D CEO and Dallas Innovates are proud to announce the finalists for the seventh annual Innovation Awards, honoring the companies, CEOs, CIOs, CTOs, entrepreneurs, and other change-makers driving North Texas’ rise as a national hub for innovation.
All finalists will be recognized in the January/February issue of D CEO magazine and at DallasInnovates.com. Winners will be revealed at an exclusive awards celebration in January.
This year’s program introduces a new honor: the Legacy of Innovation Award. Its inaugural recipient, Ross Perot Jr., exemplifies visionary leadership that transforms a region. Over the past four decades, he has reshaped the economic landscape of North Texas, positioning it as a global model for forward-thinking development and lasting impact.
The company he founded in 1988, Hillwood, has become one of the nation’s most respected real estate development firms. It built the country’s first purely industrial airport, laying the foundation for the master-planned AllianceTexas. To date, the 27,000-acre project has generated more than $130 billion in regional economic impact and created 66,000 jobs.
Now a thriving hub for innovation, AllianceTexas is home to cutting-edge work in autonomous vehicles, mobility, and logistics technologies, serving as a real-world proving ground for the future of transportation. Other recent milestones for the development include attracting MP Materials to build a rare-earth magnet plant and partnering with Taylor Sheridan to bring Texas’ largest film studio to Fort Worth.
Beyond Alliance, Perot Jr. has led landmark projects such as Victory Park in Dallas and Circle T Ranch in Westlake. Meanwhile, his residential arm, Hillwood Communities, has helped shape neighborhoods across North Texas with more than 40,000 home lots.
In addition to Perot, the 2026 Innovation Awards will recognize the achievements of 80 finalists. Here is the complete list:
Individual Awards
Legacy of Innovation Award
Ross Perot Jr., Hillwood and The Perot Group
CIO/CTO of the Year
Logan Fisher, JustPark
Chitra Herle, GM Financial
Albert Karam, Parkland Center for Clinical Innovation
Michael Welch, Aligned Data Centers
Nicholas Whitney, MTX Group
Corporate Leader of the Year
Charlie Calise, Imaginuity
John Carona, Associa
Chakri Gottemukkala, o9 Solutions
Andrew Schaap, Aligned Data Centers
Lindsey Tyra, Children’s Health
Emerging Leader of the Year
Devin Charhon, Blue Jeans Golf
Rayyan Islam, 8090 Ventures
Tejasvi Mano, Shield Seniors
Suresh Narayanan, Jets MRO
Startup Leader of the Year
Conor Butts, hōm neuro
Calvin Carter, Matic
Mike Fey, Island
Eric Fortenberry, JobTrend Software
Paxton Riter, iDesign
Company Awards
Startup of the Year
Texas Stock Exchange, led by James Lee
Union, led by Will Somerindyke
Upsmith, led by Wyatt Smith
Corporate Innovator of the Year
Applied Digital, led by Wes Cummins
Baylor Scott & White Health, led by Pete McCanna
Corgan, led by Scott Ruch
Heidelberg Materials North America, led by Chris Ward
Lockheed Martin Missiles and Fire Control, led by Tim Cahill
Innovation in AI and Machine Learning
AT&T, led by John Stankey
Cognigy, led by Philipp Heltewig
Compass Datacenters, led by Chris Crosby
QualiZeal, led by Pardeep Govindasamy
Texas Instruments, led by Haviv Ilan
Topaz Labs, led by Eric Yang
Innovation in Banking, Funding, and Fintech
HighLine, led by Geoff Brown
Pro-Forma, led by Wade Myers
Stablecore, led by Alex Treece
Tapcheck, led by Ron Gaver
Vista Bank, led by John Steinmetz
Yendo, led by Jordan Miller
Innovation in Cybersecurity
ByteTrail, led by Brenda Stoner
Capital One, led by Ravi Raghu
LevelBlue, led by Bob McCullen
SmishAlert, led by Neil Carew
Innovation in Education
Educate Texas, led by Kerry Briggs
The Gatehouse, led by Lisa Rose
Girl Scout DreamLab, led by Jennifer Bartkowski
The Hockaday School, led by Laura Leathers
University of North Texas Center for Information and Cyber Security, led by Ram Dantu
Innovation in Food and Beverage
BRIX Holdings, led by Sherif Mityas
Dairy MAX, led by Jennie McDowell
Ruthie’s Fueled by Good, led by Ashlee Kleinert
Shaken Beverage Co./ Toucan Cocktails, led by John Dallager
Innovation in Healthcare and Biotech
Arete Health, led by Byron Sanders
Caris Life Sciences, led by David Dean Halbert
Evry Health, led by Chris Gay
Integration Health, led by John Martin
Lantern Pharma, led by Panna Sharma
Verily, led by Stephen Gillett
Innovation in Manufacturing and Consumer Goods
Adom Industries, led by John Lauer
MP Materials, led by James Litinsky
SecureFoundry, led by Lex Keen
Trotter, led by Victor Trotter
Innovation in Marketing and Media
Dude Perfect, led by Andrew Yaffe
Glass-Media, led by Daniel Black
Groove Jones, led by Dale Carman
QuickAds, led by Nitin Mahajan
Innovation in Real Estate and Hospitality
AllianceTexas x Taylor Sheridan, led by Mike Berry
Billee.ai, led by John Hinckley
FlexEtc, led by Shawn Gault
Rogers O’Brien, led by Justin McAfee
Stonethrow, led by Nick Clark
Innovation in SaaS
ClaimDeck, led by Dwayne Hermes
HighLevel, led by Shaun Clark
Lexipol, led by Bill Nunan
[x] cube LABS, led by Bharat Lingam
Innovation in Transportation
Mozee, led by Shawn Taikratoke
MW Logistics, led by Mitchell Ward
Torc, led by Peter Vaughan Schmidt
Toyota Connected North America, led by James George
