All the winners from the Women in Tech Excellence Awards 2021

Find out who walked away with one of the coveted gongs at the glittering ceremony held in Central London as some of the UK's top female talent turned out in style

The Women in Tech Excellence Awards 2021 was a glittering occasion which saw some of the UK's top female talent walk away with a host of coveted gongs.

Comedian and actor Ronni Ancona kept the energy up and the laughs flowing as she introduced the awards. Promising not to rely on lazy IT stereotypes in her set she added "... and if you don't think my gags are working you can always turn me off and on again."

Also speaking was Jacqueline de Rojas CBE, president of Tech UK. She gave a hard hitting speech, including her experience earlier in her career being told 'We don't put women on the leadership team'.

The true purpose of the evening was to celebrate and promote the fantastic women making a real difference to the industry. Here are the winners in full:

CIO of the Year

• Winner: Asha Kumar, HSBC

Digital Leader of the Year: Enterprise

• Winner: Alina Timofeeva, KPMG
• Highly Commended: Jacqui Lipinski, Imperial College London

Digital Leader of the Year: SME

• Winner: Sarah Curran Usher MBE, True Fit
• Highly Commended: Amy Shakespeare, Cornwall Museums Partnership

Diversity and Inclusion Initiative of the Year

• Winner: Jen Lau, IN4 Group
• Highly Commended: Agilisys

Diversity Employer of the Year

• Winner: Nabila Salem, Revolent Group

Entrepreneur of the Year

• Winner: Jennifer Neff, Elemental Software
• Highly Commended: Suezann Holmes, ScaleXP Ltd

Graduate of the Year

• Winner: Jude Murphy, IBM

Hero of the Year: Enterprise

• Winner: Stephanie Hart, Network Rail

Hero of the Year: SME

• Winner: Alice Hendy, Ripple Suicide Prevention
• Highly Commended: Anna Sherrington, Government Digital Service

Innovator of the Year: Enterprise

• Winner: Rupy Malizia, HSBC
• Highly Commended: Juliette Atkinson, University of Bradford

Innovator of the Year: SME

• Winner: Gabrielle Bourret-Sicotte, Greenr Technologies

IT Leader of the Year

• Winner: Dr Nicola Stokes , IDA Ireland

Lockdown Legend of the Year

• Winner: Naomi Timperley, FreelanceHER100 (Part of IN4 Group)

Lockdown Legend of the Year: Tech

• Winner: Sarah Croxford, Microsoft
• Highly Commended: Alma Fisher, Agilisys

Outstanding Returner Award

• Winner: Tanya Holden, Westminster City Council
• Highly Commended: Claire Thomas, Hitachi Vantara

Outstanding Transformation

• Winner: Nerissa Thakurdas, Harrods Limited
• Highly Commended: Sharon Douglas, NatWest

Rising Star of the Year: Financial Services

• Winner: Milly Dent, NatWest Group
• Highly Commended: Jordan Pearson, NatWest

Rising Star of the Year: Public Sector & Universities

• Winner: Oluwatobi Ogunsina, Government Digital Service
• Highly Commended: Rachael Hayes, Imperial College London

Rising Star of the Year: SME

• Winner: Irina Cristea, GfK

Rising Star of the Year: Tech & Services

• Winner: Patience Ndlovu, Sky
• Highly Commended: Jessica Dowdall, Amazon Web Services

Role Model of the Year: Financial Services

• Winner: Rachel Skelton, Covea Insurance
• Highly Commended: Akua Opong, London Stock Exchange Group

Role Model of the Year: Public Sector & Universities

• Winner: Juliette Pearson, Ministry of Defence

Role Model of the Year: Tech & Services ENT

• Winner: Nicoleta Raportaru, IBM
• Highly Commended: Claire Thomas, Hitachi Vantara

Role Model of the Year: Tech & Services SME

• Winner: Claire Blythe, GfK

Security Leader of the Year

• Winner: Lianne Potter, Covea Insurance
• Highly Commended: LaLisha Hurt, Capital One

Software Engineer of the Year

• Winner: Adriana Costachhe, Capgemini
• Highly Commended: Mini Krishnan, Wipro Technologies

Team Leader of the Year: ENT

• Winner: Samantha Hollingdale, IBM

Team Leader of the Year: SME

• Winner: Shalini Thirunilathil, IRIS Software Group

Transformation Leader

• Winner: Ciara Mann, Lloyds Banking Group

Transformation Leader: Tech

• Winner: Krista Griggs, Fujitsu

Woman of the Year: Consultancies & Integrators

• Winner: Tina Kimfumu, KPMG
• Highly Commended: Rajashree Das, Capgemini

Woman of the Year: Enterprise

• Winner: Lianne Potter, Covea Insurance
• Highly Commended: Rachel Lamberg, Midlands Partnership Foundation Trust

Woman of the Year: Tech

• Winner: Renee Hawkins, Thoughtworks
• Highly Commended: Claire Blythe, GfK

Woman of the Year: Tech

• Highly Commended: Nicoleta Raportaru, IBM