​​Minerva Tantoco

Senior Advisor and Board Member, City Strategies

Former First CTO, City of New York

Minerva Tantoco is an industry-recognized, distinguished senior advisor, technology innovator, AI expert, and digital transformation leader with over 30 years of experience. Appointed by the City of New York as its first CTO, she spearheaded initiatives like LinkNYC, IoT Guidelines, and CSforAll.

With a career spanning both public and private sectors, Minerva has held executive technology roles at major financial institutions, including CTO at Merrill Lynch and UBS, and senior product manager at Palm. She also co-founded Grasshopper Bank, a digital commercial bank, as CTO. Recently serving as Interim CEO of the NY Hall of Science and Chief AI Officer at NYU McSilver Institute, she advises public and private sectors on applied AI, smart city tech, and fintech. Through City Strategies, Minerva is a sought-after advisor, speaker, and leader, providing strategic guidance to institutions on emerging technologies, digital infrastructure, and innovation policy.

Minerva joined EY as an Advisor in Residence focused on applied AI, IoT, and digital transformation at scale. Her expertise encompasses artificial intelligence, public sector technology, and financial technology. She holds four U.S. patents on intelligent workflow and has led three successful startups and advised several more. Awards include Best Smart City at Smart City World Congress, Constellation Enterprises Business Transformation 150, and the AI Summit Decade of AI Influence AIconics Award.ip Council. He is also the chair of the Federal City Council.