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Most influential technology executive revealed
Tue, 2nd Jun 2015
FYI, this story is more than a year old

Juniper Research has released its list of the most influential executives in the technology space.

Satya Nadella, Microsoft CEO, was ranked first, followed by Jony Ive, Apple chief design officer.

The rankings are based on Juniper's assessment of key criteria, including vision, innovation and potential capital.

The executives that ranked the top of the list are actioning change within an organisation and are recognising the need to move forward.

For instance, Juniper found Nadella's implementation of ‘Windows-as-a-Service' represented a fundamental change to Microsoft's OS-focused business model and resulted in a very different process of development for Microsoft - setting it apart from other vendors.

Meanwhile, Juniper argued Ive's designs for the Apple smartwatch - which include the doodle functionality, NFC and Wi-Fi capabilities - will be the benchmark for the category going forward.

Ive has also produced very strict guidelines for Apple Watch app design, influenced by the watch's shape and the glance habit it engenders.

Third place went to Min-Liang Tan, the co-founder and CEO of gaming products company Razer.

Juniper pointed out that as well as serving as CEO Tan is also the creative director, which gives him a large amount of control over the company's direction.

The research house also noted that Tan's involvement in the OSVR (Open source Virtual Reality) platform, which allows Razer to showcase its software for use on third-party hardware, creates a common standard for VR program design.

In fourth place came Uber's CEO Travis Kalanick. The company is undercutting traditional taxi services in multiple locations, notably in New York City, where they now outnumber the city's famous yellow taxis.

Kalanick was followed by Reed Hastings, Netflix CEO and co-founder, who has supervised the company's international expansion and its move into original content creation.

The top 10 most influential executives

Satya Nadella - Microsoft CEO Jony Ive - Apple SVP Design Min-Liang Tan - Razer Co-Founder - CEO Travis Kalanick - Uber CEO Reed Hastings - Netflix Co-Founder - CEO Jack Ma - Alibaba Founder - Chairman Paul Eremenko - Google ATAP Director Jeff Bezos - Amazon Founder - CEO Elon Musk - Tesla Chairman - CEO Lei Jun - Xiaomi CEO