RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK – RTI International has hired Teena Piccione as executive vice president and chief information officer.

“Teena will help set the course for digital innovation at the institute,” said Wayne Holden, president and CEO of RTI International.  “We look forward to working with her as the institute continues to evolve in the future.”

Piccione will join the executive leadership team.  Previously, Piccione served for nearly three years as the senior vice president of information technology and chief operating officer at Fidelity Investments.  “Teena is the ideal strategic leader to set the enterprise-wide technology vision for RTI,” said Holden.

Throughout 18 years of experience including heading AT&T’s Big Data Center for Excellence, Piccione has helped guide enterprises and demonstrates a strong record of empowering organizations by setting and delivering a technical vision and direction, building successful teams, partnering effectively across organizations, and utilizing big data, artificial intelligence, and cloud technology solutions to drive business results.

“I am delighted to be joining the RTI International family of highly talented and innovated people,” Piccione said in a statement.

A sought-after keynote speaker, Piccione speaks on topics ranging from technology trends to women in STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math). She has been publicly recognized for her community service and as a diversity champion.  She served as the 2018 Triangle Go Red For Women Chair for the Raleigh American Heart Association and won the 2017 Women Worth Watching STEM award for her service work focused on increasing STEM opportunities for girls and youth in Triangle-area schools.

“We have to think differently and act differently to move women forward in STEM,” said Piccione in an interview with the awarding organization, Women Worth Watching in 2017.  “We have to start earlier reaching women in middle school and continue to inspire women throughout high school and into college.”

Piccione holds a bachelor’s degree in journalism and speech communications from Georgia State University. She completed the executive program at Harvard University and has a master’s certification in project management from George Washington University.