Top Technology Executives Recognized at the 2026 HoustonCIO ORBIE Awards 

Leading CIOs honored for leadership, innovation, and business impact

HOUSTON, April 24, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The 2026 HoustonCIO ORBIE Awards honored leading chief information officers (CIOs) from SLB, ConocoPhillips, Oceaneering, ABM Industries, Expro, Houston Airport System, and Capital Farm Credit for their exceptional leadership. Hosted by HoustonCIO, one of over 50 Inspire Leadership Network chapters, the prestigious award honors CIOs who drive business transformation and industry impact.

This exclusive event brought together top executives and industry leaders from Houston. The morning honored excellence in technology leadership across seven award categories at Marriott Marquis Houston.  

“Behind every technology innovation is a CIO leading the vision and shaping the strategy,” said Anthony Dayao, HoustonCIO Chair. “The ORBIE Awards are the ultimate recognition program for the leaders behind the work.”

Meet the 2026 HoustonCIO ORBIE Award Winners: 
Sebastien Lehnherr, CIO, SLB, received the Leadership ORBIE.

Billy-Joe Lafortune, General Manager, L48 Digital Technologies & Global Strategy, ConocoPhillips, received the Super Global ORBIE for organizations over $7.5 billion annual revenue & multi-national operations.

Maria O’Neill, CITO, Oceaneering, received the Global ORBIE for organizations over $2.4 billion annual revenue & multi-national operations.

Melanie Kirkwood Ruiz, CIO, ABM Industries, received the Large Enterprise ORBIE for organizations over $5 billion annual revenue.

Scott Turner, CIO, Expro, received the Enterprise ORBIE for organizations over $1 billion annual revenue.

Darryl Daniel, CTO, Houston Airport System, received the Large Corporate ORBIE for organizations over $500 million annual revenue.

Joseph Paulraj, CDO, Capital Farm Credit, received the Corporate ORBIE for organizations up to $500 million annual revenue.

About the ORBIE:
The ORBIE is the preeminent executive recognition for C-suite leaders. Since 1998, the ORBIE Awards have recognized leadership excellence, building relationships between executives and trusted business partners, and inspiring the next generation of leaders. Finalists and winners are selected through an independent peer-adjudicated process led by prior ORBIE recipients based on the following criteria: 

• Leadership and management effectiveness 
• Business value created by technology innovation
• Engagement in industry and community endeavors
  
  

HoustonCIO ORBIE Keynote & Attendance: 

The keynote address for the HoustonCIO ORBIE Awards was delivered by Sebastien Lehnherr, CIO, SLB, who was interviewed by Al Lindseth, Principal, CI50 Advisory Services. Over 350 guests attended, representing leading Houston organizations and their technology partners.

The following partners made the 2026 HoustonCIO ORBIE Awards possible:

• Underwriters: Allata, BlueSky IT Partners powered by Bridgepointe Technologies, CG Infinity, Comcast Business, and Google Cloud
• Gold Partners: Andersen, Nutanix, Rimini Street, Rite Software
• Silver Partners: Cerebra, Cloudflare, Island, Cognizant, Palo Alto Networks, and Tata Consultancy Services
• Bronze Partners: Authority Partners, Between Pixels, Breeadam, Cisco, HCL Tech, QADworks, Quinnox, Sbase Technologies Inc., Wei, and Wipro
• Media Partner: Houston Business Journal
  
  

To learn more about partnership opportunities and how to connect with leading C-suite executives across North America, click here.

About HoustonCIO:

HoustonCIO is the preeminent peer leadership network of chief information officers (CIOs) in Houston. As one of over 50 chapters of the Inspire Leadership Network, HoustonCIO belongs to a national membership organization exclusively comprised of C-suite leaders from public and private businesses, government, education, healthcare, and nonprofit institutions.

HoustonCIO led by a CIO Advisory Board, with support from an executive director and staff. Underwriter executives support the chapter and ensure the programs remain non-commercial and exclusive to qualified CIOs and members.

About Inspire Leadership Network:

Inspire Leadership Network is the preeminent peer leadership network of C-suite executives. With over 2,000 members across over 50 chapters, Inspire members serve public and private businesses, government, education, healthcare, and non-profit institutions. Inspire exists to help leaders thrive in today’s most challenging executive roles.

Media Contact
Nicole Lammes
nicole.lammes@inspirecxo.com

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