IT-Taking the Lead to 'Connect'

Timothy McCabe, CIO, Delphi Automotive PLC

“Connected” and “Big Data”–Two prevalent trends

There are certainly several trends that are impacting the Delphi business environment, but two that are prevalent would be “connected” and “big data”.

The connected trend is part of the Delphi business strategy and IT is a major component of that. Delphi’s technologies enable a vehicle to be “connected” and our IT team works directly with our engineering groups to bring those worlds of expertise together. This benefits both auto makers and their customers. In addition, IT is taking the lead to “connect” the global workforce of Delphi employees and partners. We are implementing technologies that enable a connected workforce to share ideas, knowledge, and work in real-time and all over the world. Delphi is also going to be heavily influenced by the trend of Big Data. The shift to making Delphi a more data-driven organization will take us some time and effort, but we believe that the payoff will be significant. Leveraging the data that comes from our systems, factories, even our finished products will enable Delphi to make better and timelier business decisions. And this will benefit Delphi, partners, customers and ultimately drivers.

"Our IT team works directly with our engineering groups to bring the worlds of expertise together"

My Role as a CIO

My role as a CIO has changed significantly over the past couple of years due to both internal and external factors. Delphi has charged back from the difficult environment many automotive companies experienced to a position of growth and profitability. This has shifted my focus from cutting costs and managing core operations, to supporting the growth strategy and being more innovative with solutions. It is a dramatic shift for our IT teams to comprehend, and we are still growing into it. As the CIO, I have also had to shift my mindset on everything from how I manage my core suppliers, attract talent, shift skill sets and devise strategies. This is truly a re-invention period for IT and obviously for me as the CIO. Simply, if I had continued to operate as I did a few years ago, I would not be successfully helping Delphi achieve its goals. The changes in the technology marketplace have also caused a major change in my role as CIO. Topics such as Cloud, ‘SaaS’, Big Data, and the Internet of Things are impacting me as a CIO every day. We are implementing some of these new and exciting technology trends, which may represent major shifts in our business and workforce. Now, the focus for the IT department at Delphi is to find where we can create value for the company. This is a shift from the past where IT was just a cost center and/or a support organization. It is an exciting shift, but one that we will also carefully and thoughtfully manage.

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