Information Week released its list of 15 Innovators & Influencers Who Will Make A Difference In 2008.
From the article:

Meet 15 people who will help shape the business technology world in the coming year. They're not the usual suspects -- the names everyone knows. Several are industry and tech execs, and most are gurus, prophets, or evangelists of one sort or another. They're all passionate about an idea, an approach, or a technology, and they're focused on driving it to the next level. Watch for each of them to be a force for change in their own corner of the tech world.

Well, I've already met one of them. And I think it's fair to say that he is an "influencer who will make a difference" in my 2008 (and perhaps yours as well).