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CNET en Español: The 20 most influential Latinos in tech of 2016

For the fourth consecutive year, CNET en Español showcases the 20 most outstanding, creative and talented Hispanic professionals working in the US technology industry.

Laura Martínez Senior Editor / CNET en Español
Laura Martínez was a senior editor of CNET en Español. She has lived and worked as a journalist in Mexico, Santiago de Chile, Buenos Aires and New York. She was the founding editor of the U.S. Hispanic edition of 'The Wall Street Journal' and editor in chief of VNU's 'Marketing y Medios magazine. She is also the founder of Mi blog es tu blog, a daily commentary on Hispanic marketing, media and pop culture.
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Laura Martínez
3 min read

For the fourth year in a row, our Spanish-language sister site CNET en Español has assembled its annual list of 20 Latinos working in technology. As in 2015, this year's list celebrates a group of men and women leading teams in high-profile companies in and beyond Silicon Valley. The 2016 list, however, stands out in two aspects: it features the highest number of women yet -- nine of the 20 -- and it also highlights entrepreneurs of successful startups.

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In celebration of this year's National Hispanic Heritage Month, which runs from September 15 through October 15, and of CNET en Español's third anniversary (September 19), we have selected 20 Latinos who are making their mark in this competitive industry.

This year's list covers a wide range of positions, experience, skills and, of course, stories. It includes nine women, Mexicans, Colombians, Argentines, Brazilians, Spaniards and Americans of Hispanic origin. They work in huge companies such as Apple, Intel, Microsoft, Google and Tesla, and their own startups (Matternet and Platzi). There is a Mexican designer working at Tesla; two NASA engineers (both women); a drone manufacturer with a noble purpose; a cybersecurity guardian at the Berkeley Lab; an adviser to the US Department of State and a Microsoft programmer from Argentina who likes to serenade his colleagues during his free time. (Meet them all here, and below.)

How did we find them?

This was a team effort. After the publication of our 2015 list, the CNET en Español team began the search for this year'scandidates based on their skills, position, impact on the industry and novelty of their work. We may not have all agreed on the most notable candidates, but a voting process made the final list representative.

It is important to note that for this year's list we asked our 2015 honorees to nominate their own candidate to be profiled in 2016. The only condition: Their nominee would have to work in an organization other than theirs. Another rule we established for this year's list: We had to interview them in person in order to hear their story in their own words.

The result of this selection process highlights once more the talent and diversity of origins, stories and experience of these amazing professionals.

Here is CNET en Español's 2016 list of the 20 most influential Latinos in tech (in alphabetical order):