Women We Admire: Five Indian American Women Among Top 25 Women Chief Digital Officers

Five Indian American women are among Women We Admire’s ‘Top 25 Women Chief Digital Officers of 2024,’ a list of leaders “instrumental in leading digital transformation initiatives within their respective organizations.” They include Sushmita Biswas, Sehr Thadhani, Ekta Chopra, Prama Bhatt and Reeny Sondhi. These women “foster innovation and drive disruptive strategies; develop personalized and seamless digital experiences that resonate with their customers, improve engagement; and build brand loyalty,” according to Women We Admire, which provides news and information on today’s women leaders in various fields. 

Sushmita Biswas is the chief digital officer of USAA, LifeCo. The financial services executive has over 20 years of experience in digital strategy and transformation, product and operations management, and data analytics. She first got her start in 2002 as a relationship manager at Standard Chartered Bank. From there, she eventually rose to a head of property claims digital, strategy and vendor management, and global retail markets at Liberty Mutual Insurance, her most recent position before joining USAA. She graduated from MIT Sloan School of Management with an MBA in strategy and finance and from the Indian Institute of Management, Indore with a PGDM in marketing and general management.

Sehr Thadhani is a chief digital officer at Nasdaq, where she develops and implements strategic initiatives for long-term success across consumer engagement, client experience, market expansion, and brand strategy. She has held senior executive and advisory roles at Google, NBC, Viacom, Silicon Foundry, and Edelman Digital and served as a trusted thought partner and advisor to executives at GE, Estee Lauder, Samsung, the Department of Education, and the White House during the Obama Administration. She holds an undergraduate degree in marketing and voice performance from Indiana University, an MS in global affairs from NYU, and an MBA from Columbia Business School. She’s a trained opera singer and the co-founder of a non-profit that helped more than 150 women with physical disabilities build financial freedom.  She currently resides in Miami after a childhood growing up in five countries and years of globe-hopping.

Ekta Chopra is the chief digital officer at e.l.f. Beauty, and is responsible for digital transformation, and leading the company’s digital efforts to grow our digital footprint across the globe. She joined e.l.f. in January 2016 from the James Irvine Foundation, where she defined and led a successful technology strategy for an investment portfolio. Before that, she served as a vice president of technology for Charming Charlie. She holds an undergraduate degree in technology and operations management and a minor in finance from California Polytechnic State University. She enjoys volunteering at non-profits by building their technical capacity and is a member of Silicon Valley CIO/CTO groups as a thought leader.

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As Ulta Beauty’s Chief Digital Officer, Prama Bhatt, and her team reinvent beauty engagement through innovative, reimagined digital and omnichannel experiences. Since joining the Fortune 500 retailer in 2014, she currently oversees a digital team of experts across various platforms. Before her current role, Bhatt was both an SVP and VP of digital and e-commerce at Ulta Beauty. Before that, she led teams at Toys R Us and Kenneth Cole. Beyond her retail industry experience, she held several roles across product strategy, design, and development at Ford Motor Company and worked as a management consultant at Booz Allen. She holds a BS in electrical engineering from Oakland University, an MS in electrical engineering from Wayne State University, and an MBA in corporate strategy from the University.

Reeny Sondhi is chief digital officer at Twilio, and is responsible for information and corporate security, as well as Information Technology. She joined Twilio from Autodesk where she was a chief security officer. She also serves on the board of Rapid7, a growth business in cybersecurity. She made a transition to security after many years in product management launching multiple hardware and software products. She was recently named one of the 100 Executive Women in Tech to Watch in 2023 by the womentech network. Passionate about promoting diversity in technology and information security, she has served as a mentor for various Women in Technology programs. She holds a Bachelor of Science in Electronics and Telecommunications and a Master of Business Administration.