Corporate CEO title winners and Hall of Famers announced for 2024 Tech Titans Awards » Dallas Innovates
The Tech Titans Awards honor the top innovators, adopters and implementers impacting the technology industry in North Texas, from artificial intelligence to robotics to education, automation and more. This year’s Sept. 20 awards ceremony, presented by UT Dallas, is fast approaching — and two notable honorees have already been announced.
This year’s gala will be held on September 20th from 5 to 9 p.m. at the Renaissance Addison Hotel. Four companies, four universities and 32 individuals – including four high school teachers – have been named as finalists.
But before we get to the list of finalists, let’s get to know the two announced winners.
InfoVision’s Sean Yalamanchi appointed Corporate CEO
Sean Yalamanchi, co-founder and CEO of Richardson-based InfoVision, was named the organization’s 2024 Corporate CEO. InfoVision is a global IT services and solutions leader that delivers solutions for digital transformation and enterprise modernization.
“Sean Yalamanchi is a strong leader in the tech community in North Texas and around the world,” said Paul Bendel, executive director of Tech Titans, in a statement. “He is a true innovator and entrepreneur with an impressive track record, highlighted by his deep commitment to mentoring the next generation of future entrepreneurs and technologists. We greatly value Sean’s contributions to the North Texas tech community. He is a former board member of Tech Titans, and we are pleased to honor him for his leadership as an outstanding CEO.”
According to Tech Titans, InfoVision has received countless industry awards in the areas of artificial intelligence, product innovation and cybersecurity, as well as recognition for outstanding company growth and work culture.
Before co-founding InfoVision nearly 29 years ago, Yalamanchi was a co-founder, investor and board member at Digit7. He also held the same three roles at Visual Collaboration Technologies. His career also includes serving as President of ClearRES and Program Manager for AECOM Technology Corporation.
George Brody, founder of InfoNet of Things, inducted into the Tech Titans Hall of Fame
George Brody, long a leading innovator in the mobile industry, will be inducted into the Tech Titans Hall of Fame at the gala in September.
Brody is the founder and CEO of InfoNet of Things, an IoT solutions company he founded after a brief break from a 51-year career in business and entrepreneurship. He is also the board chairman of Turbostart, a global venture capital fund and accelerator focused on investing in and supporting early-stage technology-driven startups.
“George Brody is a legend in the North Texas tech community and around the world,” said Bendel. “He had an amazing career, retired and then came back because entrepreneurs and innovators never really stop thinking and working. We are grateful to George for his contributions and are excited to honor him as one of the best of the best.”
In the 2019 issue of Dallas Innovates magazine, we joined Brody to discuss a wide range of technology topics in depth. The IoT expert told us that the concentration of industrial manufacturers in North Texas “has long enabled the innovation potential of the convergence of communications, community and computing.” He also made several technical predictions—you can read them here.
Brody’s career in business included leadership roles at Siemens Communications and BNR/Nortel in Canada, Florida and North Texas. At Nortel, he led large teams in wireless technology adoption from the 1980s to the late 1990s, including managing Bell Northern Research Labs in Richardson. At Nortel, he eventually became a business “intrapreneur,” developing and managing entrepreneurial start-ups within Nortel’s internal ecosystem, including Wireless New Business Ventures, a business incubator.
Outside the corporate world, Brody co-founded GlobeRanger in 1998, a venture-backed provider of RFID and IoT asset tracking solutions that became a leading player in the IoT industry. He served as CEO and led the company’s global expansion until Fujitsu acquired it in 2014, Tech Titans reported.
Brody now leads InfoNet of Things, which Tech Titans said aligns with his focus on emerging technologies such as IoT, 5G, AI, and AR/VR and their applications in various sectors, including medicine and enterprise. He also serves on a number of advisory boards and boards for UTD’s Jindal School of Management, UTD’s Institute of Innovation and Entrepreneurship, TiE Dallas Angels, and more.
Tech Titans Awards :: The 2024 finalists
However, many Tech Titans Award winners have yet to be announced. Here is this year’s list of categories and finalists:
CIO/CTO of the company
Paul Challoner, Ericsson North America
Sandeep Chaturvedi, GM Finance
Kelle L. Fontenot, KPMG USA
Rajeev Gandhi, Mobilecomm – A UST company
CEO of a start-up
Sarah Doutt, Myngly
Sarah Sheed, Stem cells
Veena Somareddy, NeuroRehab VR
Tom Vazhekatt, Routora, Inc.
CEO of an emerging company
Jon Bolen, ENTOUCH control
Eric Fortenberry, JobTread Software
Pradeep Govindasamy, Qualizeal, Inc.
Renee Rump, Heads-Up Technologies
CIO/CTO of an emerging company
Seth Coussen, EMERGICON, LLC
Joe Head, intrusion
Chad Stilwell, Agora data
Angela Venuk, Data scan
Technical inventors
Chris Godfrey, Blood purchase
Ifana Mahbub, University of Texas at Dallas
Astha Malhotra, Phylactics, LLC
Shalini Prasad, University of Texas at Dallas/EnLiSense
Hero of the Community
Julia O’Dima, STEAM success stories
Britney Keeps, Toyota Connected North America
Shoba Krishnamurthy, DFW*ATW
Sunita Mann, Melodies for heads
Technical Lawyer
Karen Bruno, Launchpad for technical CxOs
Quincy Preston, Dallas is innovative
Deborah Sawyer, The Vistage Group
Sarah White, TechFW
Corporate innovation
CBRE
Ericsson North America
GM Finance
KPMG USA
Innovation for emerging companies
Dallas Museum of Art
ENTOUCH control
Netzyn, Inc.
Parkland Center for Clinical Innovation
Tech Titans of the Future – High School
Jason Dewese, Plano Independent School District
Kjeil Lease, Lewisville Independent School District
David Johnston, Richardson Independent School District
Stone Mahnich, Richardson Independent School District
Tech Titans of the Future – Community College and University
UNT Center for Information and CybersecurityAnd UNT Network Security Lab, University of North Texas
Jindal School of Management – Graduate Programs, University of Texas at Dallas
STEM Institute, Dallas College
UTDesign Capstone, University of Texas at Dallas
“All of our finalists are making outstanding contributions to the technology industry and deserve recognition,” said Bendel. “Given the intensive and thorough review of the candidates by our judges, being named as a finalist is an admirable achievement by these individuals and organizations. We look forward to announcing the award winners and celebrating their achievements and the achievements of all of our finalists at this year’s awards ceremony.”
In addition to UT Dallas, the main sponsor of the 2024 Tech Titans Awards Gala, the program is also supported by Amazech, BGSF, BravoTECH, City of Richardson, Collin College, Comerica Bank, CornerStone Technology Talent Services, Dallas College, Deloitte, Ericsson, HumCap, Moss Adams, Richardson Independent School District, Southern Methodist University Global Online (SMU GO), Turbostart and Qorvo.
Further information and tickets for the event can be found here.
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