Toni Townes-Whitley, 35-year global technology veteran, is the new Chief Executive Officer of Science Applications International Corp. (NYSE: SAIC), effective October 2, 2023. Toni brings a distinguished and proven track record of driving strong enterprise financial results and fostering an inclusive culture focused on entrepreneurship and high performance. In her most recent role as President, U.S. Regulated Industries at Microsoft, she led the company’s public sector and regulated commercial industries including education, financial services, government, and healthcare, managing $16B of annual revenue.
Toni is a global tech leader who has served as an Independent Director/Trustee on 8 Boards: Nasdaq, Marathon Petroleum Corporation, PNC Financial Services, Granicus, Johns Hopkins Medicine, Thurgood Marshall College Fund, Partnership for Public Service, and the Princeton Faith & Work Initiative. She is a guest lecturer on technology ethics and entrepreneurism in the public sector at Stanford and Princeton Universities. She has been a recipient of numerous awards.
She earned her bachelor’s degree in public policy and economics from Princeton University’s School of Public & International Affairs (SPIA) and has received certifications from Wharton Executive Education, New York University, and the Performance Management Institute. Toni is the proud daughter of former Comptroller of the Army, LTG (Ret.) James F. McCall and former Fairfax Co. principal S. Yvonne McCall. She and her husband John H. Whitley reside in Northern VA and have five children, nine grandchildren and counting… Upon her appointment, she has become the 3 rd African American female CEO on the
Fortune 500 and first in the National Defense sector.
As former President of US Regulated Industries at Microsoft, Toni led the US sales strategy for driving digital transformation across customers and partners within the public sector and commercial regulated industries – including Education, Financial Services, Government, and Healthcare. With responsibility for the 5200+ sales organization and $16B+ P&L, she was one of the leading women at Microsoft, and in the technology industry, with a track record for accelerating and sustaining profitable business and building high-performance teams. In addition to leading a sales organization, she helped steer the company’s
work to address systemic racial injustice – with efforts targeted both internally at representation and inclusion; as well as externally at leveraging technology to counter prevailing societal challenges. She has developed expertise and speaks publicly about “Civic Technology,” applying tech innovation for social impact.
Toni helped to launch new initiatives at Microsoft, building the ethics framework for Artificial Intelligence and emerging technologies, creating a Microsoft Federal subsidiary model, establishing the Microsoft Executive women’s network, sponsoring Blacks & Africans at Microsoft (BAM), and partnering with the Athena Alliance, an organization that prepares tech women for corporate board roles, and creating a cultural and operating shift to applied innovation customized by industry.
Prior to joining Microsoft, Toni was president of CGI Federal, where she was responsible for a portfolio of more than $1 billion, leading 6,600 employees to deliver greater value to US Government civilian, defense, and intelligence sectors. Previously, Toni held several management roles at Unisys Corporation leading global and commercial-sector system integration and the Federal Civilian group, where she achieved 500 percent revenue growth and doubled profitability.
Toni’s work has been recognized across many industries, making her the recipient of numerous awards that include Fortune’s Most Powerful Women: Ones to Watch, Women in Technology Leadership, Black Enterprise Top Executive, FedScoop Top50 for Industry Leadership, the 2020 IES Lifetime Achievement Award, NVTC Tech 100 Executive, Federal 100 Industry Eagle Award, and “Woman of the Year” by the Washington-based STEM for Her organization.
In addition to her current board service, Toni has been a long-time advisor to and fundraiser for the Women’s Center of Northern Virginia, and a past president and Board Chair of Women in Technology. Toni continues to support the US Peace Corps, for which she volunteered for three years as a village teacher in Gabon (Central Africa). She and her husband John H. Whitley reside in Mclean, VA. They have five children, nine grandchildren and counting…