Azul CEO Scott Sellers Named a CEO of the Year Winner in the 2026 Tech Ascension Awards

Recognition highlights Sellers’ strategic leadership, strong global growth of Azul and vision for Java in an AI-first world

SUNNYVALE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Azul, the trusted leader in enterprise Java for today’s AI-first world, today announced that CEO and co-founder Scott Sellers has been named a winner in the CEO of the Year category of the 2026 Tech Ascension Awards. The recognition honors exceptional technology leaders who demonstrate strategic vision, business excellence, a commitment to innovation and a lasting impact on their organizations and industries.

Sellers has taken Azul from a focused Java technology specialist to the trusted leader in enterprise Java. Under his leadership, the company has aligned its platform around the performance, security and cost efficiency enterprises need as AI workloads put growing demands on their infrastructure. Azul reported strong FY26 momentum, with new customer bookings up 43% year over year in finance, 120% in retail, 241% in telecommunications, and 606% in healthcare. Sellers leads one of the world’s largest independent Java engineering teams and this year appointed Kenny Johnston, an expert in agentic, AI-powered enterprise tooling, as chief product officer.

Under Sellers, Azul expanded its platform and strengthened its financial backing through strategic moves in late 2025. He secured a majority strategic investment from Thoma Bravo, one of the world’s largest software investors, with Vitruvian Partners and Lead Edge Capital reinvesting significant new capital and retaining minority stakes alongside Azul’s employees. Shortly after, Azul acquired Payara, extending its portfolio into an application server market estimated at $26 billion. Today, Azul powers mission-critical systems for 37% of the Fortune 100, 50% of the Forbes Top Ten World’s Most Valuable Brands and the world’s top 10 financial trading companies. Sellers was also named a 2025 Top Software CEO by The Software Report, and Azul products earned 5 industry awards in 2025.

“Exceptional leadership is measured not just by business success, but by the ability to inspire innovation, empower teams and create meaningful, lasting impact,” said David Campbell, CEO of the Tech Ascension Awards. “Scott Sellers of Azul embodies these qualities, demonstrating the vision, determination and leadership needed to drive organizations forward and help shape the future of the technology industry.”

The Tech Ascension CEO and Leadership Awards celebrate outstanding executives and innovators who are shaping the future of the technology industry. Winners are evaluated on their ability to drive business growth, lead meaningful innovation, demonstrate strategic and operational excellence, foster strong organizational cultures and create lasting value for their companies, employees, customers and industries.

“I’m honored by this recognition from the Tech Ascension Awards, as it reflects the hard work, innovation, and dedication of the entire Azul team,” said Sellers. “We’ve always believed that building a great company requires an unwavering commitment to innovation and doing right by our customers. Given Java’s continued prevalence in the enterprise, combined with all the changes and pressures that that AI is placing across businesses, our role as a trusted Java partner and innovator for our enterprise customers has never been more important.”

For more information about the Tech Ascension Awards, please visit www.techascensionawards.com.

About the Tech Ascension Awards

The Tech Ascension Awards elevate companies and leaders that possess cutting-edge, innovative technology that solve critical challenges in their respective markets. Tech Ascension winners rise above the crowded enterprise technology industries and receive validation from an independent organization. Applicants are judged based on technology innovation and uniqueness, market research (analyst reports, media coverage, customer case studies), hard performance stats, and competitive differentiators. The awards recognize vendors, products, and executive leaders in cybersecurity, AI, DevOps, big data, FinTech, and more. For information about the Tech Ascension Awards, please visit www.techascensionawards.com.

About Azul

Azul is the trusted leader in enterprise Java for today’s AI-first world. Its open source-based Java platform empowers organizations to optimize the entire Java lifecycle to accelerate performance, strengthen security, reduce licensing and cloud costs, and boost developer productivity. Azul powers mission-critical systems for 37% of the Fortune 100, 50% of the Forbes Top 10 World’s Most Valuable Brands, and the world’s top 10 financial trading companies. Learn more at azul.com and follow @azulsystems.