John Carmack. He's consistently at the edge of technology - whether it is game engines or avionics. His insights are excellent and can often be used in other areas of engineering / software development.
If it weren't for John I would have absolutely no interest in VR... but with his involvement it's hard to not be at least a little curious.
Finding your way to an elegant solution does not mean you created that solution. In 1999, Google had 8 employees. Not every algorithm was available at his fingertips. He had to care, seek, and find that solution to use it back then, which might not seem like much now. That's a manifestation of his caring about his craft; not inventing an algorithm.
> John Carmack, co-founder of id Software, is commonly associated with the code, though he actually did not write it.