Tim Cook, Apple make (but don’t top) KPMG’s 2018 Global Technology Innovation report

Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk was named the top global technology visionary, with Google CEO Sundar Pichai second, followed by Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg third, and Alibaba Chairman Jack Ma fourth in KPMG’s 2018 Global Technology Innovation report. 

Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella and Bill Gates tied for fifth. Alphabet CEO Larry Page and Apple CEO Tim Cook were seventh. Google was again cited as the leading visionary company in driving tech innovation. Apple, Microsoft, and Tesla were second, third and fourth. Amazon and Alibaba tied for fifth.

The annual report captures tech innovation findings based on the views of  767 business executives globally (including 120 U.S.) from companies, venture capital firms, and other investors that focus on technology. Other key findings from the report include:

• The U.S. and China dominate the tech leadership charts. India, Japan and the U.K. are markets to watch.
• Forty-Five percent predict the innovation epicenter will move from Silicon Valley by 2021.
• Shanghai, Tokyo, London, New York, Beijing and Singapore are expected to become leading technology innovation hubs in addition to Silicon Valley/San Francisco.
• Revenue growth is the top metric to measure the success of tech innovation.
• The chief information officer was ranked for the first time as the top function/role responsible for driving innovation.
• Tech job growth on a steady incline, up sharply from last year, with more than 90% saying they would hire up to 100 employees in the near future.