SPMB Recruits Chief Information Officer for AstraZeneca
April 13, 2026 – SPMB Executive Search has placed Chris Taylor as chief information officer of AstraZeneca. Managing partner Mike Doonan, partner Radley Meyers, and associate Fiona Gleeson led the assignment. “Some searches carry a different kind of weight,” Mr. Doonan said in a LinkedIn post. “Helping place technology leaders advancing cancer care is one of them. We’re grateful to have supported the senior management team of AstraZeneca in the recruitment of chief information officer, Chris Taylor.”
“This was not a typical CIO search,” Mr. Doonan continued. “It focused on how AI, data, and digital capabilities can accelerate scientific discovery and real patient outcomes. That responsibility changes the conversation. It raises the bar. And it reinforces why the CIO role is evolving so quickly – from operating the engine room to driving breakthrough innovation at the core of the business.”
Mr. Taylor is focused on driving business value from digital transformation with a track record of creating top line and bottom line value. He has 25 years of experience across multiple industries (aviation, manufacturing, telecoms, consulting) in Europe, Middle East and Australia as an IT service provider as well as client organizations, in top tier multinationals as well as regional businesses. Mr. Taylor previously served as chief digital and information officer at Stellantis, where he leads the company’s digital strategy and transformation efforts.
Prior to this, he was chief transformation officer at ServiceNow, and earlier held senior leadership roles at Airbus Group, including global vice president positions focused on digital transformation and cybersecurity. He also served as chief technology officer and chief information security officer at Qantas, and held multiple IT and digital leadership roles at Etihad Airways, building a career spanning aviation, technology, and enterprise transformation
AstraZeneca is a global, science-led biopharmaceutical company specializing in discovering, developing, and commercializing prescription medicines, primarily in oncology, cardiovascular, renal, metabolism, and respiratory diseases. Headquartered in Cambridge, U.K., the company focuses on innovative, life-changing medicines and operates in over 100 countries.
For over 40 years, SPMB Executive Search has worked alongside its clients to build executive teams that ensure venture capital and private equity-backed game-changers achieve scale, and position multi-billion-dollar public companies to unlock innovation. Specializing in technology and innovation, SPMB recruits upper management and board members to growth-oriented companies in tech, consumer, and sustainability industries. SPMB has also placed dozens of senior executives at the portfolio companies of leading private equity firm partners including Blackstone, KKR, and TPG.
Mr. Doonan leads SPMB’s digital transformation and data practices and has executed over 400 C-level and VP searches across all market verticals. He enables innovative pure-play technology companies such as Google/Cloud and Amazon/AWS to achieve scale by recruiting senior leaders that have been through large, complex growth scenarios. Mr. Doonan also works closely with large incumbents such as Disney, AT&T, Comcast, Capital One, and Under Armour to evolve their technology, IT, product, data, security, and digital capabilities.
Mr. Meyers works with a variety of leading technology and tech-enabled-services companies, placing senior-level executives at venture capital-funded, private equity-backed, and publicly traded companies. Mr. Meyers brings knowledge and expertise to SPMB’s security and data-related search work, a key area for the firm. He leads both functional searches (CISO, CDO, and VP’s defining security and data strategy), and also builds out executive teams at top security software and data companies. His recent clients include Disney, Procore, Google, UiPath, TripActions, Capital One and Jumio.
CIO Recruiting
Over the past year, a number of organizations have turned to executive search firms to help them find top flight CIOs. Here are a few of the top assignments tracked by Hunt Scanlon Media:
Academic Career & Executive Search (ACES) has been retained by Central New Mexico Community College to lead in its search for a chief information officer. Jennifer Muller, managing partner, is leading the assignment. This role is designed for an experienced CIO with strong business acumen, who is ready to lead at scale, shape enterprise direction, and leave a lasting institutional legacy. Reporting directly to the president, the CIO serves as a trusted advisor to the president and executive cabinet and engages with the governing board on technology strategy, digital risk, and institutional readiness.
CIO Partners has helped to recruit Ameet Shetty as the first chief information officer of RaceTrac. Mr. Shetty joins RaceTrac from financial services firm Equifax, where he had been its chief data officer since 2024. He also spent three years as CIO for Pilot Company, one of RaceTrac’s top travel center competitors, where he led enterprise data strategy and data engineering and oversaw modernization of its IT infrastructure. “In his role, Ameet will guide us into our next era of innovation, focused on enterprise-wide technology vision, cybersecurity, data strategy, and AI adoption,” RaceTrac said in a statement.
Charlotte, NC-based HARTZ Search has been tapped by Geisinger in Danville, PA, to lead in its search for chief information officer. The CIO will serve as an integral member of the executive leadership team and will be on-site. They will provide vision and leadership for information technology (IT) in support of the system’s mission and strategic priorities. HARTZ Search also noted that the CIO will lead, plan, implement, and maintain IT in support of the clinical enterprise, health plan, academic enterprise, and system affiliates. They will champion process improvement and lean methodologies to execute strategic plans and achieve organizational goals.
Related: Agentic AI: Why CIOs and CTOs Must Rethink Their Operating Models Now
Contributed by Scott A. Scanlon, Editor-in-Chief and Dale M. Zupsansky, Executive Editor – Hunt Scanlon Media
