Emeka Igwilo

Emeka K. lgwilo is chief data officer for Southern Company Gas, a subsidiary of Southern Company, an energy company headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia. In addition to his COO responsibilities, he serves as the enterprise lead for business technology, partnering with the CTO to help align business priorities, technology investments, data strategy and responsible artificial intelligence adoption across the company.<br /><br />In his role, lgwilo leads Asset Intelligence and Digital Innovation (Al/DI), a new organizational identity that brings together BOTS, EDGE, GIS and MATRiX under a shared mission of delivering intelligence-driven, digitally enabled operations. BOTS provides business technology governance, intake, prioritization and investment discipline; EDGE delivers trusted data, analytics, governance and Al enablement; GIS provides authoritative spatial and asset context for planning, operations and field decisions; and MATRiX connects asset lifecycle, work management, compliance and field execution. Together, these capabilities transform trusted asset data into actionable insights, modernize asset and work management, and accelerate responsible analytics and Al across Southern Company Gas.<br /><br />lgwilo joined Southern Company Gas in 1999 and has held leadership roles across operations, technology, compliance, data and analytics, GIS, resource management and supply chain functions. He brings more than 25 years of leadership, operations and technology experience, including deep expertise in all aspects of field operations, service delivery and maintenance, and emergency response.<br /><br />He is recognized for bridging business strategy and technical execution, translating enterprise priorities into scalable data, technology and Al solutions. He champions strong data governance, trusted data foundations and responsible Al practices while fostering collaboration and innovation across the organizations he leads.<br /><br />lgwilo earned a Bachelor of Science degree in computer science from DeVry University and an Executive MBA from Georgia Institute of Technology. He completed the MIT Professional Education program in Data Science and Al, has been recognized as a Top 25 Data Leader by COO Magazine and received the EIP Industry Trailblazer Award.<br /><br />He serves on the board of the YMCA of Metro Chicago, is co-founder of the UNISEC Foundation and sponsors the enERGy Employee Resource Group and the Corporate Inclusion Institute at Chicago United.