2020 SuperNova Award Judges

AI and Augmented Humanity

Dr. David Bray (@ACGeoTech)
Director, GeoTech Center & GeoTech Commission
Atlantic Council
Dr. David A. Bray has served in a variety of leadership roles in turbulent environments, including bioterrorism preparedness and response from 2000-2005, time on the ground in Afghanistan in 2009, serving as the non-partisan Executive Director for a bipartisan National Commission on R&D, and providing leadership as a non-partisan federal agency Senior Executive. He accepted a leadership role in December 2019 to incubate a new global Center with the Atlantic Council. He also provides strategy to both Boards and start-ups espousing human-centric principles to technology-enabled decision making in complex environments. He was also named a Senior Fellow with the Institute for Human-Machine Cognition in starting in 2018. Business Insider named him one of the top “24 Americans Who Are Changing the World” under 40 and he was named a Young Global Leader by the World Economic Forum for 2016-2021. From 2017 to the start of 2020, David served as Executive Director for the People-Centered Internet coalition Chaired by Internet co-originator Vint Cerf, focused on providing support and expertise for community-focused projects that measurably improve people’s lives using the internet.

John Sumser (@JohnSumser‏)
Principal Analyst
HRExaminer
John Sumser is a principal analyst for HRExaminer, an independent analyst firm covering HR Technology and the intersection of people, tech, and work. John’s mix of experience over the course of his career gives him a broad and unique perspective on the industry. Like anyone trying to process a lot of information, he is two or three steps ahead in some areas and still learning about others.
 

Sholto Macpherson (@sholtomac)
Publisher, Digital First
Contributor, Constellation Orbits
Sholto Macpherson is an analyst in online accounting software for SMEs and a business technology journalist for more than 15 years. Since June 2011 he has published DigitalFirst.com, a blog covering the latest cloud technologies for SMEs and disruption in the accounting profession. 
 

Craig Stedman (@craigstedman)
Editor at Large
TechTarget
Craig Stedman writes about AI, analytics and data management technologies for several TechTarget websites, including SearchBusinessAnalytics, SearchDataManagement and SearchEnterpriseAI. He's also involved in planning editorial content for the sites and tracking market trends. Craig has more than 30 years of experience as an IT journalist. Before joining TechTarget in 2009, he worked for 16 years as an editor and reporter at Computerworld, where he covered a variety of enterprise technologies. Craig is a graduate of Boston University, with a bachelor's degree in journalism.
 

R "Ray" Wang (@rwang0)
CEO & Principal Analyst
Constellation Research, Inc.
R "Ray" Wang is Principal Analyst and CEO at Constellation Research, Inc. Wang is the bestselling author of Disrupting Digital Business. In addition, he is the author of the popular enterprise software blog "A Software Insider’s Point of View". With viewership in the millions of page views a year, his blog provides insight into how disruptive technologies and new business models impact the enterprise. Prior to founding Constellation, he was a founding partner and research analyst for enterprise strategy at Altimeter Group and one of the top analysts at Forrester Research for enterprise strategy.
 

Data to Decisions

Doug Henschen (@dhenschen)
Vice President & Principal Analyst
Constellation Research
Doug Henschen is Vice President and Principal Analyst at Constellation Research covering big data and analytics. Henschen is a keen observer of how organizations utilize emerging analytics technologies to build new business models. Prior to joining Constellation, Henschen was executive editor at InformationWeek. 
 

Jack Vaughan (@JackIVaughan)
Writer, Analyst & Researcher
Progressive Gauge LLC
Jack Vaughan is writer and researcher at Progressive Gauge LLC. Much of his focus of late has been on the Internet of Things, which he has covered in a series of stories for IoT World Today. He also participates at Constellation Research as an editor, and as a judge of the SuperNova awards. As a computer trade press reporter, online Internet editor and staff writer for over 20 years, he covered big data, software development, embedded systems, middleware, electronic design automation and more for publications including Application Development Trends, EDN News, Software Magazine, and TechTarget, before beginning his freelance practice in late 2019. His main interest is in assessing trends by analyzing technologies employed, vendor segmentation, and relevant use cases. He has found that, with high technology, every day is a new one.
 

Jessica Davis (@jessicadavis)
Senior Editor, Enterprise Apps
InformationWeek
Jessica Davis has spent a career covering the intersection of business and technology at titles including IDG's Infoworld, Ziff Davis Enterprise's eWeek and Channel Insider, and Penton Technology's MSPmentor. She's passionate about the practical use of business intelligence, predictive analytics, and big data for smarter business and a better world. In her spare time she enjoys playing Minecraft and other video games with her sons. She's also a student and performer of improvisational comedy.
 

Tricia Wang (@triciawang)
Co-Founder
Sudden Compass
With astronaut eyes and ethnographer curiosity, Tricia Wang is obsessed with discovering the unknown. Tricia is a global tech ethnographer living at the intersection of data, design, and digital. Her passion is to help organizations uncover how our bias towards the quantifiable comes at the expense of profits and people, and how to fix it. She is the co-founder of Sudden Compass, a consulting firm that helps enterprises move at the speed of their customers by unlocking new growth opportunities in their big data with human insights in their digital transformation. Organizations she’s worked with include P&G, Kickstarter, Spotify, and GE. She also co-founded Magpie Kingdom, a consultancy that helps globally minded companies gain actionable insights about the Chinese consumer. Their newsletter, Magpie Digest, unpacks trending conversations in China to reveal insights about youth culture and macro social implications.

Jon Reed (@jonerp)
Co-founder
Diginomica
Jon Reed has been involved in enterprise communities since 1995, including time spent building ERP recruiting and training firms. These days, Reed is a (cough) blogger/analyst and also counsels vendors and startups on go-to-market strategy. He is an SAP Mentor, Enterprise Irregular, and video content producer.

Data-Driven Digital Networks (DDNs) and Business Models 

Heather Willems (@Heather_Willems)
Co-Founder, Visual Strategist 
The First Work
Heather Willems has established herself as one of the world’s leading visual strategist, graphic facilitating for over 15 years globally. Based in Brooklyn, New York, her deep knowledge and passion for visualizing big ideas led her to work with influential thought leaders and companies including Disney, AOL, FedEx, Google, Lego, and NASA. As the co-author of Draw Your Big Idea, she has been featured on The Today Show, Entrepreneur Magazine, Inc., Forbes, Mashable and the Wall Street Journal. Heather has spoken about visual problem solving on the stages at The Atlantic, SXSW, Columbia University, Comic Con, PTTOW! and many more.

 

R "Ray" Wang (@rwang0)
CEO & Principal Analyst
Constellation Research, Inc.
R "Ray" Wang is Principal Analyst and CEO at Constellation Research, Inc. Wang is the bestselling author of Disrupting Digital Business. In addition, he is the author of the popular enterprise software blog "A Software Insider’s Point of View". With viewership in the millions of page views a year, his blog provides insight into how disruptive technologies and new business models impact the enterprise. Prior to founding Constellation, he was a founding partner and research analyst for enterprise strategy at Altimeter Group and one of the top analysts at Forrester Research for enterprise strategy.

Suki Fuller (@SukiFuller)
Analytical Storyteller, Investor, Competitive and Strategic Intelligence
Suki Fuller , an Analytical Storyteller, is globally recognized by Forbes as a Strategic advisor for her work with fundraising startups, speaker, and mentor. She is the Co-Founder & CEO of Salaam Ventures; Founder of Miribure; a Strategic & Competitive Intelligence company focused on the integration of intelligence with lean/agile principles for tech startups. Suki is currently co-leading FiftyFiftyPledge an initiative to increase the number of women in Venture Capital.

Chris Meyer (@chrismeyer16)
Thought leader, Author
Constellation Orbits
Chris's mission is to anticipate and shape the future of business. He has pursued this goal as an author, executive, consultant, entrepreneur, speaker, Trustee, teacher and the leader of a think tank. Chris has been tracking the evolution of the information economy since the 1980s. He has provided perspective and counsel to many of the large and small companies driving change in how business is done. When he ran Ernst & Young’s Center for Business Innovation Consulting Magazine ranked him #11 among the Most Influential Consultants. He has published four books: the first, BLUR, was a Business Week Top Ten Best Seller, and his most recent, Standing on the Sun, was listed among the Best Books of 2012 by the Financial Times.
 

Marketing and Sales Effectiveness

Liz Miller (@lizkmiller)
VP & Principal Analyst
Constellation Research
Liz Miller is Vice President and Principal Analyst at Constellation focused on the business demands on today’s Chief Marketing Officer, the evolution of customer engagement and the rising requirement for a new security posture that accounts for the threat to brand trust.  A 27-year marketing veteran, in her new role Miller will offer guidance on the leadership, business transformation and technology requirements for today’s marketing organizations and how to effectively transform business models to stay competitive in the shifting digital landscape. She will examine the key trends modern CMOs face, ranging from the realities of engagement in the trust economy to how marketing has become enterprise security’s greatest threat and critical champion.

Soon Yu (@soonspeaks)
Bestselling Author
Iconic Advantage®
Soon Yu is an international speaker and best selling author on innovation and design who has been featured in the Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, Entrepreneur Magazine and New York Times. His book, Iconic Advantage®, challenges businesses to refocus their innovation priorities on building greater iconicity, and offers deeper insights on establishing timeless distinction and relevance. He most recently served as the Global VP of Innovation and Officer at VF Corporation where he created a $2 billion innovation pipeline, established 3 global innovation centers, and initiated industry-leading design best practices.
 

Gavin Heaton (@servantofchaos)
Independent Analyst
Constellation Orbits
Gavin is a marketing technologist, strategist and advisor. He is the founder of the Disruptor’s Handbook – a strategy and innovation firm that helps organisations design and create a collaborative future for a digital world. Gavin has worked at the intersection of marketing and technology for over 20 years for companies and clients including SAP, IBM, McDonald’s and PwC, has co-authored five books and is a regular speaker on marketing, technology, startups and innovation. 
 

Dom Nicastro (@DomNicastro)
Reporter
CMSWire
Dom Nicastro is a Boston-based staff reporter at CMSWire. The former editor-in-chief of a daily newspaper, he reports on a wide range of topics, including social business, digital asset management, customer experience management and web CMS.
 

Digital Safety, Governance, and Privacy

Steve Wilson (@steve_lockstep)
Vice President & Principal Analyst
Constellation Research, Inc.
Steve Wilson is Vice President and Principal Analyst at Constellation Research, Inc, focusing on digital identity and privacy. Wilson has over twenty-five years experience in ICT innovation, and research and development. Wilson is credited with numerous breakthroughs in difficult areas of identity infrastructure and governance, including national and industry level authentication frameworks, PKI systems, smartcards, digital credentials, fraud control, and privacy engineering. 
 

Angela Walch (@angela_walch)
Professor of Law at St. Mary's University School of Law
Research Fellow, Centre for Blockchain Technologies at University College London
Angela Walch is a Professor of Law at St. Mary's University School of Law and a Research Fellow at the University College London Centre for Blockchain Technologies. Her research focuses on money and the law, blockchain technologies, governance of emerging technologies, and financial stability. She has presented her research at Harvard Law School, Stanford University, the Federal Reserve, and the London School of Economics, among others. Her work on blockchain technologies has appeared in the NYU Journal of Legislation & Public Policy, the Review of Banking & Financial Law, American Banker, and Forbes.com, and she has been featured in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Economist, TIME, The Washington Post, BBC Mundo, Bloomberg, the Financial Times' FT Alphaville, The Guardian, and The Times of London, among others.
 

Brenda Leong (@BrendaKLeong)
Senior Counsel and Director of Strategy
Future of Privacy Forum
Brenda Leong, CIPP/US, is Senior Counsel and Director of Strategy at Future of Privacy Forum. She oversees strategic planning of organizational goals, as well as managing the FPF portfolio on biometrics, particularly facial recognition, along with the ethics and privacy issues associated with artificial intelligence. She authored the FPF Privacy Expert’s Guide to AI, and co-authored the paper, “Beyond Explainability: A Practical Guide to Managing Risk in Machine Learning Models.” She also facilitated the development of and authored the publication of FPF’s “Privacy Principles for Facial Recognition Technology in Commercial Applications.” She works on industry standards and collaboration on privacy concerns, partnering with stakeholders to reach practical solutions to privacy challenges for consumer data uses. Prior to working at FPF, Brenda served in the U.S. Air Force, including policy and legislative affairs work from the Pentagon and the U.S. Department of State. She is a 2014 graduate of George Mason School of Law.
 

Chris Preimesberger (@editingwhiz)
Editor in Chief
eWEEK
Chris Preimesberger is responsible in large part for eWEEK's coverage areas. In his 12 years and more than 3,900 stories at eWEEK, he has distinguished himself in reporting and analysis of the business use of new-gen IT in a variety of sectors, include data center systems, storage, the IoT, security, and others. In February 2017, Chris was named among the 250 most influential business journalists in the world by Richtopia, a research firm that used analytics to compile the ranking. He has been a part-time correspondent for The Associated Press since 1983 and resides in Silicon Valley.
 

Divina Paredes (@divinap)
Editor & Writer
Divina Paredes is a business technology editor and writer based in Auckland, New Zealand. She has been covering the information and communications technology sector for more than 20 years, most recently as editor of CIO New Zealand. She has postgraduate degrees from the University of Sydney (international studies) and New York University (journalism). 

Future of Work - Employee Experience

Andrew Nebus (@andrewnebus)
Director of Digital Strategy
ASRC Federal
Andrew is currently at ASRC Federal helping government agencies with digital transformation journeys.  He has served as Command Staff and CIO at the Baltimore City Police Department, TAC Officer at the NJ Transit Police, and CIO of Edison, New Jersey.   A renowned #ChangeAgent, Andrew Nebus provides leadership, trusted advisory, and oversight. He has led organizations to change for over two decades. 

Dion Hinchcliffe (@dhinchcliffe)
Vice President & Principal Analyst
Constellation Research, Inc.
Dion Hinchcliffe is an internationally recognized business strategist, bestselling author, enterprise architect, industry analyst, and noted keynote speaker. He is widely regarded as one of the most influential figures in digital strategy, the future of work, and enterprise IT. Dion is a recognized industry expert on the topics of digital transformation, digital workplace, social collaboration, API strategy, social business, Service-Oriented Architecture (SOA), online business models, CIO issues, digital business, and next-generation enterprises.



Dr. Janice Presser (@DrJanice)
TeamingScience.com
DrJanicePresser.com
Dr. Janice Presser spent her formative years researching how people team together, finding answers in systems theory and physics. Having written her first line of code in high school, she was positioned to architect a system to measure how people work together and develop the underlying theory and practice of Teaming Science. She continues to write, speak, and consult on all aspects of human interaction, motivation, and perception. Her books are available at Amazon.com/author/drjanice.
 

Virginia Backaitis (@actbrilliant)
Reporter
Virginia Backaitis wear a lot of hats. She run Brilliant Leap, a 30 year old search and consulting firm. She is also a journalist who writes about two seemingly unrelated things: 1) enterprise technology and  2) what it’s like to work in the modern workplace. My work gets published in places like CMSWire, SeekingAlpha, the New York Post, and the Daily Telegraph. Virginia has  a new project, DigitizingPolaris which covers select tech industry news and views that don’t get the sunlight they deserve elsewhere.
 

Future of Work: Human Capital Management

Holger Mueller (@holgermu)
Vice President and Principal Analyst
Constellation Research, Inc.
Holger Mueller is Vice President and Principal Analyst focusing on next-gen apps and human capital management technology. Previously Holger was VP of Products for NorthgateArinso, a KKR company. There he lead the transformation of products to the cloud and laid the foundation for new Business Process as a service (BPaaS) capabilities. 
 

Dickson Tang (@imDicksonT)
Author & Speaker
Dickson Tang is a keynote speaker, author and influencer. He helps people and organizations get creative towards the future of work and business, so that they can unlock ideas and opportunities in new products, services and processes. He is author of the book "Leadership for future of work: 9 ways to build career edge over robots with human creativity". He was featured in media such as Forbes, Irish Tech News and “Money FM 89.3”. Why he cares so much about creativity and the future? Because the future needs creativity, but traditional schools don’t teach creativity. That’s why he wants to do something to bridge this big gap. People called Dickson an “ideas” person; he is a strong believer that “idea is the new currency in the new economy.” He also runs a corporate training company, working with leaders and executives from Cartier, CITIC Telecom, JVC Kenwood, Mannheim Business School, Menicon, Montblanc, Novartis and many more. He is based in Singapore.
 

Trish McFarlane (@TrishMcFarlane)
HR Technology Analyst/ Consultant/ Writer/ Podcaster
Seasoned HR executive focused on alignment of strategic business objectives. Advises organizations on product strategy in order to bring HR professionals and technology vendors closer together. Provides research and analysis of market trends. Experienced in technology selection and implementation since 2005. Trish is the co-host of the most listened to HR industry podcast, the HR Happy Hour. She joins her co-host, Steve Boese, in episodes that focus on what is important to the HCM industry and leaders. They also host the HR Happy Hour on Alexa. She co-founded HRevolution (http://thehrevolution.org), a conference that highlights emerging trends and the future of HR. She also co-founded the Women of HR blog (www.womenofhr.com) in order to give a voice to practitioners who are passionate about issues affecting women in the workplace.
 

William Tincup (@williamtincup)
President at RecruitingDaily.com
William is the President of RecruitingDaily. At the intersection of HR and technology, he's a writer, speaker, advisor, consultant, investor, storyteller & teacher. William has written over 200 HR articles, spoken at over 150 HR & recruiting conferences and I've conducted over 1000 HR podcasts. 
 

John Sumser (@JohnSumser‏)
Principal Analyst
HRExaminer
John Sumser is a principal analyst for HRExaminer, an independent analyst firm covering HR Technology and the intersection of people, tech, and work. John’s mix of experience over the course of his career gives him a broad and unique perspective on the industry. Like anyone trying to process a lot of information, he is two or three steps ahead in some areas and still learning about others.

Next-Generation Customer Experience

Brent Leary (@BrentLeary)
Co-Founder and Partner
CRM Essentials
Brent Leary is a crm industry analyst, advisor, author, speaker and award winning blogger. He is co-founder and Partner of CRM Essentials LLC, an Atlanta based CRM advisory firm covering tools and strategies for improving business relationships. In 2009 he co-authored Barack 2.0: Social Media Lessons for Small Business. Recognized by InsideCRM as one of the 25 most influential industry leaders, Leary also is a past recipient of CRM Magazine's Most Influential Leader Award. He blogs at BrentLeary.com.
 

John Ragsdale (@john_ragsdale)
Distinguished Researcher, Vice President of Research, Service Technology
Technology Services Industry Association
John Ragsdale is the distinguished vice president of technology research for TSIA. His area of expertise is in assisting enterprise technology firms with the selection and value realization of service tools and platforms, with a constant focus on the customer experience. John drives TSIA's highly regarded technology research agenda, delivering insightful, thought-leadership research and analysis on the most pressing business issues facing services leaders to enable them to better plan and execute their service strategies. John earned the title of TSIA Distinguished Researcher when he reached over ten years in a research role at TSIA, having authored over 250 research articles, answered 3,000+ member inquiries, and developed frameworks and survey methodologies that helped members address complex business challenges. John also continues to take a lead role as a mentor, helping other members of the TSIA Research team master their skills.
 

Nicole France (@lnfrance)
VP & Principal Analyst
Constellation Research 
Nicole France is Vice President and Principal Analyst at Constellation, focusing on digital marketing, sales effectiveness, and customer experience. Her research examines the interrelationship between sales, marketing, and customer engagement and how to make it work effectively. France evaluates the tools as well as the principles and practices that generate the best results. She considers the customer relationship lifecycle to be one of the most critical aspects of digital transformation for any business. It’s also one that can easily go awry. Success requires a clear focus on the objectives as well as a thorough understanding of how technology tools help to achieve them—and where they can’t. With over twenty years of experience as both technology analyst and marketer, she has a unique perspective on both the trends and the practicalities of effective customer engagement. Throughout her career, she has focused on successfully adopting technology capabilities and the transformative impact they have for customers.
 

Paul Greenberg (@pgreenbe)
Board of Advisors (Constellation Research, Inc.) & President
The 56 Group, LLC
In addition to being the author of the best-selling CRM at the Speed of Light: Essential Customer Strategies for the 21st Century, Paul Greenberg is President of The 56 Group, LLC, an enterprise applications consulting services firm, focused on CRM strategic services including go-to-market strategies for vendors and integrators, CRM strategic planning and vendor selection. The 56 Group also provides writing, speaking and educational services.  Paul has years of experience with both CRM and Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP). He has built SAP and People Soft practices and, has extremely deep ties into the CRM and enterprise applications communities.
 

Tech Optimization and Modernization

Doug Henschen (@dhenschen)
Vice President & Principal Analyst
Constellation Research
Doug Henschen is Vice President and Principal Analyst at Constellation Research covering big data and analytics. Henschen is a keen observer of how organizations utilize emerging analytics technologies to build new business models. Prior to joining Constellation, Henschen was executive editor at InformationWeek. 
 

David Needle (@DavidNeedle)
Technology Writer and Editor
Skilled Editor, Reporter, and Writer / Blogger with extensive background in reporting and writing about the technology industry, including pioneering efforts in evangelizing tablet computer usage. Accomplished columnist, blog author, interviewer, and public speaker. Proven success in arranging and executing tech conferences. Insatiable appetite for tech news stories, including coverage of new and emerging trends. Able to provide sound, pragmatic, and innovative leadership; history of implementing strategies that improved news coverage, raised the image of publications and news sites, and ensured excellent, valuable content for readers. 
 

Mike Wheatley (@Mike_Wheatley)
Senior Staff Writer
SiliconANGLE
Mike Wheatley is a senior staff writer at SiliconANGLE. He loves to write about Big Data and the Internet of Things, and explore how these technologies are evolving and helping businesses to become more agile. Before joining SiliconANGLE, Mike was an editor at Argophilia Travel News, an occassional contributer to The Epoch Times, and has also dabbled in SEO and social media marketing. He usually bases himself in Bangkok, Thailand, though he can often be found roaming through the jungles or chilling on a beach.
 

Sholto Macpherson (@sholtomac)
Publisher, Digital First
Contributor, Constellation Orbits
Sholto Macpherson is an analyst in online accounting software for SMEs and a business technology journalist for more than 15 years. Since June 2011 he has published DigitalFirst.com, a blog covering the latest cloud technologies for SMEs and disruption in the accounting profession. 

Debra Lilley (@debralilley)
HCM Practice Lead
Oracle Business Group, Europe
Debra Lilley is an Oracle ACE Director and Fusion Applications UX Advocate. She is a volunteer and Past President of UKOUG and led the Product Development Committee of the IOUC; the user group team working with Oracle during the development of Fusion Applications. She has worked with Oracle Applications and technology since 1996 and presented at over 300 events around the world about Oracle Applications and the Technology they are built on.