ex-Wells Fargo
TITLE: SVP Risk and Technology, Former EVP Head of Corporate Model Risk
AI HIGHLIGHT: Pioneered the Python Interpretable Machine Learning (PiML) framework, setting new standards for transparency and trust in AI for regulated industries
Uday Metpally
ORGANIZATION: United States National Institutes of Health
TITLE: Director, Technology Strategy
AI HIGHLIGHT: Owned AI-driven biomedical research, significantly advancing personalized medicine
Dr. John Scott
ORGANIZATION: U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs
TITLE: Chief Data Officer
AI HIGHLIGHT: Improved veteran healthcare outcomes while building responsible AI practices in the VA
Shane Barney
ORGANIZATION: United States Citizenship and Immigration Services
TITLE: CISO
AI HIGHLIGHT: Augmented human capabilities to increase efficiency rather than replacing human workers
Loren Bushkar
ORGANIZATION: Federal Reserve Board
TITLE: Innovation Policy
AI HIGHLIGHT: Spearheaded AI regulations to influence financial system stability and integrity
Dr. Fei-Fei Li
ORGANIZATION: Stanford University and AI4ALL
TITLE: Professor of Computer Science and Co-Founder
AI HIGHLIGHT: Created ImageNet and Co-founded AI4ALL, a nonprofit to promote diversity and inclusion in AI Published 300+ research papers
Dr. Ebtesam Almazrouei
ORGANIZATION: UN Chair and Founder/CEO of AIE3
TITLE: Chairperson of United Nations, AI for Good
AI HIGHLIGHT: Pioneered Falcon AI models, including the world’s most powerful open AI model, Falcon 180B
Dr. Tanya Y Berger-Wolf
ORGANIZATION: Member, US National Committee
TITLE: Co-founder of Wildbook and director at conservation non-profit @Wild Me
AI HIGHLIGHT: Founder of computational ecology and Co-founded Wildbook, an open source platform using AI to promote wildlife conservation
Dr. Yann LeCun
ORGANIZATION: Meta
TITLE: VP, Chief AI Scientist
AI HIGHLIGHT: Launched Llama 3.1, an open-source, top performing AI model that improves AI accessibility
Our Top 100
| Name | Title | Organization | Industry | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Joe Kleinheinz | Data Science Vice President, Auto Line | Allstate Insurance Co. | Insurance | https://www.linkedin.com/in/kleinhenzj/ |
| Dr. Felix Veroya | Founder and CEO | Ask Lex PH Academy | Education | https://www.linkedin.com/in/felixveroya/ |
| Andy Markus | CDO - AT&T Communications | AT&T | Telecom | https://www.linkedin.com/in/andy-markus-422b137/ |
| Dr. Mark Austin | Vice President, Data Science | AT&T | Telecom | https://www.linkedin.com/in/markaustin5/ |
| Matthew Burris | SVP | Bank of America | Banking and Financial services | https://www.linkedin.com/in/mwburris/ |
| David Tyrie | CDO, CMO | Bank of America | Banking and Financial services | https://www.linkedin.com/in/david-c-tyrie-4a492711/ |
| Venkat Gopalan | Chief Digital Officer, Chief Data Officer, CTO | Belcorp | Retail | https://www.linkedin.com/in/venkatgopalan/ |
| Gassia Fox | Global Head of BlackRock Private Markets Technology | BlackRock | Banking and Financial services | https://www.linkedin.com/in/gassia-fox/ |
| Stephen Schwarzman | Chairman, CEO & Co-Founder | Blackstone | Banking and Financial services | https://www.linkedin.com/in/stephenschwarzman/ |
| Stephanie Pope | President & CEO, Boeing Commercial Airplanes, and COO | Boeing | Airlines | https://www.linkedin.com/in/stephaniefpope/ |
| Uvashni Raman | Group CFO | Booking.com | Ecommerce | https://www.linkedin.com/in/uvashni-raman-32bb6452/ |
| Rob Francis | SVP and CTO | Booking.com | Ecommerce | https://www.linkedin.com/in/rob-francis-472a2/ |
| Rafael Cavalcanti | CDAO | Banco Bradesco | Banking and Financial services | https://www.linkedin.com/in/rafaelfacavalcanti/ |
| Dr. Venkat Sethuraman | SVP, Biometrics and Data Sciences | Bristol Myers Squibb | Life Sciences | https://www.linkedin.com/in/venkat-sethuraman-695251b/ |
| Dr. Prem Natarajan | Chief Scientist and Head of Enterprise Data and AI | Capital One | Banking and Financial services | https://www.linkedin.com/in/natarajan/ |
| Ogi Redzic | CDO, Head of Cat Digital | Caterpillar Inc. | Machinery | https://www.linkedin.com/in/ognjenredzic/ |
| Curt Garner | Chief Customer and Technology Officer | Chipotle Mexican Grill | Restaurants | https://www.linkedin.com/in/curt-garner-6894764/ |
| Krish Swamy | CDAO | Citizens | Banking and Financial services | https://www.linkedin.com/in/krishswamy/ |
| Gabriel Loy Garcia | Analytics and Artificial Intelligence Director | Coca-Cola FEMSA | Retail | https://www.linkedin.com/in/gabriel-l-43386b163/ |
| Neeraj Tolmare | SVP and Global CIO | The Coca-Cola Company | Retail | https://www.linkedin.com/in/neerajtolmare/ |
| Dr. Andrew McMullan | CDAO | Commonwealth Bank of Australia | Banking and Financial services | https://www.linkedin.com/in/andrew-mcmullan-5707ab47/ |
| Dan Jermyn | Chief Decision Scientist | Commonwealth Bank of Australia | Banking and Financial services | https://www.linkedin.com/in/danjermyn/ |
| Matt Comyn | CEO and Managing Director | Commonwealth Bank of Australia | Banking and Financial services | https://www.linkedin.com/in/mattcomyn/ |
| Allen Warch | Vice President, Food and Fresh Merchandising | Dollar General | Retail | https://www.linkedin.com/in/allen-warch-032b8331/ |
| Harald Schneider | CDAO | Equifax | Banking and Financial services | https://www.linkedin.com/in/harald-schneider-948b794/ |
| Dr. Priscilla Almodovar | President and CEO | Fannie Mae | Banking and Financial services | https://www.linkedin.com/in/priscilla-almodovar/ |
| Loren Bushkar | Innovation Policy | Federal Reserve Board | Government | https://www.linkedin.com/in/loren-bushkar/ |
| Tony Pecore | SVP / Director Digital Asset Management | Franklin Templeton | Banking and Financial services | https://www.linkedin.com/in/tony-pecore-2476a6187/ |
| Mary Barra | Chair and CEO | General Motors | Automotive | https://www.linkedin.com/in/mary-barra/ |
| Xavi Amatriain | VP of Product, Core ML/AI | Technology | https://www.linkedin.com/in/xamat/ | |
| Dr. Agus Sudjianto | SVP Risk and Technology, Former EVP Head of Corporate Model Risk | H2O.ai, Ex-Wells Fargo | Banking and Financial services | https://www.linkedin.com/in/agus-sudjianto-76519619/ |
| Sameer Sethi | SVP, CDAO | Hackensack Meridian Health | Healthcare | https://www.linkedin.com/in/sameer-sethi-454286100/ |
| Bob Garrett | CEO | Hackensack Meridian Health | Healthcare | https://www.linkedin.com/in/robert-c-garrett-017391142/ |
| Balkrishna Singhania | EVP, Head of Digital and CDO | HDFC Life | Insurance | https://www.linkedin.com/in/singhaniabk/ |
| Ashok Srivastava | SVP and CDO | Intuit | Technology | https://www.linkedin.com/in/ashoknsrivastava/ |
| Richard Liu | Founder and Chairman | JD.com | Ecommerce | https://jdcorporateblog.com/about-richard-liu-jd-com-founder/ |
| Dr. Jahmy Hindman | SVP and CTO | John Deere | Machinery | https://www.linkedin.com/in/jahmy-hindman-57965533/ |
| Joaquin Duato | Chairman of the Board and CEO | Johnson & Johnson | Healthcare | https://www.linkedin.com/in/joaquinduato/ |
| Jamie Dimon | Chairman of the Board, CEO and President | JPMorgan Chase | Banking and Financial services | https://www.linkedin.com/in/jamiedimon/ |
| Teresa Heitsenrether | CDAO | JPMorgan Chase | Banking and Financial services | https://www.linkedin.com/in/teresa-heitsenrether-8a37901/ |
| Sabrina Dahlgren | Managing Director of Analytics | Kaiser Permanente | Healthcare | https://www.crunchbase.com/person/sabrina-dahlgren |
| Helen Davis | SVP and Head of NA Operations | Kraft Heinz | Consumer goods | https://www.linkedin.com/in/helen-davis-sc/ |
| Adam Schechter | Chairman and CEO | Labcorp | Healthcare | https://www.linkedin.com/in/adam-schechter-55805211/ |
| Rohit Chauhan | EVP, AI | Mastercard | Banking and Financial services | https://www.linkedin.com/in/rohit-chauhan-1a67322/ |
| Nitendra Rajput | SVP and Head - AI Garage | Mastercard | Banking and Financial services | https://www.linkedin.com/in/nitendra-rajput/ |
| Chris Reid | EVP Identity Solutions | Mastercard | Banking and Financial services | https://www.linkedin.com/in/chris-reid-958b0b2a/ |
| Dr. Yann LeCun | VP and Chief AI Scientist | Meta | Technology | https://www.linkedin.com/in/yann-lecun/ |
| Soumya Batra | Tech Lead, Applied Research Scientist | Meta | Technology | https://www.linkedin.com/in/soumyabatra/ |
| Stéphane Bancel | Founding CEO | Moderna | Healthcare | https://www.linkedin.com/in/st%C3%A9phane-bancel-8185251/ |
| Deepesh Chandra | CIO | Montefiore Einstein | Healthcare | https://www.linkedin.com/in/deepeshchandra/ |
| Spencer Neumann | Group CFO | Netflix | Technology | https://www.linkedin.com/in/spencer-neumann-592b6b148/ |
| Jeffrey Vagg | CDAO | North American Bancard | Banking and Financial services | https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeffreyvagg/ |
| Jensen Huang | CEO | NVIDIA | Technology | https://www.linkedin.com/in/jenhsunhuang/ |
| John Cancian | VP, Data Analytics | Osmose | Utilities | https://www.linkedin.com/in/john-cancian-3ba4279/ |
| Rafik El Noumeir | Vice President Insights & Analytics, Africa, Middle East and South Asia Sector | PepsiCo | Retail | https://www.linkedin.com/in/rafik-el-noumeir-091b39/ |
| Dr. Albert Bourla | CEO | Pfizer | Healthcare | https://www.linkedin.com/in/albert-bourla/ |
| Dr. Daniel Rubenstein | Director of Program in Environmental Studies, Class of 1877 Professor of Zoology and Professor & Chair of Department of Ecology & Evolutionary Biology | Princeton University | Education | https://www.linkedin.com/in/daniel-rubenstein-4676714/ |
| Vittorio Cretella | Business Technologist and Board Advisor, former CIO | Ex-Procter & Gamble | Consumer goods | https://www.linkedin.com/in/vittorio-cretella/ |
| Mukesh Ambani | Chairman and Managing Director | Reliance Industries Limited | Telecom | https://www.linkedin.com/in/mukesh-ambani-536121263/ |
| Anna Yip | Deputy CEO, Singtel Singapore / CEO, Business Development | Singtel | Telecom | https://www.ril.com/about/chairman-managing-director |
| Bill Chang | CEO, Digital InfraCo | Singtel | Telecom | https://www.linkedin.com/in/bill-chang-5783b913/ |
| William Woo | Group CIO, / Group Chief Digital Officer | Singtel | Telecom | https://www.linkedin.com/in/woowilliam/ |
| Dr. Stephen Boyd | Samsung Professor in the School of Engineering Professor, Department of Electrical Engineering Member, Institute for Computational and Mathematical Engineering Stanford University | Stanford University | Education | https://www.linkedin.com/in/stephanie-boyd-6425b02bb/ |
| Dr. Rob Tibshirani | Professor of Statistics, Professor of Biomedical Data Science | Stanford University | Education | https://www.linkedin.com/in/rob-tibshirani-0143391/ |
| Dr. Fei-Fei Li | Co-Founder, Chairperson of the Board, Sequoia Capital Professor, Denning Family Co-Director (On Leave) of Stanford HAI, Senior Fellow at HAI and Professor, by courtesy, of Operations, Information and Technology at the Graduate School of Business | Stanford University, Stanford HAI and AI4ALL | Education | https://www.linkedin.com/in/fei-fei-li-4541247/ |
| Anthony Goldbloom | Founder and CEO, Investment Partner | Sumble, Formerly Kaggle | Technology | https://www.linkedin.com/in/anthonygoldbloom/ |
| Gretchen McCarthy | EVP, Chief Supply Chain and Logistics Officer | Target | Retail | https://www.linkedin.com/in/gretchen-mccarthy-18476a7/ |
| Dr. Sean Otto | Sr Director, Data Science and Analytics | The AES Corporation | Utilities | https://www.linkedin.com/in/seanottophd/ |
| Jinghua Guo | Head of Digital and Intelligence Plans, Chief Digitalisation Officer | The Digital and Intelligence Service | Government | https://www.linkedin.com/in/jinghua-guo-096493145/ |
| Dr. Timnit Gebru | Founder and Executive Director | The Distributed AI Research Institute (DAIR) | Technology | https://www.linkedin.com/in/timnit-gebru-7b3b407/ |
| Patrick Hall | Assistant Professor | The George Washington University | Education | https://www.linkedin.com/in/jpatrickhall/ |
| Fahim Siddiqui | EVP and CIO | The Home Depot | Retail | https://www.linkedin.com/in/fahimthd/ |
| Dr. Daniel Ting | International Advisory Board | The Lancet Digital Health | Healthcare | https://www.linkedin.com/in/daniel-ting-0b327895/ |
| Ryan Snyder | SVP and CIO | Thermo Fisher Scientific | Life sciences | https://www.linkedin.com/in/ryan-snyder-52557b2/ |
| Sastry Durvasula | Chief Information and Client Services Officer, SVP | TIAA | Banking and Financial services | https://www.linkedin.com/in/durvasula/ |
| Dr. Swatee Singh | CIO Data, AI and Corporate Tech, EVP, Chief Data and AI Officer | TIAA | Banking and Financial services | https://www.linkedin.com/in/swatee-singh-phd-b237916/ |
| Donnie King | President and CEO | Tyson Foods | Retail | https://www.linkedin.com/in/donnie-king-760878166/ |
| Dr. Rumman Chowdhury | Member, Artificial Intelligence Safety and Security Board, AI Steering Committee Member, United States Science Envoy for Artificial Intelligence | U.S. Department of Homeland Security, City of New York, U.S. Department of State | Government | https://www.linkedin.com/in/rumman/ |
| Hemant Baidwan | CISO | U.S. Department of Homeland Security | Government | https://www.linkedin.com/in/hbaidwan/ |
| Pramila Jayapal | Member of Congress, Senator, 37th LD | U.S. House of Representatives, Washington State Senate | Government | https://www.linkedin.com/in/pramila-jayapal-80b7488/ |
| Dr. Ebtesam Almazrouei | Chairperson of the Executive Board, Founder and CEO, Memeber of Science and Engineering Advisory Board at Sorbonne University, Leading the UAE Al subcommittee on Big Data, Advisory member of the worldwide steering board | UN’s AI for Good Impact Initiative, AIE3, Sorbonne University Abu Dhabi, Al expert group subcommittee of the UAE Council for Al and Blockchain, Wireless World Research Forum | Education | https://www.linkedin.com/in/dr-ebtesam-almazrouei-90b956a9/ |
| Anusha Dandapani | Chief Data & AI Services Officer, Adjunct Faculty, Core Commission Member | UNICC, Fordham University, NYU School of Professional Studies, NYC Department of Education | Technology | https://www.linkedin.com/in/anushadandapani/ |
| Hein Schumacher | CEO | Unilever | Consumer goods | https://www.linkedin.com/in/hein-schumacher/ |
| Jason Birnbaum | CIO | United Airlines | Airlines | https://www.linkedin.com/in/jebirnbaum/ |
| Dr. Bakari Dale | Army’s Business Mission Area Data Officer | U.S. Army | Government | https://www.linkedin.com/in/bakari-dale/ |
| Shane Barney | CISO | U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services | Government | https://www.linkedin.com/in/shane-barney-69026528/ |
| Dr. Barry Humphrey | Research and Development Project Manager | U.S. Defense Logistics Agency | Government | https://www.linkedin.com/in/drbarry-humphrey/ |
| Dr. Jay Obernolte | Member of Congress for California's 23rd Congressional District, President and founder | U.S. House of Representatives, Farsight Studios, Inc. | Government | https://www.linkedin.com/in/jayobernolte/ |
| Uday Metpally | Director, Technology Strategy | National Institutes of Health | Government | https://www.linkedin.com/in/udaymetpally/ |
| Dr. John Scott | Interim VHA CDO | U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs | Government | https://www.linkedin.com/in/scottjs/ |
| Margaret Mary Wilson | Chief Medical Officer and EVP | UnitedHealth Group | Healthcare | https://www.linkedin.com/in/margaret-mary-wilson-md-mba-mrcp-fnmcp-36b04321/ |
| Carol Tomé | CEO, Board of Directors | UPS | Supply chain | https://www.linkedin.com/in/carolbtome/ |
| Dr. Tanya Y Berger-Wolf | Member, US National Committee, Scientific Advisor, Director, Member of Board on Life Sciences, Project Lead | International Union of Biological Sciences, Conservation X Labs, AI and Biodiversity Change Global Climate Center, The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, ICICLE | Government | https://www.linkedin.com/in/tanyabw/ |
| Doug McMillon | President and CEO | Walmart | Retail | https://www.linkedin.com/in/dougmcmillon/ |
| Chintan Mehta | EVP, Group CIO - Digital, Innovation and Strategy & Technology Fellow | Wells Fargo | Banking and Financial services | https://www.linkedin.com/in/chintanm/ |
| Celina Lee | CEO and Co-Founder | Zindi Africa | Technology | https://www.linkedin.com/in/celina-lee-0a781150/ |
| Jeff Chapman | Bank CTO, Managing Director, Head of Banking Technology | UBS | Banking and Financial services | https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeffreymchapman/ |
| Jack Choquette | Senior Distinguished Engineer | NVIDIA | Technology | https://www.linkedin.com/in/jack-choquette-2b9594/ |
| Sam Hamilton | SVP, Data and AI | Visa | Banking and Financial services | https://www.linkedin.com/in/samhton/ |
| Dr. Atlas Wang | Research Director, Associate Professor | XTX Markets, The University of Texas at Austin | Banking and Financial services | https://www.linkedin.com/in/atlas-wang-41b726259/ |
Judges
Alexandra V. Mousavizadeh
CEO and Co-founder, Evident
Alexandra has spent the last 25 years ranking and quantifying complex societal and political forces. She started her career at Moody’s, then Morgan Stanley, later became CEO of ARC Ratings and then Director of the Prosperity Index. Most recently, Alexandra was a Founding Partner at Tortoise Media, where she ran Tortoise Intelligence, the Index and data business. Here, she was the architect of the groundbreaking Global AI Index, the first benchmark to track the strength of national AI ecosystems. She holds a degree in economics, mathematics and game theory from the University of Copenhagen.
Olivier Grellier
Vice President of Data Science, H2O.ai
Olivier Grellier is a double Kaggle Grandmaster who joined H2O as a Senior Data Scientist in 2019 and is leading the largest Grandmaster team in the world since 2020, an incredible privilege! Olivier holds a Ph.D. in Signal Processing and graduated from Centrale/Supelec, France. Before H2O.ai, he engaged in software development, data science, project management and team leading at Amadeus London and Capgemini Paris.
Generative AI Judges
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