On his second day as Textron’s global CIO, Todd Kackley found himself in the spotlight. During his first executive staff meeting, CEO Scott Donnelly turned to him and asked, “What are we going to do about generative AI?” There was no room for hesitation. Kackley, a longtime Textron executive who had most recently served as divisional CIO, leaned into the question in a way that would shape the company’s next major technology breakthrough: “Let me demonstrate the value,” he said.
Three months later, he returned to the same room with results that would convince even the most skeptical of leaders. But the story of how Textron, a $13.7 billion industrial conglomerate known for brands like Cessna, Beechcraft, and Bell, accelerated its use of gen AI goes far deeper, and reveals critical lessons for technology leaders everywhere.
A leap, not a request
Kackley didn’t begin with a resource ask. “I had no budget, no tech, and no team for this,” he recalls. “But I had trust. I had a team that had learned how to innovate quickly and take risks.” That trust was hard-earned. Just a few years earlier, he led through personal adversity, including a cancer diagnosis, and discovered the power of vulnerability and transparency. It was a leadership approach that unlocked new levels of trust and creativity within his teams.
