Exclusive: IBM UK and Ireland appoints first female CEO replacing veteran of two decades with Microsoft leader
IBM UK and Ireland has appointed its first ever female chief executive following the departure of its existing general manager after 22 years.
Dr Nicola Hodson will take over from Sreeram Visvanathan at the tech giant’s UK arm, arriving from Microsoft.
She was Microsoft’s Vice President of Customer & Partner Solutions, Transformation, and a member of its global leadership team for commercial business.
The entrepreneur and tech expert, who is the deputy president of trade association techUK, formerly worked in the IT and business services division of Siemens, at CSC (now DXC) and as a management consultant for EY. She joined Microsoft in 2008.
She has also sat as a board member at the UK Council for Child Internet Safety and the Child Exploitation and Online Protection group (CEOP) in the UK.
“This is a make-or-break time for all companies and organisations as they move at pace to transform, to adopt new technologies and business models and to deliver on their sustainability ambitions”, Hodson said.
“IBM technology and consulting capabilities in hybrid cloud and AI are helping clients to accelerate their critical transformation journeys,” she added.
Her arrival was welcomed by Ana Paula Assis, Chair and General Manager, IBM Europe, Middle East and Africa, who said she “is an accomplished leader with an enviable wealth of senior-level experience in the IT industry and a deep understanding of challenges facing the C-suite.
“The UK and Ireland business is a critical growth and innovation engine for IBM and her strong track record in leading change will help drive sustained growth for our clients and our business,” Assis said.