Virginia Rometty

Ginni Rometty has blossomed into her relatively new role as the CEO of the nation s most venerable enterprise IT company. In less than a year s time, she managed to pry her predecessor Sam Palmisano s grip off of the company, becoming CEO in January 2012, and then taking his chairman title, too. But she has her work cut out for her. She presided over the worst quarter the company had in years, and instituted a reported big layoff. She is also struggling to bring aging IBM businesses up to snuff and still meet Palmisano s ambitious promise to investors of hitting $20 earnings per share in 2015.