Spend a virtual hour with a CIO!

Max Chan

Senior Vice President & Global CIO, Avnet

I am a global CIO and enterprise transformation executive with more than 20 years of experience leading AI-driven growth, digital modernization, and operating-model evolution across Fortune 500 and multinational organizations.

I currently serve as Senior Vice President and Global Chief Information Officer at Avnet, a $20B global distributor of electronic components and integrated solutions. In addition to my CIO responsibilities, I hold P&L accountability for Softweb Solutions, Avnet's digital systems integrator, overseeing strategy, growth, and operational performance across AI, data, cloud, and digital engineering services.

My career has focused on translating technology into durable business outcomes. At Avnet, this includes embedding AI, advanced analytics, and generative AI into core workflows across supply chain, pricing, sales, and customer engagement-driving $100M+ in incremental revenue, sustained margin expansion, and improved enterprise resilience. In parallel, I led the modernization of a 100-year-old global enterprise through cloud-native architectures, reducing data-center footprint by more than 40% and generating over $20M in annual savings.

Previously, I held senior executive roles across Asia Pacific and global functions, leading large-scale SAP and Salesforce transformations, data governance, and operating-model redesign. I also served as CIO for Asia and Global Supply Chain Operations at VF Corporation and Johnson Controls, driving digital platforms, supply-chain intelligence, and global operational transformation.

What increasingly shapes my perspective is not just how technology performs, but how it is governed, funded, and held accountable at scale. AI, cybersecurity, and digital platforms now directly influence enterprise risk, capital allocation, trust, and reputation-making governance design and decision clarity as critical as execution.

Beyond my operating roles, I am active in board-adjacent leadership, serving on CIO advisory boards, acting as a judge for the ORBIE CIO of the Year Awards, and speaking regularly at executive forums. I am a five-time CIO 100 Award recipient and a National ORBIE CIO of the Year finalist.