UC chief digital officer named 2025 Ohio ORBIE Awards Enterprise CIO of the Year
University of Cincinnati Vice President & Chief Digital Officer Bharath Prabhakaran was named 2025 Ohio ORBIE Awards Enterprise CIO of the Year.
This award recognizes Prabhakaran's leadership in digital transformation, fostering innovation, and enhancing student success at the University of Cincinnati.
Bharath Prabhakaran
The ORBIE Awards is the premier technology executive recognition program in the United States. For more than 25 years, it has recognized technology executives for leadership, innovation and excellence. Since 1998, more than 500 technology leaders have received the prestigious ORBIE Award. Finalists and winners are selected by an independent peer review process led by prior ORBIE recipients.
“This award is a testament to the phenomenal work being done at the University of Cincinnati, where innovation drives student success,“ Prabhakaran said.
“I accept this on behalf of our incredible Digital Technology Solutions team, our faculty, staff and leadership who work tirelessly to advance UC’s mission. It was a privilege to be nominated and selected as a finalist alongside such great leaders in this category and, indeed, across the board with all the finalists.“
This award is a testament to the phenomenal work being done at the University of Cincinnati, where innovation drives student success.
Bharath Prabhakaran, UC Chief Digital Officer
Prabhakaran and his UC Digital Technology Solutions team work to accelerate digital transformation across the university. Under Prabhakaran’s leadership, DTS has focused on key initiatives that support excellence in IT operations, cybersecurity and resiliency, and modernization—pillars of UC’s ongoing digital transformation.
Digital Technology Solutions recently launched a university-wide BearcatGPT pilot program, leveraging Microsoft Azure's OpenAI technology. This limited-use pilot enables the university to gain hands-on experience with a private OpenAI environment, supporting a strategic and phased approach to adopting AI across UC.
This award helps demonstrate UC's position as a leader in digital innovation, student success and the future of higher education, Prabhakaran said.
Featured image at top: UC Chief Digital Officer Bharath Prabhakaran was named Enterprise CIO of the Year at the 2025 Ohio ORBIE Awards. Photo/Joseph Fuqua II/UC
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