Social media is more than a place to network or follow the latest headlines and trends. For CIOs, platforms like LinkedIn, X, and Bluesky offer direct access to technology executives, AI experts, economists, and business leaders who share ideas, challenge conventional thinking, and provide insights that can help shape tech strategy. Here, 11 IT leaders share the social media experts they follow, and explain why these voices are worth CIOs’ time.

Jensen Huang, founder and CEO, Nvidia

I find Jensen Huang’s insights (X, LinkedIn) fascinating, and there’s much to be admired and learned from. He’s a bold thinker who fosters a culture of continuous learning, which is incredibly valuable in an ever-evolving tech and cyber business environment like Exos. My observations are that Huang is looking to better the lives of his employees, clients and community — and so am I. His content helps me to think differently and his leadership style has a lot of technical depth, which is especially relevant with the rise and momentum of AI. He’s been described as intensely curious, which aligns with Exos’ tagline, We are Curious. – Jose Martinez, CIO and managing director, Exos IT

Jason Crawford, founder and president, Roots of Progress Institute

Jason Crawford is an under-the-radar voice more CIOs should know. He is one of the most important thinkers on the philosophy and history of technology, and his work is about understanding why technological progress happens and how to sustain it. I follow him because his attention and capital directly drive where the industry moves next. – Yaron Hadad, CEO and CTO, Beehive Software

Kelsey Hightower, distinguished engineer, Google

Kelsey Hightower (Bluesky, LinkedIn) is valuable because he explains cloud infrastructure and Kubernetes in a way that’s practical and grounded. What I appreciate about his work is he often brings the conversation back to simplicity, maintainability, and the people who have to operate these systems. For technology leaders, that matters because the hardest part of cloud adoption isn’t choosing tools but making sure teams can run them reliably over time. – Sai Joshitha Kathari, senior site reliability engineer, Visa

Mustafa Suleyman, CEO, Microsoft AI

As an IT leader and advisor to CIOs, one of the voices I pay the closest attention to is Mustafa Suleyman (X) because he thinks beyond the technology itself. He consistently explores how AI changes institutions, labor markets, governance, and power structures. His work has influenced my own thinking about the growing concentration of AI capability and infrastructure in the hands of a relatively small number of organizations. For CIOs, that perspective is valuable because AI is no longer simply a technology investment, but a strategic, infrastructural, and organizational issue. – Matt Hasan, CEO, aiRESULTS, and founder, The AI Humanist Movement

Kevin Benedict, futurist, Tata Consultancy Services

Over the years, I’ve learned that technology leadership is about following people who help you connect innovation to business results, not the loudest voices. One person I consistently follow and recommend is Kevin Benedict (LinkedIn, X). He consistently delivers insights at the intersection of AI, digital transformation, customer experience, leadership, workforce evolution, and innovation. What distinguishes him is his ability to translate emerging technologies into practical business strategies. Rather than focusing on hype, Benedict focuses on execution, adoption, organizational impact, and measurable outcomes. His insights are practical, strategic, and immediately applicable, making him one of the most valuable voices for CIOs and technology executives navigating today’s rapidly evolving digital landscape. – Paul Bailo, digital transformation executive, educator, author, and founder and CEO, Landit.ai

Ethan Mollick, associate professor, The Wharton School

Ethan Mollick (LinkedIn) has the highest post frequency of the thought leadership I follow. From academic papers to showing model improvements by using his own “otter on a plane writing emails” benchmark, he covers a broad spectrum of AI topics. He frequently gets access to the latest models before they come out, and when they do, his posts give a glimpse of what’s new or different, grounded in longer experience with the products. – Andreas Welsch, founder and chief human agentic AI officer, Intelligence Briefing

Dado Van Peteghem, author and keynote speaker on AI, technology, and business

I suggest Dado Van Peteghem (LinkedIn, TikTok) as a thought leader for CIOs to follow. He provides excellent perspectives on the future of work and offers a strategic guide on how CIOs should adapt to AI, digital ecosystems, and new business models. Van Peteghem helps leadership teams understand how digital transformation goes beyond technology upgrades. His focus is on aligning technology, culture, leadership, and business strategy so digital initiatives create measurable business value rather than becoming isolated IT projects. This aligns with what I advocate, hence my support for him and his idea of digital ecosystems. Van Peteghem spells out how AI changes workflows and how organizations should redesign operating models to decide what should be automated versus what should remain human-driven. – Max Vermeir, VP of AI strategy, ABBYY

David Forino, co-founder and CTO, Quanted

David Forino (LinkedIn), led AI research at Volkswagen’s self-driving team and now often posts on LinkedIn about the data bottleneck in quant finance — how teams spend more time keeping data pipelines running than doing research. It’s the same problem most companies run into when they roll out AI, so his tips are always helpful from someone adjacent to them. – Charlie Simionescu-Marin, co-founder and CEO, Quanted

Justina Nixon-Saintil, chief impact officer and president, IBM International Foundation

I have a unique perspective on Justina Nixon-Saintil (LinkedIn) because I’ve also benefited from her guidance and mentorship through Salynt. What stands out to me is her focus on responsible innovation, workforce transformation, and AI governance. She talks about the people and the organizational side of technology adoption, which is often overlooked. Her perspective has reinforced for me that successful AI adoption is as much about trust, culture, and change management as it is about the technology itself. – Natalia Crosdale, COO, Salynt and a former US State Department technology program leader.

Niall Ferguson, senior fellow, The Hoover Institution, Stanford University

Fundamentally, I get the most value from the big brains who focus on consequences rather than capabilities. They help inspire my own thinking about which assumptions about my business stop being true because transformative technology exists. One of the most important voices I follow is Niall Ferguson (LinkedIn, X). He’s a historian, not a technologist, which is precisely why he’s valuable. Technology changes quickly. Institutions, markets, and power structures change slowly. Understanding the gap between the two is where many of the biggest opportunities and risks emerge. – Bill Huber, partner, digital platforms and solutions, ISG

Erik Bernhardsson, CEO, Modal

Good sources don’t make decisions for me, but they improve the quality of questions I ask before I make them. Erik Bernhardsson (LinkedIn) is at the intersection of AI, data infrastructure, and developer experience. Coming from Spotify and now building Modal, he brings a practical view of what modern AI infrastructure actually requires: fast iteration, flexible compute, and reducing infrastructure friction for teams. – Piotr Mynarski, technology director, eSky.com