CIO 100 Index 2022 in association with Equinix — Part 2

The Business & Finance CIO 100 Index 2022, in association with Equinix, recognises the top 100 Chief Information Officers working across some of the most innovative companies in Ireland today.

The CIO 100 Index 2022 was launched officially today at Dublin Tech Summit on 15th June, 2022, at an 8am breakfast reception in the RDS Minerva Room. Sponsored and opened by Equinix, it featured a keynote address from Harry Moseley, Co-CIO of Zoom.

Joining the discussion were some of Ireland’s leading IT professionals, Colin Kennedy, CIO DPD Ireland and Ashling Cunningham, CIO, Irish Water. The panel was moderated by Joan Mulvihill, Digitalisation & Sustainability Lead, Siemens. Michael Galvin, Enterprise Sales Director, Ireland, Equinix, opened the discussion. 

Maurice Mortell, Manager Director, Equinix Ireland spoke about the importance of the event at a recent photocall: “The CIO 100 Index event is testament to the fact that our economy and the digital world have become inextricably linked. The future of business – and our everyday lives – relies on brave decision-making from our digital leaders and it is important that we celebrate those people and the far-reaching impact they are making. Equinix is proud to be supporting the CIO 100 Index and I look forward to some rich conversations with the people driving innovation across Ireland today when we gather at the RDS in June.” 

Here is section four of the four-section list.

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4

Ronan Fitzpatrick, CIO,
VHI

Ronan Fitzpatrick has been CIO at the VHI group since 2021 with previous roles including Director of Digital at PwC Ireland and Director of Digital and Mobile at Aer Lingus. Ronan achieved a BSc in Applied Computing in 1994 from Waterford Institute of Technology.

Lidia Fonesca, Chief Digital and Technology Officer,
Pfizer

Lidia Fonseca is Executive Vice President, Chief Digital and Technology Officer at Pfizer, responsible for enterprise-wide digital, data and technology strategy, products and solutions, as well as Learning and Development and Business Process Excellence. In her prior role, Lidia was the Senior Vice President and CIO at Quest Diagnostics, the world’s leading provider of diagnostic information. In 2020, Lidia joined Fast Company’s Impact Council and Pfizer was named one of Fast Company magazine’s 100 Best Workplaces for Innovators.

She was on ALPFA’s 2020 and 2021 list of the 50 Most Powerful Latinas and named 2020 Healthcare Influencer and 2019 Healthcare Transformer by Medical, Marketing and Media. She received Forbes’ 2017 CIO Innovation Award. Lidia is a member of the Board of Directors of Tegna, Inc (NYSE: TGNA). Previously a member of the Board of Directors of Gannet, Inc (NYSE: GCI) from 2014 to 2017. She also was a board member of Q2 Solutions, a joint venture between Quest Diagnostics and IQVIA from 2016 to 2018.

Jacky Fox, Managing Director, Security Lead Ireland,
Accenture

Jacky is Managing director and leads Accenture’s security practice in Ireland. She has 20+ years’ experience in the industry, serves as Vice-chair on the board of Cyberireland and lectures on Cyber Security in UCD. She is an active researcher and public speaker and was awarded security champion of the year 2018 in Ireland. Jacky was also named in the EMEA SC 50 women of influence in cyber.

Paul French, Chief Information Officer,
Aviva

Picture by City Headshots Dublin

Paul French was appointed Chief Information Officer at Aviva Ireland in October 2018 and is responsible for all aspects of the IT and Digital strategies across both of Aviva’s regulated businesses in Ireland. Paul has extensive experience across a number of different industries and prior to joining Aviva, he was Head of Trading Technology at Paddy Power Betfair, where he held a number of senior positions leading large engineering teams for the group. Paul holds a BSc in Computing and an MBA from IE Business School, Madrid.

Colm Gartlan, IT Director,
Norbrook Laboratories Ltd

Colm Gartlan, the current IT Director at Norbrook Laboratories Ltd, is an experienced executive with global operations experience and a proven track record in business transformation, business process re-engineering and optimisation, strategy development and execution, software applications development and support, project management, risk management, operations excellence and leadership development.

His specialties include Business Relationship Management; Strategy Development & Execution; Enterprise Architecture; Program & Project Management; Infrastructure & Applications Service Delivery; Supplier Relationship Management; People Management & Leadership Development; Risk Management & Compliance; Financial Management & Control; and IT Operations Excellence. Previous positions include Vice President, Information Management at Xerox Corporation and Computer Integrated Manufacturing & Information Technology at Motorola.

Tom Grealis, Technology Director,
Bord Gáis Energy

Tom Grealis leads the development and execution of the company’s technology strategy. Prior to joining Bord Gáis Energy in January 2019, Tom had a 16-year career with RTÉ, and led the design and development of its digital services as Director of Production & Operations in RTÉ Digital. He has also acted as a consultant to the GAA. Tom holds a B.A. in Economics and English and a Higher Diploma in Applied Communications, both from the National University of Ireland, Galway.

Stuart Halford, Chief Information Officer,
Goodbody

Stuart is an experienced technology leader with over 25 years of experience across the private and public sector, predominantly in the heavily regulated financial services industry. He is responsible for Goodbody’s technology strategy, infrastructure architecture and information security in addition to leading the delivery of key technology change and operational management of the firm’s technology services and outsourced/managed service providers. He has a track record of successfully delivering innovative technology solutions and strategic transformation initiatives supporting the firm’s overall business strategy whilst ensuring regulatory compliance, security, resilience and availability. He holds a B.Eng from UCD.

James Hallam, Head of IT,
CityJet

James Hallam is the current Head of IT at CityJet and has full responsibility for Cityjet’s IT Department; developing and implementing a coherent strategy across their technology portfolio to serve the evolving needs of the company; developing team skills and competencies for evolving roles; budget oversight. Hallam is adept at adapting to changing business requirements by implementing, improving and optimising existing services and identifying products to fulfil new and existing business requirements. His is particularly adept at identifying where technology sits best within an organisation to deliver greater efficiency and cost savings.

John Hampson, Chief Information Officer,
Ardagh Group

John Hampson joined Ardagh Group as Chief Information Officer in 2009. Ardagh​​ Group is a global supplier of sustainable, infinitely recyclable, metal and glass packaging and operates 57 production facilities in 12 countries, employing 16,000+ people with sales of approximately $7bn. Prior to joining Ardagh, Hampson held a number of senior IT management positions in the financial services sector in Ireland, including roles as Chief Technical Architect in a major Irish bank and as Chief Technical Officer of Altamedius, a mobile payments start-up company. He holds a Bachelor of Engineering (Hons) degree in Electronic Systems from the University of Ulster and is a Fellow of the Irish Computer Society.

Simon Hanratty, Chief Information Officer,
Irish Life

Family Photography by Joan Shannon Photography

Since 2019, Simon Hanratty has been Chief Information Officer at Irish Life, working at the company since 2004. Simon also worked in various roles at O2 Ireland such as Development Manager, Head of IT and Head of Products and Services. His roles in IT, Operations and Strategy across multiple industries have allowed Simon to learn more about how Change can be driven, designed, facilitated and even reversed.

Deborah Harrington, Group IT Director,
Dairygold Co-operative Society Ltd

Deborah Harrington has been Group IT Director at Dairygold Co-operative Society LTD since December 2018. Prior to her appointment to the role, she was Dairygold’s Business Solutions Manager.

Tom Hayes, Chief Technology Officer,
Permanent TSB

Tom is Group CTO and member of the Executive Committee at Permanent TSB. Tom is accountable for the development and implementation of the Bank’s digital transformation strategy, strategic technology roadmap and cyber resilience programme. Tom also leads out on all critical services delivery across the Bank. Tom’s digital and technology strategies are centred on building trust with PTSB customers. Tom is an experienced digital leader with a passion for innovation in the use of digital technologies to create compelling customer experiences.

Dermot Hennessy, Director of Infrastructure,
Flutter Entertainment Plc

Dermot Hennessy is Director of Infrastructure, Flutter UKI, with responsibility for hosting all of the platforms underpinning Paddy Power, Betfair, and Skybet. A graduate of UL and UCD, Hennessy joined Paddy Power in 2012, having been a consultant to that company from Accenture. Prior to this, Hennessy had a varied background in development and project management across sectors such as Telecoms, Travel, Automotive, Healthcare, Insurance and Banking.

Adam Hoffman, IT Infrastructure Manager,
Mercury Engineering

Adam Hoffman is the IT Infrastructure Manager for Mercury Engineering. Previous positions for the company include IT systems analyst, IT systems administrator, and IT help-desk administrator. He previously worked as a Technical consultant at TerraAlto Ltd. He is a AWS Certified Cloud Architect, as he is able to provide flexible, functional and cost effective off-premise IT infrastructure. He holds a B.Sc. in management and industrial engineering from University of Bielsko-Biala. Hoffman is also a PRINCE2 registered practitioner. His skills include Microsoft exchange, windows server, and active directory.

John Hurley, Chief Technology Officer,
Ryanair

John Hurley is a senior executive with over 16 years experience in the IT industry. He has proven leadership skills including growing, developing and motivating teams. His current role is Chief Technology Officer at Ryanair. Hurley is a flexible and self-motivated individual with proven analytical, design and problem solving skills. He has a strong mix of software development experience combined with planning and delivery of complex technical projects in a demanding environment. Hurley currently leads a team of 50+ onshore and 250+ offshore developers.

Jonathan Hyland, Chief Technology Officer,
Workhuman

Hyland is the CTO and technical force behind Workhuman. For the past 20 years, he has evolved Workhuman’s technology to become the world’s leading provider of Employee Recognition solutions, resulting in many industry awards. 5 million employees of Fortune 500 companies use Workhuman’s Cloud solutions. He leads a dynamic and innovative technical team in Dublin, Ireland.

Prior to Workhuman, he held IT management and consulting roles in technology companies such as Versatel (Netherlands) and Esat Telecom. Hyland holds a Master’s and First Class B.Sc(Eng) degree in Electronic Engineering from Trinity College Dublin. He is very active in technology thought leadership in Ireland and is a former Chair of Technology Ireland and an active member of IBEC’s National Council.

Tim Hynes, Chief Innovation Officer,
Allied Irish Bank

Tim has enjoyed a multifaceted 35 year career in Regional and Global leadership positions in blue-chip multinationals and has led large teams spread over more than 40 countries. His corporate roles have included Global lead for Microsoft’s Site Infrastructure, Head of IT (EMEA) for Microsoft, and now Group CIO for Allied Irish Bank.

During his career, Tim has led teams located in all parts of the world, including emerging markets in India, Brazil, and China and on the African continent. He has leadership experience in creating strategies and inspiring people of different cultures and backgrounds to work together to deliver successfully.

Adrian Jordan, IT Operations Manager/Infrastructure Architect,
Matheson

Adrian Jordan is the IT Operations Manager / Infrastructure Architect at Matheson. He has over 15 years’ experience in IT Infrastructure Operations, Technology Infrastructure Projects and Security Projects and more than 20 years working in professional services firms. He has excellent knowledge and a deep understanding of technology infrastructure architecture, specifically in the area of virtualisation, storage, networking, security, email systems, database systems, server / client operating systems and mobile devices, both on premises and in cloud environments.

Jordan’s IT Infrastructure and Operations duties include ensuring the stability and resilience of IT Infrastructure (networks, storage, server, virtualisation and security systems). He also ensures that relevant IT policies and procedures are in place, and over time become part of day-to-day operations for the IT Department.

Michelle Kearns, IT Leader,
Boots Ireland

Michelle has a background in health informatics and has spent her career working with numerous healthcare organisations. Before moving to the Boots team as Head of IT for Ireland, Michelle was the CIO of Caredoc, a GP cooperative providing healthcare services throughout Ireland.

Michelle was seconded to the HSE as a founding member of the Council of Clinical Information Officers, and spent time as an adviser to the World Health Organisation. Michelle is the founding director of One HealthTech Ireland, a global, grassroots community that supports and promotes openness, inclusion, kindness and diversity in health tech innovation.

Dominic Kelly, Technology and Sales Director,
Keyword Studios

Dominick Kelly has been Technology and Sales Director at Keyword Studios since 2020. Dominick is an experienced consultant with over 16 years in the translation and localisation industry, providing language solutions across a range of major industry sectors. He has been Technology and Sales Director at Keyword Studios since 2020.

Dominick is a qualified software engineer that has worked for Enterprises, translation suppliers and language software developers. A true problem solver and innovator within the translation technology space. Dominick’s specialties include: DITA, XML, Global Documentation, Continuous localization, International Branding, Software Localisation, Terminology Development, Translation Memory Technologies, Gaming, and agile workflow.

Susan Kemp, IT Director,
A&L Goodbody

Susan Kemp is the IT Director at A&L Goodbody. She is responsible for the development and implementation of the firm’s IT strategy. She manages a multidisciplinary team which has responsibility for IT support, information security, DevOps and Infrastructure globally. Susan was awarded a BA in Computer Science from Trinity College. She previously served in technology positions at TCD/St James Hospital Medical Informatics Unit, AIB and Deutsche Bank.

Colin Kennedy, Chief Information Officer, Executive Director,
DPD

Colin Kennedy became Executive Director and CIO of DPD in 2018. His role is to oversee the strategic journey, implementing DPD’s vision of innovation in delivery and orchestrating digital transformation across the organisation. He also holds responsibility for International Trade, Logistics and Sustainability. With over 30 years experience in the digital space, Colin has been leading and inspiring teams to deliver brilliant products across both B2B and B2C environments. Colin holds a Master’s degree in Business Administration (MBA).

Tony Kennedy, VP ICT Architecture Strategy and Design,
Elavon

Tony Kennedy has been VP ICT Architecture Strategy and Design at Elavon for over 20 years. #Elavon Inc., formerly NOVA, is a processor of credit card transactions and a subsidiary of U.S. Bancorp. Elavon offers merchant processing in more than 30 countries and supports the payment needs of more than 1,000,000 merchant locations across the globe.

Shaymus Kennedy, Group Chief Information Officer and CEO Athora Ireland, Chief Transformation Officer,
Athora 

Shaymus Kennedy is an accomplished senior executive leader with responsibility for creating and implementing Athora’s Information Technology strategy in alignment to business vision and goals. With the European-focused insurance and reinsurance group from its outset, he oversees the people, processes and technologies within the Athora IT organisation while being the primary interface with Athora’s strategic objectives and technology solutions.

He has a proven record of delivering complex multinational transformation and migration programmes to time and budget. With a structured and concise style to maximise impact, he is an innovative and results orientated IT Executive skilled in delivering complex transformational change, innovation and optimisation on time and on budget across globally diverse and complex environments. Kennedy is goal -orientated and emphatic about the delivery of improved customer experience and service for Athora’s customers. He demonstrates a strong bias to collaboration and seeks to build strong and wide-ranging relationships of trust.

Brona Kernan, IT Director,
Zurich Ireland

Currently IT Director at Zurich Ireland, Brona was previously CIO at The Irish Times from 2009–2015. Prior to that she was IT Director for CPL. From 1994–2006, Brona was IT Director at Ryanair where she was in charge of building and developing the company’s essential computing and communications infrastructure as it took its first steps into online booking.

Keith Kiernan, Group Chief Information Officer,
Bank of Ireland

Keith Kiernan is Group Chief Information Officer (CIO) at Bank of Ireland. He has responsibility for Group IT strategy and deployment, operational systems management, and the adoption of technologies to support the delivery of strategic business change programmes. Prior to joining Bank of Ireland Keith as worked in various executive roles in the Finance and Telecommunications sector both in Ireland and internationally.

Rashmi Kumar, SVP and Chief Information Officer,
Hewlett Packard Enterprise

Rashmi Kumar is an energetic leader with proven success in creating technology-empowered business plans. A visionary strategist with a focus on emerging technologies and extensive experience in large scale transformation, Rashmi was appointed SVP and CIO of Hewlett Packard Enterprise in January 2020, where she is enabling HPE’s digital transformation to be the edge-to-cloud platform as-a-service company. She has the ability to lead organizations through both the exploration and then exploitation stages of ideas, while managing the change and taking the rest of the organization along for the journey.

Enda Kyne, Chief Technology & Operations Officer,
FBD Insurance

Enda Kyne is Chief Technology and Operations Officer in FBD Insurance. He previously held the positions of Director of IT and Technology Transformation with the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland, Interim CIO with Dairygold Co-Operative Society, and Head of Operations Enablement and Programme Director with Bank of Ireland.

He was appointed to the e-Health Ireland Committee by the HSE Directorate in 2015. He was also appointed to the Pharmaceutical Society of Ireland Business Transformation Programme Board in January 2019. Enda holds a BSc in Information Technology from Dublin City University, and a Diploma in Advanced Computer Programming from Trinity College Dublin.

Stephen Lacey, VP of Information Systems,
Northern Trust

Stephen Lacey is Vice President of Information systems at Northern Trust. He is an experienced IT professional, working in the industry for 25 years and has wide exposure to a variety of technologies and programming languages. He has strong communication skills and a great work ethic and ownership. He is described as a great mentor who is humble. Lacey has a proven ability to deliver bespoke workflow categorisation applications. His skills include Microsoft SQL Server, software development and software project management.

John Lenihan, Chief Information Officer, Head of IT,
KPMG Ireland

With KPMG since 2001, John previously worked as IT Manager with Motorola BV and Software Engineer at Digital Equipment Corporation. He holds an M.Eng.Sc. in Industrial Engineering from NUI Galway. John is responsible for IT support, systems and infrastructure for KPMG’s Irish business and leads the development of IT planning and strategy to support the operation.

Business & Finance CIO 100 (alphabetical by surname):

View part one (A-F)

View part two (F-L)

View part three (L-O)

View part four (O-W)