Former Boeing CIO Will Run The Company’s Biggest Business Unit As CEO

Yesterday, Boeing announced that Ted Colbert has been named president and chief executive officer of its Defense, Space and Security business. This move will take effect on April 1. Colbert succeeds Leanne Caret who is retiring following nearly 35 years with Boeing. Colbert had been President and CEO of Boeing Global Services (BGS). Stephanie Pope has been appointed as his successor in that role.

This business provides military aircraft and network and space systems to customers around the world, and earned revenues of $26.5 billion in 2021. As such, this is the company’s largest business unit by revenue.

“Throughout his career, Ted Colbert has consistently brought technical excellence and strong and innovative leadership to every position he has held,” said Boeing President and CEO Dave Calhoun. “Under his leadership, BGS has assembled an excellent leadership team focused on delivering safe and high-quality services for our defense and commercial customers. His leadership track record and current experience supporting the defense services portfolio ideally position Ted to lead BDS.”

Colbert joined Boeing’s information technology department in 2009, rising to the role of chief information officer in 2009 and to the role of CIO and senior vice president of Information Technology & Data Analytics in 2013. It was in that role that Colbert won Forbes CIO Innovation Award in 2018 for the development of a digital flight deck. In May of 2021, Colbert joined the board of ADM, the $85 billion revenue multinational food processing and commodities trading corporation, as well.

Colbert’s expanded responsibilities from CIO to CIO-plus to beyond CIO to board level executive has him in an exclusive but growing club of former CIOs who have expanded their responsibilities.

Peter High is President of Metis Strategy, a business and IT advisory firm. He has written two bestselling books, and his third, Getting to Nimble, was recently released. He also moderates the Technovation podcast series and speaks at conferences around the world. Follow him on Twitter @PeterAHigh.