Lila Tretikov is a Russian-American engineer who is best known for having served as the former executive director of the Wikimedia Foundation from 2014 to 2016. The Wikimedia Foundation is a non-profit organization that provides equal access to knowledge through services like Wikipedia, the world's largest encyclopedia. Currently, Tretikov serves as the Corporate Vice President of Microsoft, a position she has held since 2018. She is also the Deputy CTO at Microsoft.

Tretikov has been a leader in the technology space since 2001. Prior to her time at Wikimedia, she served as the Chief Product Officer for the open-source, cloud-based software vendor SugarCRM. SugarCRM sponsored an open-source project with more than 30,000 contributors and deployed by over 1.5 million individuals in 120 countries and 26 languages. Her responsibilities during her tenure included product strategy, engineering, operations, IT, product management, professional services, marketing, and user experience. Under her guidance, SugarCRM was recognized as a visionary leader in Customer Relationship Management and Tretikov was awarded the 9th Stevie Award For Women in Business.

Tretikov began her career as an engineer at the Sun-Netscape Alliance working on the Java server. She later founded and grew information technology startups to offer support for customers in telecommunication, retail, and banking. Her customers included Bank of America, Ameritrade, and Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. Her work on the Human Genome Browser at Berkeley allowed her to combine her passion for large data systems with intelligent user interfaces.

Born in the Soviet Union, Tretikov experienced firsthand the rise of openness and transparency in government through the policy of glasnost. She developed a commitment to free and open information made possible by passionate people equipped with technology.

Tretikov studied Computer Science and Art at the University of California, Berkeley, where she did research work in machine learning. She holds patents for intelligent data mapping, dynamic language applications, and other technology innovations.

Inspirational, Empowerment, Inspiring, Women in Business, Female Leadership, Influential Women, Social Media, Media Professionals, Technology, Entertainment Industry, Russian, Russia, Entertainment