Zoro turned the unglamorous work of buying gloves, gauges, fasteners and floor cleaner into a $1.4 billion digital business. Its real product is not the wrench - it is making 13 million industrial items feel searchable, buyable and close at hand.

Across Grainger, Caterpillar and Ferguson, Victoria Morrissey made industrial marketing feel human by listening first. Retirement has brought her back to Chicago, where customer advocacy is becoming community service.