Executives of the Year: Firdaus Bhathena

Appointed to the newly created chief technology and transformation officer role in March, Firdaus Bhathena is leading S&P Global's push to bring technology, data, and AI closer together. Unlike previous technology waves such as digital and e-commerce, he says the current environment is “an everything transformation.”

Bhathena was previously the top technology executive at CVS Health, but made his name as an inventor and serial entrepreneur. He founded enterprise software companies WebLine (sold to Cisco) and Relicore (sold to Symantec). He tells his team at the financial data company long known as Standard and Poor’s that they must have a startup mentality. "Most people see a problem and turn away. But if you have an entrepreneurial mindset, you actually run towards the problem, not away from it," he says.

A self-described builder, Bhathena relaxes with Legos. He finished a 7,500-piece Millennium Falcon, and a 10,000-piece Titanic is next. “Building order out of chaos truly satisfies my inner engineering nerd,” he says.