Which CEO became CEO of IBM in 2020?

Arvind Krishna became CEO of IBM in 2020. IBM appointed him in January 2020, and he formally succeeded Ginni Rometty on April 6, 2020; he became IBM’s chairman in January 2021.

Krishna was a long-time IBM technologist rather than an outside corporate hire. He joined IBM’s Thomas J. Watson Research Center in 1990 and later held senior roles in information management, IBM Research, and cloud and cognitive software. His background positioned him to lead IBM’s shift toward hybrid cloud and artificial intelligence.

One of the defining projects associated with his rise was IBM’s acquisition of Red Hat. The $34 billion deal closed in July 2019 and became central to IBM’s hybrid-cloud strategy. As CEO, Krishna emphasized integrating IBM’s software, consulting, and infrastructure businesses around enterprise cloud services.

The main confusion is with Ginni Rometty, who was Krishna’s predecessor, not a competing answer. Lou Gerstner and Sam Palmisano were earlier IBM CEOs: Gerstner led from 1993 to 2002, and Palmisano from 2002 to 2012.