As December winds down, the AI leadership landscape is evolving at pace. New CAIO appointments and strategic transitions are spotlighting how organizations plan to harness artificial intelligence for innovation, operational efficiency, and competitive advantage in 2026. Today, AI Leaders Council will focus on 14 CAIOs and VPs of AI that accepted new roles in December 2025.
Apple Announces Amar Subramanya as VP of AI
Apple announced that renowned AI researcher, Amar Subramanya, has joined Apple as vice president of AI. Subramanya brings a wealth of experience to Apple, having most recently served as corporate vice president of AI at Microsoft, and previously spent 16 years at Google, where he was head of engineering for Google’s Gemini Assistant prior to his departure.
Amazon Announces Peter DeSantis to Lead New AI Org
Amazon announces that Peter DeSantis will lead a new organization that drives our most expansive AI models (e.g. Nova—and the team we’ve called “AGI”), silicon development (e.g. Graviton, Trainium, Nitro), and quantum computing. Peter has been at Amazon for over 27 years and led some of the most transformative technologies in computing history.
Expedia Group Appoints Xavier Amatriain as First Chief AI and Data Officer
Expedia Group has appointed Xavier Amatriain as its first Chief AI and Data Officer. Amatriain will lead the company’s AI and Data organization, guiding the long-term strategy for AI and machine learning (ML), and determining how advanced ML, generative AI, and data science can generate business value at scale.
Anaplan Appoints Bill Guilmart as SVP of AI, Product and Solutions Marketing
Anaplan, the only AI-driven scenario planning and analysis platform, announced the appointment of Bill Guilmart as Senior Vice President of AI, Product and Solutions Marketing. In this role, Guilmart will strengthen alignment across Anaplan’s AI, application and platform capabilities to support sales, marketing and customer outcomes, while sharpening the company’s go-to-market strategy.
Seattle Appoints Lisa Qian as First AI Officer
Seattle has named Lisa Qian, who has experience leading data science management at companies like LinkedIn and Airbnb, to serve as the city’s first artificial intelligence officer.
Louisville Names Pamela McKnight as First CAIO
Louisville has appointed its first Chief Artificial Intelligence Officer (CAIO), naming Pamela McKnight to lead the city’s enterprise-wide AI strategy. McKnight joins Louisville after nearly 30 years at Intel, where she directed large-scale transformation initiatives in AI upskilling, adoption, leadership development, and organizational change.
INVNT Announces James Nicholas Kinney as Global CAIO
INVNT, the innovation-led global brand storytelling agency, announced the appointment of James Nicholas Kinney as its first Global Chief AI Officer, a role designed to bring new AI-powered solutions directly to clients while expanding the agency’s AI ecosystem.
Fannie Mae Appoints Srikanth Geedipalli as New VP of Modeling & AI Products and Services
Mortgage financier, Fannie Mae, has appointed Srikanth Geedipalli as its new Vice President of Modeling & AI Products and Services. Geedipalli will focus on building platforms and products that are technically robust, trusted, scalable, and impactful, supporting the company’s mission to expand access to safe, affordable housing.
Babel Street Names John Larson as New President and CAIO
Babel Street, a global leader in mission-grade risk intelligence, today announced John Larson has joined the company as President and Chief AI Officer. This marks a major expansion of the company’s executive leadership, where he will lead efforts to scale Babel Street’s AI advantage and accelerate the next generation of product innovation.
Dr. Hongjiang Miao has been Announced as New CAIO for Nona Biosciences
Nona Biosciences, a global biotechnology company providing integrated solutions for biological drug discovery and development from I to I® (Idea to IND), announced the appointment of Dr. Hongjiang Miao as Chief AI Officer.
Lincoln Financial Appoints Nilanjan Adhya as EVP and Chief AI, Data and Analytics Officer
Lincoln Financial announced the appointment of Nilanjan (Neel) Adhya as Executive Vice President, Chief AI, Data and Analytics Officer (CAIDAO). In this newly created role, Adhya will advance AI and data as enterprise core capabilities.
Joan-Marie Stiglich, ELS has been Named as First CAIO for Healio
Joan-Marie Stiglich, ELS, who has been with The Wyanoke Group for 31 years, will oversee Healio AI in the newly-created role, chief AI officer. As chief AI officer (CAIO), Stiglich will manage Healio AI’s execution and long-term growth, ensuring the free-to-use, HIPAA-compliant platform continues to serve health care professionals.
Sam Mohanty has been Appointed as Chief AI & Transformation Officer for NuStudio.AI
NuStudio.AI announced the appointment of Sam Mohanty as its Chief AI & Transformation Officer. In this role, Mohanty will guide the company’s transformation strategy and work closely with clients to accelerate modernization, unlock deeper enterprise intelligence, and deliver AI-driven outcomes with significantly fewer resources.
Gyan Gupta has been Named CAIO for Jindal Steel
Jindal Steel has appointed Gyan Gupta as its Chief AI Officer. In his new role, Gupta is expected to lead the company’s enterprise AI efforts across five areas: AI awareness and workforce enablement; intelligence layers for operations, sales, supply chain, finance, HR and leadership; agentic AI and virtual employees; a custom internal AI system to unify data and institutional knowledge; and automation and robotics aimed at safety and operations.
