The nine honorees helped local students use tech to solve some of the world’s biggest problems

Kyndryl today announced its 2023 class of Distinguished Engineers and a Distinguished Designer. This group of leaders is recognized for their groundbreaking contributions in the high growth fields of engineering, programming, infrastructure services, cloud, network and edge, cyber resilience and design.

The eight new Distinguished Engineers and one Distinguished Designer join an extraordinary global group of 92 talented Distinguished Engineers and Distinguished Designers at Kyndryl. The appointees underscore Kyndryl’s commitment to invest in talent and capabilities that address customers’ most pressing business transformation needs.

I’m proud to recognize this year’s honorees who have made significant contributions to accelerate innovation, influence critical design, and advance technology solutions around the globe.

Antoine Shagoury

Chief Technology Officer at Kyndryl

“I’m proud to recognize this year’s honorees who have made significant contributions to accelerate innovation, influence critical design, and advance technology solutions around the globe,” said Antoine Shagoury, Chief Technology Officer at Kyndryl. “Each one of these remarkable leaders is bolstering Kyndryl’s collaborative community and helping our customers with their biggest challenges.”

To celebrate this important distinction, the company’s 2023 Distinguished Engineers and Distinguished Designer recently met with a group of female students from Brooklyn’s Academy of Innovative Technology at Kyndryl’s New York headquarters.

The students, who received mentoring and coaching from the new appointees, were split into two groups, with the aim of using technology to make buildings more environmentally friendly or to improve mental health. The Academy of Innovative Technology students developed well-researched and reasoned ideas, but they were also challenged to build on them by this year’s class of thought leaders and hands-on technologists. Each group had about an hour to develop a solution, before presenting their ideas to an executive panel for review.

Here are Kyndryl’s 2023 distinguished honorees:

Benjamin Brillat (United States): During his career, Brillat has designed and implemented some of the world’s most unique and complex networks for hundreds of customers across many industries. As a new Distinguished Engineer, Brillat serves as the Global Leader for Kyndryl Consult’s Network and Edge practice, responsible for the next generation of services from Kyndryl’s Network Architects and Specialists.

Saravanan Devendran (India): A great problem-solver and proficient inventor holding 11 granted patents, Devendran has served as a culture change-agent and mentored technical leaders and inventors, resulting in first-of-kind solutions, patents, technical papers and blogs. As a Data Engineering Leader, he will direct Kyndryl’s digital data strategy and integration, with a focus on unified observability to provide true enterprise performance.

Benoit Durand (France): While his most recent work has focused on customers who want to migrate from the mainframe to the cloud and value or monetize their data, Durand has led technical teams bidding for complex engagements. As a Distinguished Engineer, Durand will lead the development and enhancements for strategic high-value mainframe modernizations in France.

John Graham (United Kingdom): A customer-facing principal architect recognized globally as a technical thought leader and trusted advisor, Graham also oversees 150 architects within the UK Architecture profession at Kyndryl. In his new role as a Distinguished Engineer, Graham will be the Technical Executive for the Lloyds Banking Group account, the largest financial services organization in the UK.

Alwyn Lobo (India): A thought leader, role model and an expert in public cloud offering architecture and solution design, Lobo has applied technology, creativity, innovation and thought leadership to solve client business problems in India and across the world. As a Distinguished Engineer, he will be responsible for technical strategy, architecture, asset creation and roadmap of public cloud offerings and joint plays of AWS, Microsoft Azure and Google Cloud offerings in the Global Cloud Practice.

Darren Moore (United Kingdom): As the principal enterprise architect for one of Kyndryl’s largest customers, a global media and advertising group, Moore has focused on driving transformation across a dynamic and globally diverse organization. As the new Global Strategic Accounts Enterprise Architect, Moore will own the technical relationships for the Kyndryl’s strategic clients reporting to the managing partners and market presidents.

Elliott Trice (United States): Responsible for establishing the vision for Kyndryl’s corporate website, Trice continues to evolve the site’s experience, cementing its position as an industry thought leader. As a Distinguished Designer, only the second in Kyndryl’s program, Trice will now lead Digital Experience, collaborating with multiple departments to accelerate our customers’ digital journey from awareness of Kyndryl’s value to active engagement with, and productive use of Kyndryl’s technology solutions.

Sergio Vicente Ruiz (Spain): An evangelist for modern, cloud-native operating models, Vicente specializes in developing and standardizing customer solutions and communicating the business value of new cloud technology proposals. In his new role as Global Cloud Journey Optimization Architect, Vicente will lead cloud solution design and transformation strategy on flagship customer opportunities globally.

Jim Zell (United States): An eager problem-solver, Zell is a mainframe expert who has helped drive the U.S. mainframe strategy, working with troubled accounts and leading mainframe solution development for customer teams. As the new Mainframe Disruptive Technology Leader for Kyndryl’s Core Enterprise and zCloud Practice, Zell will establish new partner relationships and move those with viable products into revenue-producing service offerings globally.

Kyndryl's 2023 Class of Distinguished Engineers and a Distinguished Designer
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