New Deere CIO Sees Opportunities To Position IT As A Key Source Of Value

As technology continues to transform the work of today’s farmers, Deere & Company’s new Chief Information Officer plans to double down on making IT a source of value to the company’s ecosystem of dealers, customers and employees.

Ganesh Jayaram took on the CIO role at the end of May following more than six years as Deere’s VP of IT. He succeeds Raj Kalathur, who recently was named Chief Financial Officer.

Jayaram said in an interview that his team will continue an company-wide agile operating model transformation and pursue tech initiatives that improve customer experience, enhance data quality and accessibility, and deliver new value across Deere’s product portfolio and internal processes.

Deere’s enterprise agile transformation kicked off in 2019. After a series of smaller-scale attempts to go agile within IT did not take off as hoped, Jayaram realized that a true mindset shift would require both technology teams and business partners to commit to new ways of working.

To get everyone on the same page, Deere created a 90-day immersive training program to teach new technical skills, drive more customer focus and get teams comfortable working in product-focused agile teams. More than 2,500 people have completed the training program, which takes place in dedicated spaces known as the Foundry. Remaining teams are expected to complete the training by the end of this year.

The investment in training and technology has paid off. Since the transformation efforts began, Deere noted that output has increased by 165%, time to market has fallen by 63%, and the Employee Net Promoter Score has risen by more than 20 points. The company estimates ROI from the IT group’s transformation to be greater than 100%.

Now, Jayaram wants to sustain that momentum and find more ways to measure technology’s direct value to the company and its customers. He notes that it’s great to highlight new tech solutions or productivity gains delivered by IT, but the imperative now is to show how technology initiatives drive revenue growth, increase market share and excite customers.

Deere CIO Ganesh Jayaram

Deere & Company

“The value story is so important,” Jayaram said. “We want to measure this through the lens of the customer. It’s important to talk about it from an IT delivery standpoint, but what’s bigger is how teams and customers are experiencing it.”

Deere’s story illustrates the ongoing transformation of IT from business enabler to core value driver as technology becomes increasingly essential to business growth. While Deere is known primarily for its role as a manufacturer of heavy machinery, its future will hinge on its ability to apply data, automation, and autonomy to develop new products and services and create faster, more personalized experiences for its customers, dealers, suppliers, and team members.

To get there, Jayaram and his team are focused on taking friction out of the customer experience and improving data infrastructure to support analytics, personalization, and easy access to reliable information across the company. Cybersecurity, of course, remains a priority.

In addition to providing IT support for internal teams, Jayaram will also work closely with the CTO organization, led by Jahmy Hindman, to support customer-facing e-commerce platforms and the technology that underpins the company’s growing fleet of connected machines.

Facing an uncertain macroeconomic and geopolitical environment, Jayaram and the technology organization at Deere are working closely with supply chain teams and investing in digital solutions that provide greater visibility and better understanding the best way to collaborate with suppliers.

Deere last month noted strong demand despite inflationary pressures and supply chain challenges that impacted production capabilities and delivery schedules. Second-quarter income grew 17% over last year to more than $2 billion, while net sales and revenues increased 11% to $13.37 billion.

A growing number of executives on Deere’s leadership team has overseen technology during their tenure. CEO John May once held the CIO post, as did Kalathur, the company’s new CFO. Cory Reed, president of Deere’s global Agriculture and Turf Division, Production and Precision Ag, once ran the company’s Intelligent Solutions Group.

The deep well of technology expertise reflects the importance of tech and digital to the company’s future, Jayaram said, noting that determining the best way to drive autonomy and process automation is a focus across the organization.

“That bench creates the support needed to make those investments going forward,” he said. “We must keep focus on value creation. That is what will drive it.”