Anil Cheriyan, corporate executive vice president and chief information officer of SunTrust Banks, Inc., was named Enterprise CIO of the Year by the Georgia CIO Leadership Association. Cheriyan was presented with the award, known as an "Orbie," at the association's CIO of the Year awards ceremony on November 13, 2015 in Atlanta.

Winners were selected by a panel of judges including prior Georgia CIO of the Year award winners and all CIOs were evaluated on their contributions in innovation, leadership, business value, and community.

"When I joined SunTrust in 2012, I launched a transformation initiative focused on business alignment, effectiveness and efficiency," said Cheriyan. "To be recognized for successfully guiding this transformation for SunTrust is such an honor. The Georgia CIO Leadership Association is an influential group of technology leaders and I'm proud to be a part of it." 

Cheriyan is responsible for the Enterprise Information Services division of SunTrust, the organizational unit that provides the company's overall technology, operations and information-related support. In this capacity, he oversees the planning, prioritization, design, development and operations of all of the bank's applications data and infrastructure needs.   In addition, Cheriyan has responsibility for the bank's operations including contact centers, digital channel operations, payments and deposit operations.

Prior to joining SunTrust in April 2012, Cheriyan was a senior partner at IBM Global Business Services, where he served financial services industry clients and most recently led the Insurance Industry Practice. 

Cheriyan earned his Master of Science and Master of Philosophy Degrees in Management as well as a Bachelor of Science in Electronic and Electrical Engineering from The Imperial College in London, UK. 

To be eligible for the award, nominees must hold the title of CIO or equivalent, be primarily responsible for the IT operations of a Georgia-based organization and a member of top management at his/her organization.