Deborah Mutungi Is CIO Of The Year 2025

Deborah Mutungi Is The CIO of The Year 2025!

Deborah Mutungi was crowned with the coveted award at the 17th annual edition of the CIO100 Symposium and Awards that happened at Enashipai Resort & Spa, Naivasha from 19-21 November 2025.

In an evening of glitz shining under purple-themed glamour, the curtains fell on the 2025 CIO100 Symposium & Awards with the crowning of the CIO of the Year 2025. The Gala Dinner celebrated the exceptional achievements of IT leaders from across Africa who continue to steer digital transformation within their organisations.

Organised by the African digital transformation driver, dx5, the CIO100 Awards programme celebrates organisations and individuals utilising IT innovatively to deliver business value—whether by creating competitive advantage, optimising business processes, enabling growth, improving customer experiences, or driving digital transformation end-to-end.

This year’s Gala marked the grand finale of a three-day immersive symposium featuring thought-provoking keynotes, engaging roundtables, strategic networking opportunities and expert-led presentations. With the theme Innovation at Scale: Driving Business Growth Through IT Leadership, the Symposium equipped technology leaders with insights, tools and connections to elevate their organisations’ ability to innovate.

The CIO of the Year Award, the most prestigious honours of the evening, is a peer-nominated accolade, recognising an individual who exemplifies excellence in steering the IT function and enabling strategic business outcomes.

Deborah Mutungi earned this coveted title for leading a landmark digital transformation programme at Sarova Hotels, significantly elevating customer experience through the integration of emerging technologies. Her groundbreaking project emerged top among more than 1,200 submissions received by dx5 for the 2025 awards. The rigorous selection process evaluated projects that demonstrated clear business impact, community value and continental-scale innovation.

For the 2025 edition, dx5 partnered with Deloitte to support project evaluations and the adjudication process that shaped the final nomination list.

Upon receiving the award, Mutungi credited her team for their role in the winning project. In a powerful and symbolic moment, she invited all women in attendance to stand with her on stage, emphasising that her victory was not hers alone, but “a win for all women in technology”.

2025 CIO100 Awards – Winners

Below is the complete list of winners across Leadership, Sector (PlusOne) and Country Innovation categories, as provided.

Leadership Awards (Individual)

CIO of the Year – Deborah Mutungi, Group IT Manager, Sarova Hotels & Resorts Limited

dxNova Woman of the Year – Mumbi Ndung’u, Executive Director, Power Learn Project Africa

CISO of the Year – Tim Theuri, Executive Head of Cybersecurity, M-Pesa Africa

CXO of the Year – Njeri Jomo, CEO & Principal Officer, Jubilee Health Insurance

The Next CIO of the Year – Brian Ontumbi, Group ICT & Business Enterprise Manager, Tatu City