10 SaaS CTOs to Watch in 2025

As SaaS companies continue to dominate the tech industry, the role of Chief Technology Officer (CTO) has never been more pivotal. These leaders are driving innovation, scaling operations, and setting the strategic direction for some of the most successful and disruptive companies in the tech space.

They've built innovative products and platforms that have significantly impacted their organizations, and they're all about using cutting-edge tech like AI and machine learning to solve complex business problems.

Some companies are turning to fractional CTOs—part-time technology leaders who provide strategic guidance to startups and smaller businesses—allowing even more organizations to benefit from top-tier expertise without the full-time commitment.

In this article, we spotlight 16 SaaS CTOs shaping the future of technology, offering insights into their achievements and the trends they are championing.

The 10 Most Innovative CTOs in SaaS for 2025

1. Dave Rensin, Google Cloud – Dave Rensin is the Sr. Director of Engineering at Google. He has led teams that built and launched Google Cloud's Site Reliability Engineering (SRE) program, which has become a widely adopted methodology for managing IT infrastructure. Currently, he is leading ML infrastructure acceleration.
   • Follow Dave on LinkedIn
2. Jane Gilmour, HSBC – Jane Gilmour is a highly accomplished professional with a diverse background in technology and IT leadership roles. She has held prestigious positions at renowned organizations, including The Coca-Cola Company, Barclays Bank, GE Capital EMEA, and General Electric. During her tenure at The Coca-Cola Company, Gilmour served as the IT Director of Global Services and CTO International, demonstrating her expertise in driving technological advancements on a global scale. Jane Gilmour's rich and varied experience positions show she is capable of driving innovation and transformation across diverse sectors.
3. Kevin Scott, Microsoft – Kevin Scott is the CTO at Microsoft, where he leads the development of Microsoft's AI and cloud computing platforms. He has also played a key role in Microsoft's open-source initiatives, including the acquisition of GitHub.
   • Follow Kevin on LinkedIn
4. Bryan Cantrill, Oxide – Bryan Cantrill is the CTO and co-founder of Oxide, a company that builds systems infrastructure. He is a recognized expert in systems engineering. With over two decades of experience in system software, he has co-designed, implemented, and shipped DTrace, a groundbreaking tool for systemic dynamic instrumentation, co-founded the Fishworks group at Sun Microsystems, and built and led the teams responsible for Joyent's core technology portfolio
   • Follow Bryan on LinkedIn
5. Rachana Kumar, Etsy – Rachana is passionate about leveraging technology, driving social impact, and leading teams to success through technical product development. She excels in building and guiding diverse product and engineering teams to tackle complex challenges and deliver business results. Her experience across multiple countries and industries—ranging from media and e-commerce in the US to sociopolitical projects in India and international development in Cambodia—shows a track record of navigating engineering organizations through rapid growth and transformation.
   • Follow Rachana on LinkedIn
6. Rajeev Rajan, Atlassian – Rajeev joined the company in 2022 and is responsible for Atlassian Engineering, IT, Security and Trust, and the Engineering Operations teams. His focus areas include the company's continued transformation to Cloud, Developer Platform, and Product lines. He is passionate about continuing to develop Atlassian’s world-class engineering organization and making it a top choice for aspiring engineering talent worldwide.
   • Follow Rajeev on LinkedIn
7. Rowena Yao, Johnson & Johnson – As Vice President of Information Technology for Pharmaceuticals Asia Pacific, Rowena plays a pivotal role in shaping the region's IT strategy, serving on the Pharma IT Senior Leadership Team and the Janssen Asia Pacific Leadership Team. She drives the technology direction for the Pharmaceuticals group, aligning IT strategies with business goals to deliver innovative solutions that enhance patient and customer outcomes. Before joining Janssen, Rowena served as CIO for Cargill’s Asia Pacific Region and its Global Agricultural Supply Chain Enterprise, where she led transformative IT initiatives, managed mergers and acquisitions, and built high-performing regional teams. With prior experience at IBM Singapore, Rowena brings expertise in IT strategy, leadership, and driving business impact across global organizations.
   • Follow Rowena on LinkedIn
8. Parker Harris, Salesforce – Parker Harris, Co-founder and CTO of Salesforce and a member of its Board of Directors, has been instrumental in shaping the company since its inception in 1999. He has played a pivotal role in driving Salesforce’s technology strategy, fostering its renowned culture, and building a global ecosystem of Trailblazers. Parker has led key innovations, including Hyperforce, the Salesforce Platform, and Lightning Experience, solidifying Salesforce’s position as a leader in enterprise technology. Prior to Salesforce, Parker co-founded Left Coast Software, a cloud computing company, and held a role at Metropolis Software.
   • Follow Parker on LinkedIn
9. Werner Vogels, Amazon Web Services – Werner is an engineer, architect, scientist, programmer, and self-described troublemaker. Vogels co-founded a company in 1997 called Reliable Network Solutions, Inc. He joined Amazon in September 2004 as its director of systems research, named CTO the following year. Having won numerous awards, Vogels writes at All Things Distributed on building scalable and robust distributed systems.
   • Follower Werner on LinkedIn
10. John Hengeveld, Intel – John Hengeveld is the Product Management Director at Intel, a business intelligence platform. His objectives are to compete, win, and grow the people and organizations around him. Hengeveld has 20 years of experience leading the development of technology and business strategy.
    • Follow John on LinkedIn

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CTOs build innovative products, lead successful teams, and contribute significantly to their organizations. Many noteworthy resources are available to learn more about the challenges leaders face, including CTO podcasts, tech conferences, leadership books, and more.

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