Paul Hatley, Chief Research and Product Officer, DataIQ: “DataIQ’s Number One recognizes a form of leadership that goes well beyond technical execution. It is in Anu Krishnan, Chief Data and Analytics Officer at Chevron, that we see a leader who has consistently combined industrial depth with a clear-eyed understanding of how data and AI create value at scale.
“Across a 30-year career in the energy sector, Anu has operated where complexity is the norm. Her work reflects an ability to translate ambition into operating reality, whether that’s scaling global AI capabilities, delivering enterprise data platforms, or embedding governance disciplines that make data usable, trusted, and repeatable. Building and leading teams of over 1,600 specialists is no small feat; doing so while maintaining coherence, standards, and measurable business impact is where her leadership stands apart.
“What distinguishes Anu is her tenacity in focusing on the fundamentals that many organizations overlook. From establishing robust data governance to delivering significant cost efficiencies, she has consistently prioritized long-term value over short-term wins. At the same time, she has demonstrated a willingness to challenge entrenched thinking.
“Her influence extends beyond delivery into how organizations think about data leadership by being pragmatic, value-led, and grounded in communication and trust as much as technology.
“This recognition as the 2026 DataIQ North America Number One reflects a leader who is advancing data and AI and helping to shape how the discipline matures across the industry.”
Anu Krishnan is Chief Data and Analytics Officer at Chevron, where she leads enterprise data and AI strategy to drive operational performance and long-term transformation across the organization. With a 30-year career in the energy sector, including more than 14 years focused specifically on data and AI leadership, Anu brings deep industry expertise and a track record of scaling data capabilities globally.
Prior to joining Chevron, Anu played a central role in shaping the data and AI landscape at Shell, contributing significantly to the company’s digital transformation from 2013 to 2025. During this time, Anu led AI and GenAI platform strategy, balancing external solutions with in-house development, and scaled data science and AI and ML initiatives globally to maximize business value.
Anu also led Shell’s digital platforms strategy, overseeing cloud migration to Azure and AWS, and delivering more than 30 production data platforms and data lakes. She built and scaled global data and analytics teams to over 1,600 professionals across data engineering, AI, data science, visualization, and information management.
A strong advocate for governance and standardization, Anu established enterprise data governance practices spanning master data management, data quality, and data cataloging, while promoting the development and reuse of data products. Her work also delivered significant cost efficiencies, including more than $70 million in annual savings through technology optimization and supplier rationalization.
Anu’s leadership reflects a focus on combining scale, discipline, and innovation to embed data and AI into core business operations.
As a data and AI leader, which traits and skills do you think matter most, and which of those have been most influential for you in your current position?
“Key skills and traits that have helped me over my career include: being able to create a strong value focused business case to seek funding and approval; getting stakeholders excited and having them tell the story about how the AI solution added value to their business; sharing success stories (and failures) and highlighting collaboration across teams; and sharing competitive intelligence with senior leadership to drive faster decisions.”
Reflecting on your career, what is one non-traditional piece of advice (outside of technical skills) you would give to an aspiring data or AI leader aiming for the C-suite?
“My advice would be focus on storytelling and answering the ‘so what’ aimed at the relevant audience. Leadership is always focused on value and not about the technology, so do not go into technical details (unless it’s a leader who loves technology).”