Toni Townes-Whitley is Chief Executive Officer of SAIC. With annual revenues of $7.4 billion and approximately 24,000 employees, SAIC provides engineering, digital, artificial intelligence and mission solutions across the defense, space, civilian and intelligence markets.
Townes-Whitley became CEO and was elected to SAIC’s Board of Directors in October 2023. Townes-Whitley has 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 past role as president of 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 $16 billion of annual revenue.
Prior to joining Microsoft, Townes-Whitley 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 U.S. government civilian, defense and intelligence sectors. Previously, Townes-Whitley held several management roles at Unisys Corp., leading global and commercial-sector systems integration and the federal civilian group, where she achieved 500% revenue growth and doubled profitability.
Townes-Whitley is a global tech leader who serves as an independent director/trustee on five boards: Nasdaq, Thurgood Marshall College Fund, Partnership for Public Service, Catalyst 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.
Townes-Whitley earned her bachelor's degree in public policy and economics from Princeton University’s School of Public & International Affairs and has received certifications from Wharton Executive Education, New York University and the Performance Management Institute.
Townes-Whitley’s work has been recognized across many industries, making her the recipient of numerous awards that include a 2024 USA Today Women of the Year honoree, 2024 Women in Technology Lifetime Achievement Award, Fortune Most Powerful Women: Ones to Watch, Ideagen Global Leadership Award, Black Enterprise Top Executive, FedScoop 50 for Industry Leadership, 2020 IES Lifetime Achievement Award, NVTC Tech 100 Executive, Federal 100 Industry Eagle Award and STEM for Her Woman of the Year.
In addition to her current board service, Townes-Whitley 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. She continues to support the Peace Corps, for which she volunteered for three years as a village teacher in Gabon (Central Africa).