Virginia Rometty, CEO of IBM

Although information technology continues to be a largely male-dominated field, Virginia “Ginny” Rometty defied the odds when she became IBM’s first female CEO, as well its President and Chair.

Rometty was responsible for much of the company’s growth and success in the 00s. She had her “big break” when she was assigned to oversee the integration of PricewaterhouseCoopers into the company. In 2007, she helped plan out IBM’s five-year plan for growth. And as a result, was placed at the head of the company’s sales force.

As CEO, Rometty has successfully shifted the focus of the company to grasp the latest developments and trends. This includes partnerships with Apple, SAP, and Twitter. They’ve also moved away from areas of declining importance like computers and operating systems. Today they focus their efforts on innovative projects such as artificial intelligence, machine learning, and quantum computing.