--- description: Find out why Henna Virkkunen is one of the 100 most influential people of 2026. title: Henna Virkkunen: The 100 Most Influential People of 2026 image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt44468c0e034d794f/69dfb0121558f459c3c9fa3e/T100-2026-Web-Henna-Virkkunen-235.png?branch=production --- Apr 15, 2026 # Henna Virkkunen by Margrethe Vestager  Bert Van Den Broucke—Belga/AFP/Getty Images [Henna Virkkunen](https://time.com/collections/time100-ai-2025/7305860/henna-virkkunen/ "undefined") brings to her role at the European Commission the same disciplined endurance she applies to running marathons—including a double marathon of 84 km—and competing in Ironman triathlons. A horsewoman since childhood, she remains as grounded in the physical world as she is fluent in the digital one. That groundedness matters, because her portfolio as Executive Vice President for Tech Sovereignty, Security and Democracy may be the most consequential of this commission. Virkkunen must hold the line on Europe’s digital rule book, fulfilling citizens’ expectations while under sustained pressure from Washington, and simultaneously streamlining regulation and building genuine (open) technological sovereignty—through plans to nurture AI on the Continent, better foster digital infrastructure, and put forth a package of proposals to support tech sovereignty. Add [cybersecurity](https://time.com/7382979/cybersecurity-threats-are-growing/ "undefined") and undersea cables to the brief, and the stakes become clear. In turbulent times, Europe needs someone with stamina. It found one. _Vestager is a former Executive Vice President of the European Commission and former E.U. commissioner for competition_ Henna Virkkunen Is on the 2026 TIME100 List ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"Article","@id":"https://time.com/collection/100-most-influential-people/2026/henna-virkkunen/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/collection/100-most-influential-people/2026/henna-virkkunen/"},"headline":"Henna Virkkunen","datePublished":"2026-04-15T11:00:00.000Z","dateModified":"2026-07-21T07:22:31.419Z","description":"","url":"https://time.com/collection/100-most-influential-people/2026/henna-virkkunen/","keywords":["TIME 100","list","franchise","Accolades"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt44468c0e034d794f/69dfb0121558f459c3c9fa3e/T100-2026-Web-Henna-Virkkunen-235.png?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Margrethe Vestager"}],"creator":"Margrethe Vestager","articleSection":"TIME100","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt44468c0e034d794f/69dfb0121558f459c3c9fa3e/T100-2026-Web-Henna-Virkkunen-235.png?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/time100/","name":"TIME100"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/time-100/","name":"TIME 100"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/collection/100-most-influential-people/2026/henna-virkkunen/","name":"Henna Virkkunen"}}]}] ```