Behind all innovative tech companies are the inspiring leaders that envision the product, lead the teams, make the difficult decisions and occasionally break a few rules. Though it’s tough to narrow it down to just ten, we selected the leaders we feel are the most influential in shaping the world we currently live in as well as building a better future.
- Linus Torvalds
Linus Torvalds is the face behind the open-source operating platform, Linux. As one of the most reliable operating systems in the world, Linux has become a global solution, running everything from supercomputers to cars and home appliances. Torvalds created the company “by the people, for the people”, and this philosophy is one of the reasons it has become such a success today.
- Evan Spiegel
The social media and messaging app, Snapchat first came out with the ingenious “stories” feature that has now been adopted by the likes of Facebook, Instagram, Skype and more. Evan Spiegel, the executive behind this innovative company, became one of the youngest CEOs to go public – at the age of 26 – and even declined an acquisition deal from Google valued at $30B.
- Henri Ben Ezra
Henri Ben Ezra and Avi Ben Ezra (below) are two Israeli brothers who founded the cutting-edge chatbot company, Snatchbot. Henri, the CEO, has inspired record adoption since launching primarily due to his vision and execution of SnatchBot’s advanced customer service and user interaction. By automating basic human tasks, SnatchBot has even contributed to carbon reduction in entire regions by reducing the need for many people to travel during peak times.
- Avi Ben Ezra
Avi Ben Ezra is the technical mastermind behind SnatchBot, where his significant advances in machine learning and AI have raised the bar in terms of customer experience and satisfaction. As the CTO, Avi has deployed AI and chatbots to develop incredible credit card security to reduce fraud and drive out crime mafias from call centers around the world.
- Elon Musk
A name we all recognize. A serial entrepreneur, Elon Musk is a powerful influence on the entirety of the tech, space and sustainability world. Tesla, SpaceX and The Boring Company are just a few of the companies he runs, making great strides in AI while calling attention to renewable energy and ensuring a better future for all.
- Bill Gates
We can’t discuss influential people without a mention of Bill Gates. More than just the founder of the world’s biggest PC company, Microsoft, Gates is also a philanthropist, a humanitarian and the second richest person in the world (Jeff Bezos is first). Without Gates, the internet we have today would not have been the same.
- Steve Jobs
A true visionary, Steve Jobs brought us a pocket-sized phone that holds our entire lives, and we cannot imagine leaving the house without. The superiorly designed iPod, iPhone, iPad, MacBook and other Apple products are known and loved worldwide. Jobs’ charismatic leadership style has inspired many movies about the rise of the Apple legacy.
- Jeff Bezos
Many would agree that Amazon is taking over the world. Jeff Bezos has transformed the way we shop – enabling us to purchase nearly anything on its marketplace and have it delivered in a matter of hours. Not to mention Alexa, the virtual assistant bringing life to our home, setting alarms, changing the music and scheduling our AC to turn on before we get home from work.
- Mark Zuckerberg
Mark Zuckerberg has grown Facebook as a dominating social network, acquiring Instagram, Oculus VR and WhatsApp along the way. He started the company at 19 years old in college, it went public eight years later and is still going strong today. Despite his recent hot water over fake news and user data, among other things, there is no doubt that Zuckerberg is a real tech disruptor.
