Ted Colbert, new president and CEO of Boeing’s defence, space and security business
AFP via Getty Images
Yesterday, Boeing announced that Ted Colbert has been named president and chief executive officer of its Defense, Space and Security business. This decision will take effect on April 1. Colbert succeeds Leanne Caret who is retiring after nearly 35 years at Boeing. Colbert had been president and CEO of Boeing Global Services (BGS). Stephanie Pope has been named to succeed him in this position.
This business provides military aircraft, network and space systems to customers around the world and generated revenues of $26.5 billion in 2021. As such, it is the largest business unit of business in terms of revenue.
“Throughout his career, Ted Colbert has consistently brought technical excellence and strong, innovative leadership to every position he has held,” said Dave Calhoun, Boeing President and CEO. “Under his leadership, BGS has assembled an excellent leadership team focused on delivering safe, high quality services for our defense and commercial customers. His leadership track record and current experience in supporting the defense services portfolio ideally position Ted to lead BDS.”
Colbert joined Boeing’s information technology department in 2009, rising to chief information officer in 2009 and to CIO and senior vice president of information technology and business analytics. data in 2013. It was in this role that Colbert won the Forbes CIO Innovation Award. in 2018 for the development of a digital cockpit. In May 2021, Colbert also joined the board of directors of ADM, the $85 billion multinational food processing and commodities trading company.
Colbert’s expanded responsibilities from CIO to CIO-plus, beyond CIO to executive, have placed him in an exclusive but growing club of former CIOs who have expanded their responsibilities.
Peter High is President of Métis Strategy, a business and IT consulting firm. He has written two bestselling books and his third, Getting to Nimble, came out recently. It also moderates the Technovation podcast series and speaks at conferences around the world. Follow him on Twitter @PeterAHigh.