Winner of Digital Workplace Leader of the Year 2020 – Priya Thummalapalli

October 28, 2020 Updated: July 11, 2022 by

Digital workplace leadership was a central theme in this year’s DWG24 Live and, at the mid-point of the programme, DWG Managing Director, Member Services Nancy Goebel, revealed that the winner of Digital Workplace Leader of the Year 2020 is Priya Thummalapalli, Vice President, HR Digital Strategy at Prudential Financial.

The Awards are produced by DWG and celebrate organizations and practitioners that have excelled this year in creating well-executed, high-performing digital workplace environments.

With the Awards now in their fourth year, an impressive shortlist of nominees was put forward for the Digital Workplace Leader of the Award, including leaders from UNHCR, Nestlé, Adobe, London Borough of Camden, Heifer International and Fidelity International. It was Priya that really stood out this year for leading work to revolutionize the HR digital experience at Prudential Financial.

Priya has embedded a culture of innovation that helps drive business growth. An experienced digital workplace professional, she is a creative and passionate leader who has pioneered a design thinking approach towards user experience that has revolutionized the employee experience of HR technologies within the company.

Presenting the award to Priya live on air at DWG24, Nancy Goebel said: “DWG’s Digital Workplace Leader of the Year represents a fantastic opportunity to pause and celebrate a ground-breaking leader in our industry circle. Congratulations to Priya, we are delighted to celebrate your accomplishments.”

In the words of her colleagues and peers:

  • Priya is one of the most creative, passionate and growth mindset people that I had the privilege to work with at Prudential Financial.
  • Priya excels at transforming strategic vision into actionable plans; weighing the pros and cons of each course of action before deciding the direction to go. She has no fear of barriers; instead she relishes bringing the right resources, talent and creative ideas together to break down obstacles and move forward.

Specific achievements include delivering a consumer-grade global digital experience throughout the employee lifecycle, building a talented team to deliver current and future digital work requirements, and delivering HR analytics for data-driven decision-making.

On receiving her award, Priya said: “I was already excited at being nominated, but to have won it, I was ecstatic! It’s a nice bit of recognition for everyone in our team and is a collective award. Especially in a year like 2020, remembering this recognition will be very valuable for me and will keep me affirmed on my path.”

Priya is a highly respected member of the DWG community, where she’s known for sharing insights related to design thinking and an agile approach.

You can find out more about Priya on LinkedIn.

The Digital Workplace of the Year Awards, produced by DWG, celebrate those organizations and practitioners who have excelled at creating well-executed, high-performing digital workplace environments.

The Awards provide the perfect opportunity for you and your organization to share your digital workplace achievements with peers and to gain global, industry recognition!

In 2021, perhaps your organization will be a winner? Look out on our website for entries opening early 2021.

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Categorised in: Digital Workplace of the Year Awards

Elizabeth Marsh

Director of Research

Elizabeth Marsh is DWG’s Director of Research and author of its latest report ‘Digital workplace overload: How to reduce employee technostress’ (available free on our website). She’s worked as a practitioner, researcher and consultant in the digital workplace field for over 20 years and is a strong advocate for digital literacy and digital wellbeing at work. Elizabeth is currently doing a PhD at the University of Nottingham focusing on employee technostress and the potential of mindfulness to help reduce it. She also co-authored – with Paul Miller – the book ‘The Digital Renaissance of Work: Delivering digital workplaces fit for the future’.

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