Toni Townes-Whitley is a globally recognized tech leader, Fortune 500 CEO & accomplished public company board member with a 30+yr career leading large-scale digital modernization efforts; up to $17B P&L and 24,000 employees; across defense, national security, space, healthcare, fintech, banking, higher ed, gov and energy. She has executed disciplined & disruptive pivots, leveraging emerging technologies to transform complex regulated industries & accelerate profitable, sustainable growth. She has deep expertise guiding digital modernization strategies, ethical AI, cloud and data solutions, execution discipline, courageous culture change & market disruption.
Toni has deep governance experience and currently serves on the board of Nasdaq, Inc., (Nasdaq: NDAQ), on the Audit and Management and Compensation Committees, and on the board of the Thurgood Marshall College Fund, where she Co-Chairs the Development Committee. Her prior board service includes PNC Financial Services (NYSE: PNC), Marathon Petroleum (NYSE: MPC), Vista (Granicus) and Johns Hopkins Medical Center, with committee leadership spanning audit, risk, technology, and compensation.
At SAIC, she was recruited as CEO to formulate, execute and lead a comprehensive business transformation for the Fortune 500, $7.5B business. She drove organic growth, differentiated and modernized the portfolio, and restored market leadership, driving capabilities around digital engineering, operational AI, secure cloud, and data analytics. She delivered 7% growth in her first year, increased pipeline from $17B to $28B submissions annually and achieved the highest stock price in more than a decade, while increasing employee engagement.
Prior, she served as President of U.S. Regulated Industries at Microsoft leading a $17B P&L and overseeing digital transformation across financial services, healthcare, education, and government. She drove the fastest-growing business in the U.S. market, delivering 20% YoY growth and won several of the company’s largest deals with BlackRock and the US Department of Defense, to accelerate Azure adoption, and co-designed Microsoft’s first AI Ethical Framework. Promoted to establish Microsoft Global Industries, she architected the new GTM model, shifting the company to a vertical P&L, catalyzed cloud consumption, and strengthened engagement across a global sales organization. Her earlier leadership roles at CGI Federal, Unisys, and Arthur Andersen further established her track record in technology modernization.
Toni holds a BA in Public Policy and Economics from Princeton University and has completed executive education at Wharton, and New York University. She is a guest lecturer at Stanford and Princeton Universities on technology and ethical AI. She is published widely across national media outlets and is a sought-after speaker at forums including Fortune’s Most Powerful Women, the Reagan National Defense Forum, Semafor, and the United Nations. Toni has won numerous awards including Fortune Most Powerful Women: Ones to Watch, USA Today Women of the Year, Women in Technology Lifetime Achievement Award and the Federal 100 Industry Eagle Award. Toni leads a multigenerational family and personally cares for her father, a retired US Army General. She is active in her faith community, a former college athlete and lifetime sports enthusiast. Toni enjoys free time with her family and grandchildren, has traveled to more than 100 countries, and is currently writing a screenplay.