DALLAS, Feb. 27, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — The 2026 DallasCIO ORBIE Awards honored leading chief information officers (CIOs) from Smurfit Westrock, Carelon, TriNet, Citi, Dave & Buster’s, Dallas College & City of Carrollton, TX for their exceptional leadership. Hosted by DallasCIO, one of over 50 Inspire Leadership Network chapters, the prestigious award honors CIOs who drive business transformation and industry impact.
This exclusive event brought together top executives and industry leaders from North Texas. The morning honored excellence in technology leadership across seven award categories at Hyatt Regency Dallas.
“Behind every technology innovation is a CIO leading the vision and shaping the strategy,” said Chris Holm, DallasCIO Chair. “The ORBIE Awards are the ultimate recognition program for the leaders and the teams behind the work.”
Meet the 2026 DallasCIO ORBIE Award Winners:
Diane Schwarz, Group CIO, Smurfit Westrock, received the Leadership ORBIE.
Jack Brock, CIO, Carelon, received the Super Global ORBIE for organizations over $25 billion annual revenue & multi-national operations.
Jeff Hayward, CTO, TriNet received the Global ORBIE for organizations over $2 billion annual revenue & multi-national operations.
Michael Naggar, CIO, U.S. Personal Banking, Citi, received the Large Enterprise ORBIE for organizations over $3 billion annual revenue.
Steven Klohn, CIO, Dave & Buster’s, received the Enterprise ORBIE for organizations over $1 billion annual revenue.
Russ Pearlman, CIO, Dallas College, received the Large Corporate ORBIE for organizations over $500 million annual revenue.
Chris Chiancone, CIO, City of Carrollton, TX, received the Corporate ORBIE for organizations up to $500 million annual revenue.
About the ORBIE:
The ORBIE is the preeminent executive recognition for C-suite leaders. Since 1998, the ORBIE Awards have recognized leadership excellence, building relationships between executives and trusted business partners, and inspiring the next generation of leaders. Finalists and winners are selected through an independent peer-adjudicated process led by prior ORBIE recipients based on the following criteria:
- Leadership and management effectiveness
- Business value created by technology innovation
- Engagement in industry and community endeavors
DallasCIO ORBIE Keynote & Attendance:
The keynote address for the DallasCIO ORBIE Awards was delivered by Diane Schwarz, Group CIO, Smurfit Westrock, who was interviewed by Sue-Jean Lin, SVP & Chief Information Officer, Alcon. Over 400 guests attended, representing leading North Texas organizations and their technology partners.
The following partners made the 2026 DallasCIO ORBIE Awards possible:
- Underwriters: INSPYR Solutions, Comcast Business, KANINI, Qentelli & Rimini Street
- Gold Partners: Andersen, CG Infinity, Cloud Communications Group & PwC
- Silver Partners: 22 Century, Ahead, Anblicks, Arelensa, Bresatech, Cato Networks, Cloudflare, Cognizant, Deloitte, Hexaware Technologies, Mender, NTT Data, Palo Alto Networks, Tata Consultancy Services & WWT
- Bronze Partners: AWS, Concero, Data Nexum, Myriad360, Nutanix, Pariveda, SBASE, Scale Capacity, She Jobs, SHI International & Two Roads
- Media Partner: Dallas Business Journal
- National Partner: Year Up United
To learn more about partnership opportunities and how to connect with leading C-suite executives across North America, click here.
About DallasCIO:
DallasCIO is the preeminent peer leadership network of chief information officers (CIOs) in North Texas. As one of over 50 chapters of the Inspire Leadership Network, DallasCIO belongs to a national membership organization exclusively comprised of C-suite leaders from public and private businesses, government, education, healthcare, and nonprofit institutions.
DallasCIO led by a CIO Advisory Board, with support from an executive director and staff. Underwriter executives support the chapter and ensure the programs remain non-commercial and exclusive to qualified CIOs and members.
About Inspire Leadership Network:
Inspire Leadership Network is the preeminent peer leadership network of C-suite executives. With over 2,000 members across over 50 chapters, Inspire members serve public and private businesses, government, education, healthcare, and non-profit institutions. Inspire exists to help leaders thrive in today’s most challenging executive roles.
Media Contact
Nicole Lammes
nicole.lammes@inspirecxo.com
A photo accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/399f45b1-57be-41b5-a08e-90079d5cba0d
