Women in Technology & Data Awards 2026: All the winners
WatersTechnology honored the winners of the 40 categories in the 2026 Women in Technology & Data Awards, who were announced at a sit-down lunch in London on March 6.
The highest-profile category of this year’s awards—WatersTechnology’s woman of the year—was won by Annabel Harrison (LSEG), while Meghan Rocha (SS&C Technologies) won the Sandra Villena unsung heroine award.
Below are this year’s 40 category winners:
- Above and beyond award (end-user) – Meera Thacker, Bank of America
- Above and beyond award (vendor) – Berta Ares Lombán, SIX
- Best company for diversity and inclusion – Numerix
- Consultant of the year – Jaci Stanton, F2 Strategy
- Data science professional of the year – Mary Viviano, Lightkeeper
- Data science professional of the year (end-user) – Ece Dedeoglu, Bank of America
- Data science professional of the year (vendor) – Nichola Roberts, ConnexAI
- EDM professional of the year (end-user) – Jacklyn Osborne, BNY
- Engineer/programmer of the year – Kirti Katiyar, CJC
- Exchange professional of the year – Barbara Pozdorovkina, LMAX Group
- Gender equality/diversity professional of the year (end-user) – Pavneet Brar, Nomura
- Gender equality/diversity professional of the year (vendor) – Amelia Doyle, AutoRek
- Legal/compliance professional of the year – Sophie McDonald, State Street
- Market data professional of the year – Colette Garcia, Bloomberg
- Marketing leader of the year (data vendor) – Leonie Alsop, BMLL
- Marketing leader of the year (technology vendor) – Michelle Earp, AutoRek
- Marketing professional of the year (data vendor) – Denise Chang, S&P Global Market Intelligence
- Marketing professional of the year (technology vendor) – Mireille Adebiyi, Regnology
- Reference data professional of the year – Emily Gibson, Legal and General Investment Management
- Rising star (end-user) – Abbie Martin, Legal and General Investment Management
- Rising star (vendor) – data, engineering and product development – Miriam Eyles, Rimes
- Rising star (vendor) – sales, marketing and UX – Niamh Goddard, Parameta Solutions
- Risk professional of the year – Ruby Nithyanand, Capital Group
- Startup professional of the year – Pamela Lee, Talos
- Support professional of the year (end-user) – Fiona Gray, Lloyds Banking Group
- Support professional of the year (vendor) – Michelle Kam, Napier AI
- Technology innovator of the year (end-user) – Micheale Taylor, BNY
- Technology innovator of the year (financial market utility) – Nadine Chakar, DTCC
- Technology innovator of the year (third-party vendor) – Rita Chiu, SS&C Advent
- Technology leader of the year (end-user) – Lauren Wright, Lloyds Banking Group
- Technology leader of the year (vendor) – Kate Stepp, FactSet
- Trailblazer (Lifetime achievement) award (vendor) – Vivian A. Maese, DataRightsAI
- Trailblazer (Lifetime achievement) award (end-user) – Sarah Mears, MUFG Investor Services
- Vendor partnership or alliance professional of the year – Béatrice Guez, Ai For Alpha
- Vendor professional of the year (business development) – Elena Anisimova, Jacobi
- Vendor professional of the year (data and operations) – Linda Middleditch, Regnology
- Vendor professional of the year (trading and risk) – Olivia Timms, Tradeweb
- WatersTechnology Woman of the Year – Annabel Harrison, LSEG
- Wellness/work-life balance award (end-user) – Vennapusala Shweta Reddy, Bank of America
- The Sandra Villena unsung heroine award – Meghan Rocha, SS&C Technologies
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