2025 Awards Recipients
Please join us in congratulating the recipients of our 2025 Tech Titans Awards:
Hall Of Fame
Dr. Richard Benson, recently retired president of The University of Texas at Dallas
Corporate CEO
Chandra Dhandapani, CEO of Magnit
Community Hero
Debbie Mrazek, The Sales Company
The Community Hero Award recognizes an individual employed by a North Texas technology company for outstanding achievements in community service to the North Texas area.
Other finalists were:
Corporate CIO/CTO Award
The Corporate CIO/CTO Award recognizes the Chief Information Officer or Corporate Technology Officer or Chief Science Officer or Chief Digitial Officer of a North Texas based technology or non-technology company for exceptional technical leadership that fostered the development or deployment of new technology resulting in significant value for the company. The company must have 2024 operating revenues of more than $200 million.
Other finalists were:
Corporate Innovation Award
The Corporate Innovation Award recognizes a company for outstanding innovation and unique accomplishments through recent or potential breakthrough technology or approach within the technology industry in North Texas for which the company owns the intellectual property or proprietary property/method OR innovated by adopting another company’s intellectual property. The company must have a corporate headquarters or a division office in North Texas with 2024 operating revenues of more than $200 million.
Other finalists were:
Emerging Company CEO Award
Lalit Ahluwalia, DigitalXForce
The Emerging Company CEO Award recognizes the CEO of a technology company headquartered in North Texas with 2024 operating revenues of at least $2 million but not more than $200 million.
Other finalists were:
Emerging Company CIO/CTO Award
The Emerging Company CIO/CTO Award recognizes the Chief Information Officer or Corporate Technology or Science Officer of a North Texas based technology or non-technology company for exceptional technical leadership that fostered the development or deployment of new technology resulting in significant value for the company. The company must have 2024 operating revenues of at least $2 million but not more than $200 million.
Other finalists were:
Emerging Company Innovation Award
The Emerging Company Innovation Award recognizes a company for outstanding innovation and unique accomplishments through recent or potential breakthrough technology or approach within the technology industry in North Texas for which the company owns the intellectual property OR proprietary property/method or innovated by adopting another company’s intellectual property. The company must be headquartered in North Texas and have 2024 operating revenues of at least $2 million but not more than $200 million.
Other finalists were:
Startup Company CEO Award
Chris Brickler, Mynd Immersive
The Startup Company CEO Award recognizes the CEO of a technology company headquartered in North Texas with 2024 operating revenues of no more than $2 million.
Other finalists were:
Technology Advocate Award
Jennifer Sanders, North Texas Innovation Alliance
The Technology Advocate Award recognizes a North Texas individual or company whose core business is not a technology product for outstanding leadership in championing, assisting, advancing or accelerating the performance of the technology industry in North Texas.
Other finalists were:
Technology Inventor Award
David Roberson PhD, Blackbox Biotech
The Technology Inventor Award recognizes the pioneering accomplishments of a person, team or group responsible for the creation of technical breakthrough ideas, processes or products which have advanced the discipline. The nominee is with a North Texas company or institution.
Other finalists were:
Fast Tech
For the second year in a row, JobTread, led by CEO Eric Fortenberry, received the award for the fastest-growing tech company in North Texas.
See the top 15 list of fastest-growing tech companies in North Texas.
Tech Titans Of The Future – High School
Marcus Edwards, Farmersville ISD
The Tech Titans of the Future High School Level Award recognizes a North Texas high school (grades 9-12) math/science teacher or administrator for development and implementation of an innovative teaching technique or program that inspires student interest regarding further educational and/or career pursuits in science, technology, engineering or math. The teaching technique or program must demonstrate opportunity for students to gain applied knowledge. Only one teacher/administrator per school may be nominated. A lesson plan may be included in the nomination. The nomination requires testimonials from two current or former students, educators or other individuals who have excelled or benefited from this program.
Other finalists were:
Tech Titans Of The Future – College/University
UT Dallas, North Texas Semiconductor Institute
The Tech Titans of the Future College/University Level Award recognizes an accredited educational institution in the North Texas area that encourages and supports students to choose engineering and technology related disciplines as a preferred career path. This award category spotlights North Texas higher educational institutions' technology related curricula and incentives to perpetuate tech-related knowledge transfer. The award finalists display creative, innovative approaches that reach out to students and other learning-minded professionals and related institutions. The nomination requires testimonials from two current or former students, educators or other individuals who have excelled or benefited from this program.
Other finalists were: