2016 Award Winners

CIO of the Year

This award recognizes the top Chief Information Officer in Middle Tennessee as identified through open nominations. Nominees must have demonstrated leadership, driven innovation, and delivered value to the organization. Nominees must be leaders in their own IT organization and have made a difference for an organization based in or with a significant presence in Middle Tennessee. Commitment to the technology community is also an important aspect of this award. Nominees must currently be a CIO or senior IT professional in the organization. Nominations are open and finalists will be judged by a panel of independent judges.

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Kent Petty

HCA HealthTrust

Rik Reitmaier

Genesco

William Orange

Nissan

Winner

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CISO of the Year

This award is presented to the top Chief Information Security Officer in Middle Tennessee as identified through open nominations. Nominees must have demonstrated leadership in their field, improved the security of their organization’s data and technology resources, created a security-conscious culture, and delivered value to the organization. Nominees must be leaders in their organization and have made a difference that positively impacts Middle Tennessee. Commitment to the technology community is also an important aspect of this award. Nominees must currently be a Chief Information Security Officer or a senior IT security professional in the organization. Nominations are open and finalists will be judged by a panel of independent judges.

Jacob Arthur

Corizon Health

Joey Johnson

Premise Health

Winner

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CTO of the Year

This award is presented to the top Chief Technology Officer in Middle Tennessee as identified through open nominations. Nominees must have driven innovation and delivered value to their organization and its customers through their visionary leadership of a technology-based product or service development or delivery. Nominees must be leaders in their organization and have made a difference that positively impacts Middle Tennessee. Commitment to the technology community is also an important aspect of this award. Nominees must currently be the CTO or senior IT professional in the company. Nominations are open and finalists will be judged by a panel of independent judges.

Brian Dailey

Stratasan

Matt Russell

Digital Reasoning

Winner

Jerome Ogelsby

Deloitte

Sponsored by

Technology Company of the Year

This award recognizes a Technology Company making a significant impact in Middle Tennessee as identified through open nominations. This award is a celebration of a technology organization in Middle Tennessee that creates or uses technology products or services to support the region’s economic health. The company must be innovative in its use or delivery of technology-based products and services. Nominees must be headquartered or have a significant presence in Middle Tennessee. Nominations are open and finalists will be judged by a panel of independent judges.

Winner

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Early Stage Company Of The Year

This award recognizes the top tech Early Stage Company in Middle Tennessee as identified through open nominations. This award is presented to a start-up or emerging growth company that has shown exceptional growth through technological innovation. The winning company must have used technology in a new and innovative way to obtain success and contribute to the region’s overall economic health. The winning company must be registered and headquartered within the state of Tennessee, be less than three years old, have at least 3 employees, and have revenues of no more than $500,000 not including investment annually. Nominations are open and finalists will be judged by a panel of independent judges.

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utilize-health_logo

Winner

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Innovator Of The Year

This award recognizes the top individual Innovator in Middle Tennessee as identified through open nominations. This award is presented to an individual who has created or implemented an innovative technology-based product, service or process that enhances customer experience, profitability, efficiency, or life experience. Nominees must be based in Middle Tennessee and the innovation must, at a minimum, positively impact a community in Tennessee. Nominations are open and finalists will be judged by a panel of independent judges.

Rob Watkins

Tennessee Justice Center

Brian Fox

Confirmation.com

Winner

Mark Cleveland

Hytch

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Software Developer/Architect/IT Engineer of the Year

This award is presented the top software developer, architect, programmer, or engineer in the Middle Tennessee region as identified through open nominations. Nominees must have demonstrated leadership, driven innovation and delivered value based on their technical aptitude to the organization. They should also be seen as technological leaders in their own IT organization and in the community. Involvement in user groups and furthering the development of the region’s technology community is a plus. Nominees may be employed within an organization or be self-employed. Nominations are open and finalists will be judged by a panel of independent judges.

Scott Burns

Stratasan

Andria Jensen

HCA IT&S

Winner

Justin Clymer

HCA Healthtrust

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Technology Student of the Year

This award is presented the top tech student in the Middle Tennessee region as identified through open nominations. The Technology Student of the Year award is presented to a student who demonstrates academic excellence in a technology-related field of study. Nominees must represent next generation technology leaders who have the ability to make a difference in Middle Tennessee’s technology community. Nominees will be judged on academic excellence and community & campus service. Finalists will be judged by a panel of independent judges.

Lauren Gardiner

Lipscomb University

Winner

Mary Denise

Williamson County Schools

Cameron Davidson

Lipscomb University

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Data Scientist of the Year

This award is presented to the top data scientist or business intelligence professional in the Middle Tennessee region as identified through open nominations. Nominees must have demonstrated measurable business impact through the use of data science. They should also be viewed as technological leaders in their own organization and in the community. Involvement in user groups, participation in hackathons or competitions and furthering the development of the region’s technology community is a plus. Commitment to the technology community is also an important aspect of this award. Nominations are open and finalists will be judged by a panel of independent judges.

John Liu

Digital Reasoning

Winner

Faker Zouaoui

Asurion

Jason King

XSOLIS

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Team of the Year

This award is presented to the top development, architecture, engineering or leadership team (comprised of 2 or more people) in the Middle Tennessee region as identified through open nominations. Team efforts can be for software development, hardware engineering, data center engineering, strategy or other technology related endeavors. Nominated teams must have demonstrated leadership, driven innovation and delivered value to the organization through a project or set of projects for their organization or community. The business value and success of the project/set of projects should be recognized for its/their ROI. As a team, involvement in user groups and furthering the development of the region’s technology community is a plus. Nominated teams should be employed within an organization. Nominations are open and finalists will be judged by a panel of independent judges.

Winner

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Nissan

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Community Leader of the Year

This award is presented to an individual who contributes to the technology community of Middle Tennessee through involvement, leadership and excellence in giving back, as identified through open nominations. Nominees will be judged on community involvement and impact. Nominations are open and finalists will be judged by a panel of independent judges. Examples include: educating our next generation technology leaders; volunteering in the tech community, including K-12 or higher education programs; leading, supporting, or growing tech community groups or programs, such as user groups or mentoring programs; supporting efforts to expand or improve the available technology work force through training, mentorship, or otherwise supporting tech professionals; and/or supporting non-profit, government or education through donating needed technology, and/or time and talent.

Daniel Glenn

InfoWorks

Joumana Rahime

My1stCode

Winner

Charles Apigian

Middle Tennessee State University

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Infrastructure Award

The award is presented to the top firm hosting infrastructure in the Middle Tennessee region as identified through open nominations. Nominees must have demonstrated designing, planning, building and running a modern infrastructure. The infrastructure must have a strategic impact on the business and show growth or savings. The infrastructure must have sufficient complexity and efficiently built to support wide scale users. The infrastructure can support either web-based, client server, api integration or data correlation. The implementation must be novel. Nominations are open and finalists will be judged by a panel of independent judges.

Ardent Health Services

Winner

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Emerging Leader Award

This award recognizes the top Emerging Leader in Middle Tennessee as identified through open nominations. The Emerging Leader of the Year award is presented to an individual who demonstrates excellence in delivering business results through others. Nominees should have demonstrated success in developing leadership skills and self-awareness to make a difference in the performance of their team. They should also be seen as leaders in their own IT organization and in the community. Leadership engagement in user groups and local technology events is a plus. Nominees will be judged on business results and employee development. Nominations are open and finalists will be judged by a panel of independent judges.

Ray Ritz

NaviHealth

Bryan Mayes

Eventbrite

Winner

Tom Waddell

Premise Health

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Growth Stage Company

This award recognizes the top tech Early Stage Company in Middle Tennessee as identified through open nominations. This award is presented to a start-up or emerging growth company that has shown exceptional growth through technological innovation. The winning company must have used technology in a new and innovative way to obtain success and contribute to the region’s overall economic health. The winning company must be registered and headquartered within the state of Tennessee, be at least two years old, have at least 3 employees, and have revenues of no less than $500,000 not including investment annually. Nominations are open and finalists will be judged by a panel of independent judges.

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Built

Winner

msignia

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