Virginia Marie “Ginni” Rometty (born July 29, 1957) is an American business executive. She is the current chairwoman and CEO of IBM, and the first woman to lead the company. Prior to becoming president and CEO in January 2012, she served as IBM’s senior vice president and group executive for sales, marketing and strategy. She joined IBM as a systems engineer in its Detroit office in 1981.
She has been named to Fortune magazine’s “50 most powerful women in business” list for ten consecutive years, ranking number one in 2012, 2013 and 2014. She has received similar recognitions from various publications, along with scrutiny and critique from business observers.
Rometty graduated with high honors from the Robert R. McCormick School of Engineering and Applied Science at Northwestern University in 1979, earning a bachelor’s degree in computer science and electrical engineering. She was a member of the Kappa Kappa Gamma sorority, eventually serving as its president.
After graduating in 1979, Rometty began her career at the General Motors Institute. In 1981, she joined IBM as a systems engineer in Detroit. She moved to IBM’s Consulting Group in 1991. In 2002, she championed the $3.5 billion acquisition of the consulting arm of PricewaterhouseCoopers, a move that significantly expanded IBM’s capabilities in business services.
She became senior vice president and group executive of sales, marketing and strategy in 2009. She is credited with helping drive IBM’s shift into cloud computing and analytics, and played a key role in preparing Watson, IBM’s cognitive computing platform, for commercial use following its Jeopardy! debut.
On October 25, 2011, IBM announced that she would be the next president and CEO of the company, with then-CEO Sam Palmisano stepping down while retaining his role as chairman. Rometty’s appointment marked the first time a woman had been named CEO in IBM’s history.
She officially assumed the role of president and CEO on October 1, 2012. One of her central goals has been to align IBM’s long-term focus with growth areas like cloud infrastructure and cognitive systems, including the continued development of Watson as a strategic platform.