Data Science Connect’s Top 100 Data + AI Leaders of Chicago highlights the executives redefining how organizations leverage data, analytics, and artificial intelligence to drive business transformation.

As one of the nation’s leading business and innovation centers, Chicago continues to foster a strong ecosystem of enterprise technology, advanced analytics, and operational leadership. This year’s list recognizes influential leaders across industries including finance, healthcare, logistics, manufacturing, retail, and technology who are setting the direction for modern AI adoption inside the enterprise. From building scalable data ecosystems to operationalizing AI initiatives, these executives are helping their organizations create long-term competitive advantage in an increasingly AI-driven economy.

We’ll celebrate these leaders at the ALIGN AI Executive Summit in Chicago on July 15, 2026, at City Winery Chicago. This invite/application-only gathering will bring together 150+ senior executives for candid, peer-to-peer conversations on AI strategy, architecture trade-offs, and scaling challenges.

Celebrate the leaders advancing Chicago’s data and AI ecosystem and connect with the executives shaping the future of enterprise innovation.

Elena Garvey

IT Director - Data Analytics & Business Insights

Maria Thompson

Global Innovation Process Director

Divya Gubba

VP of Product Management, Global Banking Platform

Raymond Boyle

Vice President, Data and Analytics

Jennifer Camp

VP, R&D Data Analytics

Maureen Butler

VP, Digital Technology Lean and Data Transformation

Mina Valizadeh

VP, Applied AI, ML Lead

Mary Kate Selling

VP, Chief Analytics Officer

Daniel Mayer

CISO

Tina Esposito

Chief Data Officer

Keith Munns

VP, Product, AI & Data Platform

Xun Chen

VP, Global Head of Data and Statistical Sciences

Karin Chu

VP, Head of AI, Data Science & Analytics

Lenny Fayard

SVP, Product Strategy

Shantelle Thomas

VP, Data, Discovery & Decision Science

Noelle Sjögren

VP of Grid Operations and Analytics

Eileen Sladky

VP, Analytics & Operations

Harish Nakra

Chief Data Officer

Jyothi Raja

Chief Analytics and AI Officer

Spencer Allee-Yeh

Chief AI Officer

Abhishek Vaidya

Chief Analytics Officer

Peter Forbes

SVP, Data Scientist II

Michelle Cater

VP, Commercial Marketing, Planning and Analytics

Carson Boneck

Chief Data Officer

Abigail Abisinito

VP of Data and Analytics

Parul Cheriyan

Chief Data Officer, Customers & Products

Joel Raedeke

Chief Technology and Data Science Officer

Brian McElligott

SVP, Head of Cboe Data Vantage

Jordan Thompson

Vice Chairman , Data Center Solutions

Ray Halper

VP, Analytics Engineering

Simeon Schwarz

Chief Data Officer

Chase Carpenter

VP, Strategy & Analytics

Jimmy Yang

Chief Risk Analytics and Infrastructure Officer

Ross Gordon

Sr. Director, Data Engineering, Agentic AI

Jane Possell

EVP, Chief Information Officer, Analytics, Operations

Bob Nolan

SVP, Demand Science (Insights & Analytics)

David Mao

Divisional SVP, AI, Transformation, and PMO

Amanda Grasso

Chief Data Officer

He Zhang

Chief Data Science Officer

Scott Friesen

EVP, Strategic Analytics

Abhi Dhar

Chief Information Officer

Kate Sirkin

Chief Data Officer

Ekta Punwani

VP, Finance and Analytics

Chris Dudek

VP, Director, Analytics & Trading Sales

Sejal Sura

SVP, Analytics

Chris Tambos

VP, Data & Analytics

Brian Archey

VP, Data Science & Analytics

David Gruzewski

SVP, Data, AI, and Architecture

Lara Liss

Chief Privacy and Data Trust Officer

Ryan Rasmussen

SVP, Executive Director, Analytics

Kelly Kapshandy

VP, Analytics

Derrick Higgins

VP, Data Science & AI Solutions

Deanna Flynn

VP, Marketing & Analytics

Daniel Walton

VP, Data and Analytics

Carrie Cunningham

AVP, Analytics and Chief Data Officer

Dejan Jovanov

Chief Data & Informatics Officer

Matthew Conwell

VP, Enterprise Analytics & A.I.

Juan Soto

President of Artificial Intelligence

Laurie Whitehouse

SVP, Director of Analytics

Marina Ashiotou

VP, Data and Artificial Intelligence

Matt Landek

President, Data Centers & Critical Environments

Michael Gidaspow

Chief Digital Officer

Risa Duesing

VP, Global Head of Consumer Insights & Marketing Analytics

Justin Rivera

VP, Strategy & Analytics

Rajiv Kolagani

Chief Data & AI Officer

David Hirschfeld

Chief Data Officer

Kelly O'Brien

VP of Product Strategy, Commercial Card

Will Kelly

Global EVP, AI Products & Services

Vijay Rajandram

Chief Data Officer

Alex Kreig

SVP, Data Science

Cynthia Clarke

Managing Director and Chief Data Officer

Sarah Roe

VP Director, Data & Analytics

Garrett Young

VP, Analytics & Data Products

Dinesh Malhotra

VP, GM. Cloud, Data & AI

Suvadeep Bose

VP, Advanced Analytics and AI

Shaina Boone

Head of Enterprise Analytics, Product & Operations

Ilona Polinovsky

Area VP, Healthcare Payer Analytics Solutions

Hilary Burns

EVP, Global AI Lead

Gurpreet Singh

AVP, Data Science

Laura Bergedieck

SVP Flexible Solutions

Jane Rheem

Chief Data & AI Officer

Arnab Dan

VP, Lead Software Engineer, Predictive and Gen AI

Teresa Murphy

SVP, Enterprise Applications, Growth Platforms, Data & AI

Katelyn Jones

VP, Impact Insights and Analytics

Jessica Crosbie

VP, Global Insights and Analytics Oncology Business Unit

Maggie Kong

VP, Data Science, AI, & Analytics, Operations & Customer Journey

Scott Malone

SVP, AI Strategy & Execution

Arunkumar Santhanagopalan

Head of Applied AI

Josh Siebert

VP, AI, Data and Enterprise Platforms

Navot Blits

SVP, Strategy, Analytics & Data Science

Emily Bauer

VP, Analytics

Keith Kreissl

VP, Engineering, AI

Xinyu Wu

SVP, AI, ML Model Validations

Natalie LaPorta

VP, Associate General Counsel Technology, Data and Privacy

Darren Taylor

VP, Global Data Strategy & Governance

Sean Seeling

Chief Data Officer

Jessica Xu

VP, Analytics Engineering

Caitlin Klein

VP, Associate General Counsel, Global Data Privacy and Cybersecurity

Prakash Tilwani

EVP, Global Retail and Consumer AI, Tech and Prod

Josh Warren

VP, AI Strategy and Innovation