2026 Central Texas ORBIE Awards recognize top technology executives in Central Texas. Aug. 31, 2026, 12:32 PM AUSTIN, Texas, Aug. 31, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) - The 2026 Central Texas ORBIE Awards honored leading chief information officers (CIOs) from for their exceptional leadership. Hosted by CentralTexasCIO, one of over 50 Inspire Leadership Network chapters, the prestigious award honors CIOs who drive business transformation and industry impact. View finalists, partners, and more on the Digital ORBIE Feature. This exclusive event brought together top executives and industry leaders from Central Texas. The morning honored excellence in technology leadership across six award categories at the JW Marriott Austin. "Behind every technology innovation is a CIO leading the vision and shaping the strategy," said Kevin Harwood, CentralTexasCIO Chair. "The ORBIE Awards are the ultimate recognition program for the leaders behind the work." Meet the 2026 Central Texas ORBIE Award Winners: * Ehren Powell, Chief Digital Officer, Marathon Petroleum, received the Leadership ORBIE. * Cynthia Carbrey, CIO Global, Kautex Textron, received the Global ORBIE for organizations over $2.5 billion annual revenue and multi-national operations. * Linda Albornoz, Senior EVP and CIO, Frost Bank, received the Large Enterprise ORBIE for organizations over $2 billion annual revenue. * Vivek Sagi, Chief Product and Technology Officer, Bumble Inc., received the Enterprise ORBIE for organizations over $800 million annual revenue. * Kevin Harwood, CTO, Tecovas, received the Large Corporate ORBIE for organizations over $350 million annual revenue. * GS Jha, Global CIO and CISO, QuantumScape Inc., received the Corporate ORBIE for organizations up to $350 million annual revenue. About the ORBIE: The ORBIE is the preeminent executive recognition for C-suite leaders. Since 1998, the ORBIE Awards have recognized leadership excellence, building relationships between executives and trusted business partners, and inspiring the next generation of leaders. Finalists and winners are selected through an independent peer-adjudicated process led by prior ORBIE recipients based on the following criteria: * Leadership and management effectiveness * Business value created by technology innovation * Engagement in industry and community endeavors Central Texas ORBIE Keynote & Attendance: The keynote address for the Central Texas ORBIE Awards was delivered by Ehren Powell, Chief Digital Officer, Marathon Petroleum, who was interviewed by Lou Senko, Chief Customer Experience Officer, Q2. Over 250 guests attended, representing leading Central Texas organizations and their technology partners. The following partners made the 2026 Central Texas ORBIE Awards possible: * Underwriters: Rimini Street and SBase Technologies * Gold Partners: Comcast Business, Sutherland Global, and Velocity * Silver Partners: Adastra, Amazon Web Services, Cloudflare, Myriad360, EPAM NEORIS, SHI International, Spectrum Business/Ring Central, and Waterloo Data * Bronze Partners: Between Pixels, Coforge, Darwinbox, Everforth Quinnox, HotelKey, Sonata Software, and Tech Mahindra * Media Partner: Austin Business Journal * Nonprofit Partner: Year Up United About CentralTexaxCIO: CentralTexasCIO is the preeminent peer leadership network of chief information officers (CIOs) in Central Texas. As one of over 50 chapters of the Inspire Leadership Network, CentralTexasCIO belongs to a national membership organization exclusively comprised of C-suite leaders from public and private businesses, government, education, healthcare, and nonprofit institutions. CentralTexasCIO is led by a CIO Advisory Board, with support from an executive director and staff. Underwriter executives support the chapter and ensure the programs remain member-led and exclusive to qualified CIOs and members. About Inspire Leadership Network: Inspire Leadership Network is the preeminent peer leadership network of C-suite executives. With over 2,000 members across over 50 chapters, Inspire members serve public and private businesses, government, education, healthcare, and non-profit institutions. Inspire exists to help leaders thrive in today's most challenging executive roles. Media Contact Nicole Lammes [email protected] Markets Insider and Business Insider Editorial Teams were not involved in the creation of this post. Sponsored Financial Content Quiet luxury, flawless design - adults-only perfection.A brand-new adults-only resort in Costa Mujeres offering refined luxury, oceanfront suites, and unforgettable experiencesOcean Signature Resorts | Sponsored

Bumble changes its dating game: Men may message first. This is a big change in the operating ethos of Bumble and might affect user experience on the platform. Updated: Aug 14, 2026 Bumble is making a big shift, ending its women-first message policy that's been in effect for more than a decade. The platform had previously run with a women-centric strategy, only allowing women to send the initial message in a match. With this new tweak, any participant in a match may now send the initial message. This is another step toward more equal engagement between users. Bumble has upgraded its chat function with major improvements in an effort to boost flexibility and user engagement. Effective immediately, the first conversation in a match may be initiated by any participant, creating a more balanced engagement dynamic. Bumble has extended the recipient's response window from 24 hours to 72 hours to provide more time for crafting thoughtful responses. Users are limited to sending one first message to start a chat, allowing for a great first impression. Conversations begin only when the receiver replies to this first message. In addition, people sending short or low-effort messages will be prompted to participate in more meaningful conversation. - Advertisement - The company says its research has shown a favourable rise in message initiation rates and a more equal distribution of first messages between male and female users. Bumble debuted in 2014 and has put women's experience at the heart of all they do on the site. A whopping 66% of the women polled prefer that males make the first move, which takes the strain off of dating. The platform seeks to enhance confidence and enhance dating results by using feedback and information about the behaviour of its users. Bumble found that women were starting chats with men more than twice as often as men, resulting in more opportunities for conversations, real relationships and offline meetups. Bumble also saw early signs that users were communicating in a healthy way with lower chat expiry and unmatching rates. - Advertisement - Bumble is adding moderation tools to promote respectful dialogue. Research has shown that dating standards are shifting, especially for Gen-Z women, who enjoy when males make the first move. Two-thirds of men and women both say they are more confident when they can control when and how conversations are started. Whitney Wolfe Herd, Founder and CEO of Bumble said, "We built Bumble around the belief that when you make dating better for women, you make it better for everyone and that remains true today. While women making the first move was a radical idea, being women-first was never about prescribing just one way to connect. It was about designing an experience with women's needs in mind to create better outcomes for everyone. Today, our community is asking for more flexibility, less pressure, and more opportunities to create real, meaningful connections and that is what this new experience provides. This evolution isn't a departure from our founding vision, but the realization of it." Support Gadget Bridge. Gadget Bridge is a humble media site trying to survive! As you know Gadget Bridge is not placing any article, even the feature stories behind any paywall or subscription model. Help Gadget Bridge stay afloat, support with whatever you can! - Advertisement - Komila is one of the most spirited tech writers at Gadget Bridge and is a senior resource in the company. Always up for a new challenge, she is an expert at dissecting technology and getting to its core. She loves to tinker with new mobile phones, tablets and headphones.