The 10 Most Inspiring CEOs Making a Difference in 2022

Inspiring

Peerless Role Leading From The Front

President & CEO, Director of the Board Arcturus Therapeutics

EDITOR’S NOTE Personalities Epitomizing Transcendence

Acompany’s CEO has many responsibilities along with

specific strategies that result in scaling the organization’s progress to new heights of success. However, even if these staunch leaders are good at executing their responsibilities promptly, they must possess particular traits to be as great of a success story as they can. It is about setting the tone for managing the organization and implementing attributes that greatly affect the company's success.

CEOs champion the company culture and build a business that makes employees feel like valued members of the organization. These leaders develop company goals, create strategic plans, implement programs and policies and work towards a goal that ensures the growth of every employee. Being optimistic in this process plays a crucial role, as it is important for leaders to achieve desired goals and have a vision that can help the business succeed.

There is a lot that comes with having an optimistic attitude, including the ability to motivate others, influence the workforce to think creatively, and build strong relationships with all staff members. Optimistic leaders are passionate about their work and the people who contribute to the organization.

When the staff feels inspired by their leader, it creates a picture that the employees work harder to meet their goals, show more commitment to their job, develop improved communication, increase productivity, and think more creatively. Inspiring leaders invest in their company's employees, acknowledge their strengths, help them work on any weaknesses, and create a culture in the workplace where everyone feels like they belong and contributes something worthwhile.

One of the important aspects of the business arena is Critical thinking, which means being able to make decisions for the company based on clear thought and a lot of foresight. With the responsibility of managing the business and making sure it succeeds, CEOs rectify and monitor the data and factors like the economy and competing businesses to forecast what the company could have to handle in the future, then plan accordingly. However, when amalgamated with compassion, a CEO inspires an entire workplace and makes a difference in the organization's success.

Showcasing the odyssey of the staunch leaders that are standing out as the symbols of inspiration, the latest edition of CIOLook features “The 10 Most Inspiring CEOs Making a Difference in 2022.”

Flip through the pages and indulge in the journey that embodies the outstanding leaders of the modern industry.

Have a Delightful Read!

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Featuring Person

Brief Company Name

Alice Chang CEO Perfect Corp perfectcorp.com

Arun Singh CEO

Ilantus Technologies ilantus.com

Brent Kruel

CEO

Dan Prince CEO James Michael Lafferty CEO

Joseph E. Payne, President & CEO

BioFunctional Health Solutions biofunctionalhealth.com

Perfect Corp. is the world’s leading beauty tech solutions provider.

Ilantus Technologies specializes in the Identity and Access Management domain.

BioFunctional Health Solutions revolutionized corporate occupational health by leveraging the latest technology and mobility healthcare trusted by small businesses to Fortune 500 companies.

Nir Simionovich Founder and CEO

Kirsty Gordon CEO

Renee Welsh CEO

Steve Wilcenski Founder and CEO

Fine Hygienic Holding finehh.com

Arcturus Therapeutics arcturusrx.com

illumisoft is a mission-driven, custom software development company that makes healthcare better.

Fine Hygienic Holding provides consumers with high-quality hygienic paper products that will make their lives more joyful.

Arcturus Therapeutics is a global late-stage clinical messenger RNA medicines and vaccines company focused on the discovery, development and commercialization of therapeutics for rare diseases and vaccines.

illumisoft illumisoft.com Embed embedcard.com

Cloudonix Inc cloudonix.io BNNano bnnano.com

Cloudonix is a cross-platform, in-platform communications infrastructure.

Anywhere in Africa Safaris anywhereinafrica.com

Anywhere in Africa is a tour operator, safari and travel company.

Embed is the worldwide leader of the integrated cashless business management systems and solutions for family Entertainment, Amusement and Attractions.

BNNano is currently the only company in the world with a commercially viable manufacturing process for Boron Nitride Nanotubes

RNA technology has had an enormous impact on the way we view what is possible in medicine, and we expect that potential for change will only grow. Our company has been a part of this evolution with our expertise in purification, synthesis, and delivery of mRNA.

Joseph E. Payne, President & CEO, Director of the Board Arcturus Therapeutics

The COVID-19 pandemic has ushered in an era of rapid innovation in the biotechnology industry. Pharmaceutical and biotech companies alike joined in the race to create an effective and safe COVID-19 vaccine, one of which is Arcturus Therapeutics, led by the President & CEO, Joseph E. Payne

Joe has spent a majority of his career in various labs discovering new drugs. While the world witnessed the value of mRNA-based vaccines in the two years of the pandemic, Joseph had been aware of its potential almost a decade before. He founded Arcturus Therapeutics with co-founder Pad Chivukula, Arcturus' CSO and COO, in 2013 to develop medicines for new diseases using innovative RNA technologies. Today, Arcturus has developed platform technology used in the vaccine and rare disease areas.

The program farthest along in Arcturus Therapeutics' development pipeline is the self-amplifying mRNA COVID-19 vaccine. The company calls this technology TM STARR (Self-transcribing and replicating mRNA). The self-amplifying mRNA technology allows a lower dose of the vaccine which has potential manufacturing and safety benefits.

Joseph's love for science, innovation, and his wish to help the world is reflected in the values, goals, and culture of his biotech company. Attracted by Joseph's enthusiasm for his field, Insights Success interviewed Joseph Payne to explore his journey as a business leader, converse about changes he wants to bring to the therapeutics industry and understand his vision for Arcturus Therapeutics.

Below are the highlights of the interview: Brief our audience about your journey as a business leader until your current position at Arcturus Therapeutics. What challenges have you had to overcome and reach where you are today?

There were many obstacles to get to where we are as a business today, but there are two fundamental experiences that have shaped us.

The first event is with Arcturus' inception in 2013, based on my and co-founder Pad Chivukula's belief that there was a future for mRNA therapeutics in medicine. It was a long process developing the company to what it

is today. One that took innovation, hard work and our personal savings to persevere.

The second undertaking was pivoting into the vaccine space with mRNA technology. At the onset of the pandemic in 2020, we knew we had the technology to develop a vaccine that could address the global crisis of COVID-19. While we were confident in our technology, it was a change from where we were as a company to add a new vaccine program when we had focused solely on rare disease indications before. This move has allowed us to expand the potential of mRNA in medicines and vaccines.

Tell us something more about Arcturus Therapeutics and its mission and vision.

Ultimately, we are here for the development of innovative medicines for rare diseases and vaccines that address unmet medical needs.

Enlighten us on how you have impacted Biotechnology Research through your expertise in the market.

Our aim is to create safe and effective RNA and lipid

We built our core values on being innovative and collaborative. Each year, we give an award for both characteristics.

nano particles (LNPs) for their delivery into the human body. The lipid mediated delivery technology we use is ® called LUNAR. We are one of the few companies in the world that have high manufacturing capacities with mRNA. Further, outside of intramuscular delivery, we are in the unique area of delivering mRNA intravenously with systemic applications.

Describe in detail the values and the work culture that drives your organization.

We built our company around valuing innovation and collaboration. Each year, we give an award for both characteristics. Innovative, for pushing the edge on what we can achieve scientifically and the collaboration (likeability) award, based on being competent, approachable, and humble. Other adjectives I would use to describe our work culture would be passionate, happy, diverse, positive, respectful of one another, professional, dedicated, open, and inclusive.

Undeniably, technology is playing a significant role in almost every sector. How are you leveraging technological advancements to make your solutions resourceful?

Our platform technology can have thousands of applications to help others. Collaborative efforts have a high impact and a long reach to ultimately allow us access to areas that would not be accessible on our own. These collaborative efforts include the partnerships we have made with Johnson and Johnson, the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, Ultragenyx, and other biopharmaceutical companies.

What change would you like to bring to the Therapeutics industry if given a chance?

This would be on the side of regulations. To bring modernization of current regulations in line with the type of medicines we are developing today. Decreasing the timeline for drug approvals can have a huge impact on those waiting for those innovative treatments, a population that normally doesn't always have much time to wait.

What, according to you, could be the next significant change in the Biotechnology sector? How is your company preparing to be a part of that change?

RNA technology has had an enormous impact on the

When in doubt, don't do it. If there is a suspicion of deficiency in skill set or work ethic don't move into this. If you are capable and have confidence in your ability, move forward.

way we view what is possible in medicine, and we expect that potential for change will only grow. Our company has been a part of this evolution with our expertise in purification, synthesis, and delivery of mRNA. We anticipate continuing the development of additional mRNA programs in both the rare disease and vaccine spaces.

Where do you envision yourself in the long run, and what are your future goals for Arcturus Therapeutics?

I would like to see us as one of the largest biotech companies in San Diego. Another form of success would be if we are able to partner one or many of our programs with a larger pharmaceutical company. mRNA allows us to address diseases that others cannot, and our expertise in the area will only continue to build value.

What would be your advice to budding entrepreneurs who aspire to venture into the business sector?

When in doubt, don't do it. If there is a suspicion of deficiency in skill set or work ethic don't move into this. If you are capable and have confidence in your ability, move forward.

Arun K Singh Global CEO and Board Member Ilantus

Arun K. Singh

Strategic Cyber Security Leader

Leaders in the security industry understand the

importance of forming trusted relationships, not only internally but also with third-party entities. Leaders who demonstrate a go-getter attitude and the willingness to learn with the team have great potential to drive result-oriented solutions for clients. With a unique combination of business acumen and deep technical knowledge, Arun K. Singh paves the path to success in cybersecurity at Ilantus Technologies .

Arun is the Chief Executive Officer and Board Member at Ilantus Technologies. He is a solution-centric leader who motivates others to achieve their targets with his passionate and vibrant leadership skills. His unique ability to bring the best out of the team is backed by his sound knowledge of the security domain and a strong work ethic. To gain insights into his successful methodologies, we at CIO LOOK interviewed Arun focusing on his professional journey.

Below are the highlights of the interview: Brief our audience about your journey as a business leader until your current position at Ilantus Technologies. What challenges have you had to overcome to reach where you are today?

I started my career in cybersecurity as a cryptographer and security research professional and later moved on to building and driving cybersecurity businesses for multiple organizations. After my post-graduation from the Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur, India, I joined Infosys Technologies and focused on creating innovative security solutions for healthcare industries. That was the time when regulations such as HIPAA, PCI, and Sarbanes Oxley were catching up in the market. This trend was recognized by Wipro Technologies and they invited me to build a global Enterprise security business. My journey with Wipro

started with a very small group of 40 cybersecurity professionals which scaled up to a large number of professionals with a strong global footprint and services covering end-to-end cybersecurity domain from risk & compliance to application security, data protection, infrastructure security, security operations and convergence of logical & physical security. We won multiple awards for productized service offerings and established a global security brand. The key challenge during my tenure at Wipro was to develop a team of skilled professionals in each geo who can interact with the client on the end-to-end cybersecurity domain to position all the services with equal strength.

My success at Wipro was noticed by Accenture, and I was invited to join their global cybersecurity group as Managing Director. Though I was hired to drive security consulting and implementation business however soon after my joining, I realized the potential to build a managed security business aligned with Accenture’s Infrastructure and Application Outsourcing business.

At Ilantus, we envision that our flagship solution, Compact Identity, will continue to hold the market leadership position in the class of converged IAM, and we are continuously striving towards achieving that goal.

This led to the development of a business case and obtaining funding approved from the Steering Committee to start a new group focused on Managed Security Operations. As the global leader for Managed Security business, I had to pass through many challenges e.g. defining the service catalog aligned with the market, baselining delivery processes, defining guide rails, set up sales and delivery capabilities from scratch, and continuously engage senior management by demonstrating customer success stories. It was an extremely rich experience to build the global business by setting up security operation centers in different parts of the world, acquiring clients in each region, demonstrating profitable growth, and getting high recognition from analyst groups.

After Accenture, I joined EY LLP as Americas Risk Advisory leader and Partner to build the “Cybersecurity-as-a-Service (CaaS)” business. I started working with EY Global team to develop a business case and obtained funding from EY’s Advisory Investment Committee (AIC) for this new business. My work involved selecting cutting-edge technologies to implement SaaS solutions covering Digital Identity, Data Protection, Threat Detection & Response, and Threat exposure management. These innovative solutions were developed leveraging Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, Robotic Process Automation, Threat Intelligence, and Security Analytics tools. We established an advanced center for cybersecurity in USA to run CaaS operations. Setting up the next generation, fully automated, and clouddelivered cybersecurity services for EY’s enterprise clients was a great challenge to solve at EY. My quest to do something more challenging prompted me to move out of EY and join Ilantus Technologies as the Chief Executive Officer. Ilantus had been in cybersecurity domain since past two decades and provided right platform for me.

Ilantus has a startup culture, and my past experiences of working with large organizations came in handy in going through a transformation cycle to align Ilantus’ growth trajectory with the market. Currently, I am focused on driving an accelerated growth for Ilantus and taking this company to next level.

Enlighten us on how Ilantus have made an impact in the (respective) niche through security expertise in the market?

As a professional services organization, Ilantus have implemented 3rd party IAM products for clients globally for many years. That experience made us realize that the IAM vendors are offering only fragments of the IAM solution, and clients are burdened with not only buying 5 to 7 different products to solve their IAM requirements but also spent significant time and effort in integrating them. This led to the creation of Compact Identity, which is a comprehensive solution that converges Access Management, Identity Governance and Administration, Identity Analytics, and Privileged Access Management capabilities in a single platform and is backed by an intelligent risk engine and robust identity analytics. It is cloud-native, risk-aware, easy to use, and built on the Zero-trust framework to provide Identity centric holistic cybersecurity to secure clients and their digital transformation journey.

Leading analysts agree that converged IAM is the future of IAM, especially in a covid influenced business landscape where Work from Home is the new normal, and Compact Identity from Ilantus continues to be a leader in this space recognized consistently for its innovative features and simplicity. Compact Identity is the only solution in the market that is a true converged IAM solution. With three patents, this product is in the 3rd generation of maturity and enjoys a diverse client base across Retail, Healthcare, Education, Manufacturing, Telecom, BFSI, and Government sectors.

Where do you envision yourself to be in the long run, and what are your future goals for Ilantus Technologies?

In the long run, I envision myself working closely with the investment firms, serving as advisory board leader for cybersecurity companies and growing business at Ilantus. The future goals for Ilantus is to further enhance its identity analytics engine to integrate it with the latest cybersecurity solutions in the organization and create more use cases for Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning to leverage these solutions deeply. In the next five years, we see Ilantus as a strong global brand and a major player in the Converged IAM space.

Brent Kruel

A Veteran Turned Entrepreneur to Improve the Quality of Life

Apassionate drive to truly care for people by helping to eliminate their pain and poor health is what led Brent Kruel to create BioFunctional Health Solutions , Inc . ( BHS ). As the Chief Executive Officer , Brent utilizes his profound expertise to make BHS the leader in onsite and digital wellness solutions for U.S. employers. His venture has revolutionized corporate occupational health by leveraging the latest technology and mobility healthcare trusted by small businesses to Fortune 500 companies.

We, at CIO Look, came across Brent in our endeavor to find 'The 10 Most Inspiring CEOs to Watch, 2021.' Our conversation led to more in-depth insights on how Brent and BHS have changed the landscape of the healthcare sector with their innovative technologies.

Let's unveil the journey to understand more about the Brent and his strategic mission in the health and wellness community.

Where did it all Begin?

Upon enlisting in the Air Force, after graduating from high school, Brent was assigned to a combat communications unit which introduced him to some of the most advanced technology of his time. He quickly developed passions for both technology and helping people. This was born out of his experiences during deployment into combat environments and humanitarian missions like Operation Uphold Democracy, in Haiti, in 1994. Brent went on to attend the United States Air Force Academy, in Colorado Springs, CO. While there, Brent’s highly athletic lifestyle led him to the track where he competed as an

NCAA Division I varsity 800-meter runner for the Academy’s track and field team.

Brent also suffered a severe injury resulting in a fractured spine from jumping out of an airplane at 10,000 ft during his time at the Air Force Academy. This injury jeopardized his commission and the ability to compete in the 800-meter. He pushed through the pain but still needed help to heal. He became passionate about alternative therapies that would reduce the pain and inflammation and allow him to function and compete. This new passion led him to choose the medical service corps office upon his graduation from the Air Force Academy in 2000.

It was a formative experience for Brent's career to be a medic in the Air Force. Some of his accomplishments include being in charge of building a new hospital, CIO of a large inpatient facility at 27 years old and landing the job of hospital administrator of the largest hospital in Operation Iraqi Freedom. The Air Force also sponsored his in-residence Master's in Healthcare Administration at the #1 school of public health in the nation, UNC-Chapel Hill.

A year after separating from the Air Force, Brent was promoted to his first executive-level position in a significant software and services company that was a market leader in healthcare insurance and payment processing software. Not long after, Brent suffered another injury, a torn ACL, that required surgery. This was a success, but he lost range of motion in his knee and it was suggested that he have yet another surgery. Brent did not see this as an option and he went on a quest to find other alternatives. This is when Brent was

Brent Kruel Chief Executive Officer BioFunctional Health Solutions, Inc.

introduced to a better healthcare option and a model that professional athletic teams used on their athletes. In less than five minutes, in a treatment that looked like a pinpointed massage, he regained full range of motion without surgery.

Brent has experienced four more miracles of this level using these soft-tissue healthcare methods and avoided four surgeries. He now lives pain-free.

Brent’s passion about bringing this care to as many Americans as possible in his lifetime led him to create a company that will carry on his passion to a larger scale for generations to come. And so began the birth of BioFunctional Health Solutions. BHS is now the leader in TOTAL health and wellness, leveraging technology as well as hands-on soft tissue healthcare to resolve and treat conditions that cause pain. But this is not where it ends. This dynamic company offers a whole litany of other traditional wellness modalities.

On the Mission of Healthier Nation

BHS is radically passionate about improving American employees' quality of life, leading to a better tomorrow for them and their employers.

It’s mission is to make the chronic pain prevention and resolution programs available to as many employees and their families as possible, knowing that this will lead to a healthier, happier, and more productive nation., asserts Brent.

The company intends to be available to every American by 2023 either through employer-sponsored wellness programs or its new application, YouMari. BHS is the first company to translate its hands-on system into a self-treatment system coupled with a symptom checker enabling customized self-treatment programs to resolve musculoskeletal conditions accessible from anywhere.

A Complete Wellbeing Approach

BHS is a thought leader and innovator in musculoskeletal health. It has become the standard pathway for resolving musculoskeletal conditions (MSKs) like back pain, shoulder/neck pain, carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS), and many more are very expensive, invasive, and a leading cause of opiate addictions in the United States.

It is bringing American employees the most effective, least invasive, and most affordable resolution for these MSK issues that cause over 50% of adults' chronic pain. It does this by detecting injuries and dysfunctions through its patented 3D mobility health assessment system and leveraging a proven hands-on system that professional athletes trust.

This hands-on system is not new, although it is not widely available. According to Brent, the system was developed in 1991 by a doctor of osteopathy that made a revolutionary discovery regarding the relationship between the connective tissues (fascia) and MSKs. This system has been widely adopted in elite sports to include professional sports and Olympic athletes. These elite athletes are not the only ones who need to stay pain-free and competitive; your employees deserve this care as well so they can be productive and safe in the workplace.

Innovating Technology

BHS is an innovator in technology and consummate collaborators with others advancing technology in its field. It was the first to implement patented screening tools using a 3D range of motion analysis that identifies dysfunctions in the musculoskeletal system and joints. This analysis helps it to treat repetitive motion injuries before they become painful chronic conditions.

Envisioning Future Wellness Culture

BHS envisions itself servicing 100 million Americans within the next three years with its onsite and online solutions. Its goal is to be the first choice in employee wellness and MSK treatment for individuals.

"We keep your employees happy & healthy."

Brent advises upcoming entrepreneurs in Employee Health and Wellness sector to match the solutions according to market needs by seeking and understanding the market before designing any solution. He says, "This is how we were able to redefine ourselves prior to developing and adopting technology that supports our solutions.”

"Do not get caught under the complexity avalanche of technology functionality and instead leverage technology to enhance outcomes for your customers without burdening them with using the technology," concludes Brent.

Guiding the Caretakers of Tomorrow

Nir Simionovich

Nir Simionovich | Founder and CEO | Cloudonix, Inc.

Despite being one of the most coveted titles, the

job of CEO is the loneliest job in the business. It comes with a lot of responsibilities. When filling this role, companies look for a leader who not only has the necessary degrees but also the insight, judgment, and strength of character. Nir Simionovich had it in him and thus, is the CEO of Cloudonix today.

Passionate about disrupting the communications market, Nir is an Open Source integration expert and evangelist. Inspired by his passion and vision, we at CIO Look caught up with Nir to learn more about his journey and how he is bridging the gap between existing customer care systems and the era of digital transformation through Cloudonix.

Below are the highlights of the interview:

Brief our audience about your journey as a business leader until your current position at Cloudonix. What challenges have you had to overcome to reach where you are today?

I’ve been an Open Source evangelist since my college days, way back in 1996. Since 2001, I’ve been increasingly involved with the Open Source Telephony movement. In 2007, I went out and started a consulting company. Learning to design solutions and properly pricing was easier than becoming a leader. In 2015 we spun Cloudonix out of that consulting company. Now being an entrepreneur is very challenging – everyone will tell you that. But the thing is that most entrepreneurs won’t admit, or purely are afraid to admit – the only thing the challenges them truly is: LONELINESS. It never quite hit me, at least as hard as it did during 2017, how lonely is the seat of the CEO.

Tell us something more about your company and its mission and vision.

One of the things we have realized during the pandemic is that everyone is rushing into a digital transformation, embracing Omnichannel. But, the experience of Omnichannel is broken. For each new channel, you need to spend weeks or months integrating the solution and then training your staff on how to use it. And then, at the end of the day, more than 80% of these communications come back to voice. And that is where we come in. Our vision is to make in-platform communications accessible to all - simpler, faster, and more affordable than ever.

Enlighten us on how you have made an impact in the (respective) niche through your expertise in the market?

Our founding team already had a reputation for solving unusual problems and being very direct. This has brought many interesting customers to use cases to our door. These range from replacing their existing solution with a more stable and economical one to enable them to build out their vision in ways that they could not do on our predecessor’s services. This in part, comes from the fact that we come from the telecom space, so we were able to build a new way of accomplishing APIbased communications without requiring the phone numbers.

Undeniably, technology is playing a significant role in almost every sector. How are you leveraging technological advancements to make your solutions resourceful?

Our technology is based on the latest tools and systems. This means we are all cloud based and can scale up (or down) on-demand in record time. Oded, our CTO, has a lot of experience in this kind of architecture and has built our system using this auto-scaling concept from day one. We have amazed customers by bringing up a new country not in weeks or months, but in days. This technical flexibility is deeply engrained in everything we do.

What, according to you, could be the next big change in the respective industry? How is your company preparing to be a part of that change?

The industry is continuing to see new tech concepts and ways to connect. But they are all designed to be “walled gardens” so each does not communicate to the others by design. We are positioning ourselves to be the portal between these tools and the contact center. It will not matter if it is Twitter, an AI bot, or virtual reality; at the end of the day, they still need to connect with the contact center agent.

What would be your advice to emerging leaders?

Building a team that you can count on is basic, but one that you can lean on. That is key. You need people you can talk to and get help, advice, and support. This can be members of the company or your corporate advisory board. But a personal advisory board or group will be immensely helpful as you need to talk out problems and get feedback outside of your own echo chamber.

With great position comes great responsibility. The role of the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) is important for the success of every organization. CEO of the organization sets the tone for everyone else. The standards the leader of the organizations set are emulated by everyone else in the organization. Therefore, it is important for CEO to lead from the front by taking responsibility so as to present the inspiring standard in front of others. CEO is responsible for leading everybody in the right direction for successful business growth. No organization can prosper and attain great heights without the inspiring role and contribution of a CEO.

Those CEOs who utilize the power and position they have to positively impact their organizations and industry are highly motivated themselves. The good traits in them help them to become inspiring CEOs. A CEO of any company sets the company's direction and establishes a strategy for the growth and development of the organization's business. He or she sets the values that are essential for the success of the organization and plays an important role in cultivating good behavioral norms in the employees in the organization. CEOs have to prioritize maintaining a positive work culture and cooperative spirit to boost the company's productive output and revenue. They make sure that their employees are trained sufficiently to contribute successfully to the cause of the organization.

Moreover, CEOS set clear objectives in front of everyone, and they set the right platform for employees for meeting the needs of the clients. They make sure that they are doing justice to the needs of all the stakeholders involved. Great CEOs know how to channelize all their resources and assets appropriately to be a win-win situation for everyone involved in their businesses.

Inspiring CEOs energize and empower their teammates and employees. They bring out the best in others. They see the potential in others and fan that spark to

increase the productivity and efficiency of everyone. They inspire employees to perform better, nourish them with the strength of knowledge, training, and guidance, and strengthen their employees' spinal cord with their continuous and unwavering support. They engage their assets and resources creatively to get the most return from them. They inspire their workforce to adhere to the mission, vision, values, and objectives of the organization and contribute their level best for the cause of the organization and attain great success in their businesses.

Inspiring CEOs make the lives of their employees easier. They help them in balancing their personal and professional lives. They understand that happy employees are able to contribute the best to the cause of the organization, and therefore they promote the happy, flexible, inclusive, and united culture in their organization. They keep the morale of everyone to the highest level.

The great CEOs are not afraid to break the traditions. They are innovative and disruptive in their approach to providing newer and evolved solutions to clients. They adopt best practices to deliver the best solutions to their clients. They have a broad perspective, and they see the larger picture. Accordingly, they take the most valuable decisions that are in the interest of the organization and ensure the sustainable success of the company they are leading. They are clever at implementing newer technologies for improving overall functionalities.

The proactiveness and presence of mind help them in becoming the most inspiring CEO for others. They don’t micromanage, they don’t manipulate or control others, but they simply increase the capacities of others to do more for the cause of the organization. They promote a healthy work-life balance in their employees. They appreciate the good work done by employees and reward them. They encourage others to do their best for the overall growth and development of their organization.

Informed and Forward-thinking Leader with Wealth of Knowledge and Valuable Experience

Great business leaders have a forward-thinking

approach. They anticipate events and consciously prepare themselves to make most of the opportunities. They are ready to face challenges, even at the spur of the moment. With a high presence of mind, they keep themselves well-informed with the wealth of knowledge and valuable experiences they have gained in their life. These experiences help them become inspiring and forward-thinking business leaders. Akin to the above mindset is Renee Welsh, a renowned leader in the tech and travel sector who leads with an innovative approach.

Renee is passionate about building businesses and transforming industries, and as a natural innovator, she launched her first tech business when she was 27. Renee gained relevant experiences by joining prominent start-ups including lastminute.com, Wotif, Monster, and RedBalloon. In 2013, she started Booking Boss, the ticketing and booking management start-up, with her husband, Andy. Helix Leisure acquired their start-up four years later, and Renee was appointed CEO of Embed , an integrated cloud-based software solution platform for family entertainment, attractions, and amusement. Renee was a unicorn as one of the rare female CEOs in the tech industry, specifically the family entertainment center sphere. In a heavily male-

Designed to deliver a superior guest experience in entertainment centers, Embed's software platform is a complete integrated solution that enables entertainment business owners to achieve increased operational efficiency while reducing costs and increasing profitability. This is what makes it the Ultimate Contactless Solution.

dominated industry, it posed challenges. That's why it became her journey to have greater female representation, especially at the C-suite level, so sponsorship, mentoring, and championing became a personal mission for Renee.

Enabling, Empowering, and Easing Management of Family Entertainment Businesses

At Embed, its leaders enable, empower, and ease the "business of fun" for owners and operators in the Family Entertainment Center (FEC) Industry. They enable them to achieve greater operational efficiency while reducing costs and increasing profitability through Embed's integrated hardware and software system solutions.

Embed offers an array of innovative business solutions such as its arcade debit game card reader smartTOUCH, self-service kiosks, RFID wearable media, game cards, and the integrated software solution TOOLKIT. It offers a suite of software that eases the management of family entertainment businesses via transparent business reporting, central games management, mobile assistant, online party bookings, and more. Embed takes great pride in these next-gen solutions, especially its award-winning Mobile Wallet – the only Apple iOS and Google Android certified solution in the business.

This makes Embed the only non-banking, nonloyalty, and non-financed brand to sit in the consumers’ Apple Wallet or Google Pay. Mobile Wallet is a virtual game card that guests can top-up or reload using their phones without leaving the arcade game. And Embed is proud that its SaaS systems operate on Amazon’s AWS platform. Embed operates with a highly competitive global team, with offices in the United States, EMEA, and APAC regions, adding South America to its roster. To date, it has over 1,000 customers and 3,000 installations in 56 countries.

Pioneering Tech Transformation of Family Entertainment Industry

A very important aspect of what Renee does at Embed is pioneering the tech transformation of the family entertainment industry – the industry of fun. Embed’s award-winning Mobile Wallet is a testament to this –no one in the industry has ever come close to developing what Embed has, and Embed launched it back in 2019!

Being an Impact Player in an Industry with Strong Business Agility

The pandemic forced businesses in the FEC industry to close their doors first and reopen them last, so Embed was there to help them turn the lights back on. To showcase its commitment to the industry’s recovery, it launched Embed’s COVID19 Relief Act in 2020, giving away its Mobile Wallet to everyone in the industry for free for one year. Aside from this, Embed also kicked off its COVID-19 Resource Center, which includes free white papers, an expansive video series featuring critical advice from industry leaders, and free creative toolkits to help operators facilitate the successful reopening of their FECs.

Embed joined the fight to eliminate COVID-19 by developing Embed Hygiene Defense products –powerful 100% natural hygiene protection that’s safe for families, which is the primary segment that frequents family entertainment centers. Embed’s business agility makes it an impact player in its industry, aside from the tech solutions it provides.

Having a Customer-first Approach and Results-driven Work Culture

Embed runs on a customer-first approach, ensuring its software enables the optimal end-customer experience because when the customer thrives, the operator thrives. Embed informs every operating and strategic business decision it makes and how it executes it. Embed is dedicated to supporting operators and enabling their businesses to become FECs of the future. It’s why it partners with the best in the tech industry like Apple, Google, and Amazon to empower its customers to provide a superior guest experience at their locations.

Embed operates as a global brand and a tight-knit team, with a results-driven work culture that takes the “business of fun” seriously.

Challenging Boundaries and Driving Evolution of Industry

Renee is proud of Embed’s ability to pivot its business to what the industry needs now. It continues to keep a finger on the pulse of key technology trends to continue to be innovative. Embed harnesses the maverick mindset to challenge the boundaries and drive the evolution of its industry. In hyper-competitive industries, it draws significant inspiration from emerging technology partners (Apple, Google, and Amazon).

Driving the FEC Industry Forward

In today's low-touch economy, Embed's contactless solutions have become more relevant than ever because this is how consumers expect to transact so they can engage with brands safely and securely. From an operator's standpoint, this also means getting realtime data to improve their business. Embed continues to develop and evolve its solutions to drive the FEC industry forward.

Staying Ahead of the Game

Renee believes the complete transition to cashless systems is the next big thing. She thinks there is still a huge gap in FECs that have not converted their outdated systems to future-proof businesses. Embed is already ahead of the game. It anticipated this great leap forward, and while it is still innovating to stay ahead, it is preparing for this by lining up exciting solutions that enable the FEC of the future.

Making Businesses Thrive and Transforming Industries

As an innovator, Renee sees herself continuing to do what she loves in the years to come – creating opportunities to make businesses thrive, transforming industries. She sees Embed at the forefront of solutions providers in the industry, pioneering products that the FEC sector has not yet seen.

Giving Priceless Advice to Emerging Leaders

Renee advises emerging leaders to embrace change . She says, "Advance just as technology advances. Do not just keep up with the times; stay ahead of them. And if ever you feel disheartened with challenges, bring your focus back to the very heart of what you do and why you are doing it.”

Steve Wilcenski Founder and CEO BNNano

To enable disruptive technologies for various markets, including Defense, Aerospace, Biomedical, Automotive, Communications, and Consumer Electronics, Steve Wilcenski leads his team to develop technologies and products on the micro and nanoscale.

As the Co founder and CEO of BNNano , Steve helps develop new nanomaterial technologies with his innovative and collaborative approach.

CIO LOOK caught up with Steve in our endeavor to find “The 10 Most Inspiring CEOs to Watch, 2021.” We talked with him to gain insights into his passion for advanced materials, and the disruptive product development that is driving a transformative wave.

Below are the highlights of the interview.

Brief our audience about your journey as a business leader until your current position at BNNano. What challenges you had to overcome to reach where you are today?

My journey began after I graduated from NCSU with my bachelor’s degree in Materials Science and Engineering. I had always had a need to learn and found myself with so many more questions following graduation than when I began. Such questions fueled my interest in other technologies and fields.

Throughout the first half of my career, I was an engineer who made things. I have helped usher in new technologies that impact daily life, made devices that left the solar system, helped explore Mars, and even made devices that have been implanted in human bodies. I am very proud of what I have been able to accomplish on my own and as part of teams.

But I have also failed and made a lot of mistakes. That combination of wins and losses prepared me to lead my first team. I wanted to lead, and found with my background and experiences, it felt like a natural progression. I led teams in Operations, Engineering, R&D, Sales, and Marketing before ultimately being selected to lead that company.

During this time, I began to feel pulled by the desire to branch off and start something of my own. It took a few years to find the right idea, plan, and team, but once this aligned, I took the leap and started BNNano with my business partner Jason Taylor. We have been off and running ever since.

Tell us something more about your company and its mission and vision.

BNNano is located in Burlington, NC. Our company manufactures nanomaterials and products that contain nanomaterials.

We make a specific type of Boron Nitride Nanotube called the NanoBarb™. When added to other materials, the NanoBarb™ improves the material’s properties and performance. For example, when added to aluminum, we can double the strength; when NanoBarbs™ are added to 3D printing materials, they print faster while also becoming stronger and more durable. We can make plastics become heatsinks and enable new technologies to clean water, just to name a few.

As the only company in the world with a commercially viable manufacturing process for Boron Nitride Nanotubes, we at BNNano are working to develop novel products that will leverage this super material.

At BNNano, we believe that through cutting-edge materials science and innovation, we can transform, revitalize, and revolutionize industrial commodity materials. Our goal is to bring value back to materials like aluminum and polyester that have been relegated to commodity status. We are striving to bring manufacturing jobs and industries back to the United States.

Our goal is to make everyday materials extraordinary by producing new materials that will enable nextgeneration technologies and products that only recently seemed impossible. We are working to make aluminum a super material, evolving additive

and Revitalizing Industrial Commodities.”

manufacturing to support the production of 3D printed parts, and are even developing technologies to help clean the world’s freshwater supply.

Enlighten us on how you have made an impact in nanotechnology through your expertise in the market?

We are not classically educated nor typical nanoscientists. We got involved in nanotechnology because we had been disappointed by the state of nanotechnology in our prior careers. As process engineers tasked with making products out of the latest and greatest materials and technologies, we were exposed to weaknesses in nanomaterials. Often the development of these nanomaterials was driven by a science first perspective rather than an engineering first approach.

Our expertise in understanding how to make and use materials gave us a unique perspective. Our focus was the development of nanomaterials that could be easily used and set out to solve the common problems that

plague nanomaterials. This novel approach resulted in a new type of Boron Nitride Nanotube that we call the NanoBarb™. It is easier to use, performs better, and has a low enough cost to be incorporated into applications and markets that traditionally could not use nanotechnologies.

Describe in detail the values and the work culture that drives your organization.

At BNNano, it is our people that make the difference. We are a small, scientifically minded organization with unique technologies and products at the forefront of nanoscience.

The relationships within the company, with our partners and customers, are the key to our success. As a team, we work together, celebrate successes, recover from failures, and grow.

Our company culture prioritizes needs over wants. When possible, we put the needs of our customers and partners first. We locate our operations in small towns and communities where jobs matter and partner with organizations that believe in giving back to communities through training and education.

Undeniably, technology is playing a significant role in almost every sector. How are you leveraging technological advancements to make your solutions resourceful?

Our NanoBarbs™ and products enhance and

“Transforming

complement other technologies, industries, and applications. Examples include aerospace to biomedical, textiles to metals, space to marine, and electronics to water purification. Which in turn helps speed advancements and continue to push that evolution along. We are helping make things lighter, stronger, more durable, and safer while developing more efficient processes and products.

Our nanomaterials compliment industries and applications far and wide.

Where do you envision yourself to be in the long run and what are your future goals for BNNano?

As one of the founders of BNNano and the current CEO, I believe we are just getting started. Every day we interact with people who share our excitement and vision for nanotechnology. While I plan to continue promoting our company and products, I also hope to advocate for the wider application of nanotechnology and plan to take a leading role in educating the public

about the current and future potential for nanotechnology.

What would be your advice to emerging leaders? Be open and honest in your communication and treat everyone with the same respect, courtesy, and excitement. People understand you may not be able to give all the details all the time, but they value leaders who always take the time to communicate with their teams.

Complex concepts or ideas should be explained in such a way that everyone can see the benefits. Do not use your technology, expertise, or position as a shield to keep people out or to bring people in.

Remember that success may be determined not by the individuals you first meet but by the networks and contacts you build. We have been introduced to a number of customers and partners through our initial contacts.