SAS CIO Jay Upchurch wins 2022 Carolina Global CIO of the Year Award

Jay Upchurch, Executive Vice President and Chief Information Officer at analytics leader SAS, has won the 2022 Carolina CIO of the Year ORBIE Award in the Global category. The CIO ORBIE Awards recognize technology executives for leadership, innovation and excellence.

As SAS CIO, Upchurch helps customers and partners address the complex software and hardware infrastructure challenges involved in digitally transforming enterprises. Upchurch also leads SAS’ robust cloud business. Under his guidance, a global IT organization of more than 900 employees delivers efficient and consistent operations support across all SAS business functions.

“Jay’s level of technology and business expertise, along with his remarkable leadership and passion for using data for good, helps our company grow, innovate and exceed customer expectations,” said SAS CEO Jim Goodnight. “He exemplifies SAS values, and he also personifies the essential qualities of IT. Jay is forward-thinking and customer-focused, and we're proud to see his contributions recognized.” 

Award finalists and winners were selected by an independent peer review process, led by prior ORBIE recipients, based upon:

• Leadership and management effectiveness
• Business value created by technology innovation
• Engagement in industry and community endeavors

“One of the things that is most exciting about being a CIO is that the role is evolving as more leadership teams realize that business strategy and technology strategy are intertwined,” said Upchurch. “Companies that successfully harness the competitive advantage that can be found through strategic use of information, technology and the cloud are the ones that I believe will be able to best meet the needs of their external customers and their internal workforces. At SAS, we do just that, and I’m proud to have a global team that works hard day in and day out to support the business goals of our organization.”

Upchurch has more than 16 years’ experience leading global managed hosting, managed application, cloud and SaaS organizations. Prior to joining SAS, Upchurch was Vice President of Hospitality and Retail Cloud at Oracle, overseeing the design, delivery and ongoing operations of the company’s global hospitality and retail cloud.

Each year, SAS is recognized with multiple global awards for its workplace culture, technology, social innovation and executive leadership.

About the CIO of the Year ORBIE Awards

CharlotteCIO presents the annual peer-adjudicated, Carolina CIO of the Year® ORBIE® Awards, promoting outstanding technology leaders to the business community, building relationships between CIOs and their trusted business partners and inspiring the next generation of technology leaders. Since 1998, over 500 CIO of the Year winners have received the prestigious ORBIE® Award. Meet all finalists & winners at orbie.org.

CharlotteCIO is one of 25 chapters of the InspireCIO Leadership Network, a national membership organization comprised exclusively of CIOs from public and private businesses, government, education, healthcare and nonprofit institutions.