#4 Prith Banerjee

Position: Managing Director of Global Technology Research & Development, Accenture. Former SVP, research, and director, HP Labs Hewlett-Packard.

As the senior vice president of research at Hewlett Packard, Banerjee helped develop technical strategies for the company. He also headed up HP Labs, the company's central research organization, which has seven locations worldwide.

Under him, Hewlett-Packard’s laboratories had placed larger bets on fewer projects, and have systematically sought outside ideas.

In the new job, Banerjee will oversee Accenture Technology Labs, the firm’s research organization that focuses on emerging tech, and will be responsible for its annual Technology Vision research.

#5 Thomas Kurian

Position: EVP, product development, Oracle.

Thomas Kurian is Executive Vice President of Oracle Product Development. He is responsible for leading all aspects of product strategy, software development, and delivery of Oracle’s software product portfolio including Oracle Database, Oracle Fusion Middleware, and ERP, CRM, and supply chain management applications. For the past several years, Kurian has been responsible for the Oracle Fusion Middleware family of products.

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