The Pittsburgh Technology Council’s annual Tech 50 Awards recognize southwestern Pennsylvania’s most successful, innovative, and thought-leading technology companies, which have become the backbone of Pittsburgh’s innovation economy. Tech 50 also recognizes the region’s top tech executive.
This year, Nathan Martin BFA ’99 is the recipient for CEO of the Year. Named “Willy Wonka with a toolkit from Mythbusters,” by Forbes magazine, Nathan Martin is the founder and CEO of innovation studio Deeplocal. Nathan isn’t your typical CEO: a former hardcore singer and artist, in 2006 he spun Deeplocal out of the Frank-Ratchye STUDIO for Creative Inquiry at Carnegie Mellon University. He has become a globally recognized leader of innovation in advertising, redefining the agency model, and presenting around the world from Cannes to Cape Town. In the last decade, Nathan has grown Deeplocal’s portfolio to include award-winning work for some of the world’s most celebrated brands—including Google, Netflix, Spotify, Lyft, and Nike.