Senior Advisor, Board Member

Minerva Tantoco, an award-winning technology executive, is a visionary leader in artificial intelligence (AI), digital transformation, and enterprise strategy. With a distinguished career spanning both the public and private sectors, she has served as a Chief Technology Officer, Chief AI Officer, startup founder, and global executive advisor, demonstrating an unparalleled ability to drive innovation and navigate complex technological landscapes.

Having served in senior technology and CTO roles at Fannie Mae, Merrill Lynch, and UBS, Tantoco was appointed as New York City’s first-ever Chief Technology Officer (CTO) in 2014. During her tenure, she spearheaded groundbreaking initiatives such as LinkNYC, CSforAll, the Internet of Things (IoT) Guidelines (adopted by over 30 cities globally), and the Smart + Equitable City Strategy. Under her leadership, New York City was named "2016 Best Smart City" by the Smart City Expo World Congress. She also spearheaded major projects, including the $784M electronic medical records transformation for the Health + Hospitals Corporation and the development of the city’s first privacy and security policies for LinkNYC, the pioneering municipal Wi-Fi network.

Post-City Hall, Tantoco co-founded Grasshopper Bank, a pioneering digital commercial bank that raised $131 million in capital and secured regulatory approvals from the OCC, FDIC, and Federal Reserve. As Chief Technology Officer, she led the design and implementation of its cloud-based infrastructure, automated regulatory compliance systems, and AI-driven risk management strategies. She also served as CTO at DriveWealth, where she led technology innovation strategies for embedded finance solutions and scalable fractional trading infrastructure.

Recently, Tantoco served as:
• Board member and advisor to organizations such as Vyv (Healthtech) and Socure (Cybersecurity).
• A member of the Technology Council for the Alliance for Innovative Regulation and member of the Innovation Advisory Board for the New York State Department of Financial Services.
• Interim CEO of the New York Hall of Science (NYSCI).
• Chief AI Officer at NYU McSilver Institute, where she focused on applied AI for public health research.

Tantoco holds four U.S. patents in intelligent workflow systems and has been recognized by Constellation Enterprise's Business Transformation 150 and AI 100. A sought-after speaker, thought leader, and adjunct professor at NYU Tandon School of Engineering, Minerva Tantoco remains at the forefront of driving technological progress and shaping the future of AI, smart cities, and enterprise strategy.

Minerva Tantoco is a frequent speaker and published by the World Economic Forum. and her bio was featured in Forbes​.

Minerva Tantoco was named to the 2024 Business Transformation 150, an elite list that recognizes top executives leading business transformations, by Constellation Research