The Man Driving the Ford
of the Future
The Detroit Economic Club presents a conversation with Ford Motor Company’s boundary-pushing President and CEO, Jim Hackett
Watch the Livestream at dptv.org
Tuesday, 4/9, at 11 a.m.
From furniture maker to automotive innovator, catch a glimpse inside the mind of the man at the helm of Ford Motor Company: Jim Hackett
Hackett has been in his role for nearly two years now and is a major proponent of design-based thinking, utilizing an approach to product design that favors user experience.
This year Hackett is spearheading an $11 billion restructuring of Ford as a whole that involves shutting down plants, renovating a dated product lineup, exiting the North American sedan market and investing a fortune into electric and self-driving cars that cater to that “user experience” mentality that he champions.
His goal, says the company, is for Ford to become the world’s most trusted company, designing smart vehicles for a smart world that help people move more safely, confidently and freely.
Detroit Public TV will be providing a livestream of the conversation with Jim Hackett, presented by the Detroit Economic Club at Ford Field. It can be viewed on Tuesday, April 9, at 11 a.m. at dptv.org
Prior to his current position as president and CEO, Hackett had been chairman since 2016 of Ford Smart Mobility LLC, a subsidiary of Ford formed to accelerate the company’s plans to design, build, grow and invest in emerging mobility services.
Before that, Hackett was a member of the Ford Motor Company Board of Directors starting in 2013. As a member of the Sustainability and Innovation committee, he was actively involved with the Ford senior leadership team in launching the company’s Ford Smart Mobility plan. He also served on the Audit and the Nominating and Governance committees.
Hackett was vice chairman of Steelcase, the global leader in the office furniture industry, from 2014 to 2015. He had retired as CEO of Steelcase in February 2014, after having spent 20 years leading the Grand Rapids-based office furniture company.
He was interim director of athletics at the University of Michigan from October 2014 to March 2016 where he may be best known for wooing football head coach Jim Harbaugh to campus. He himself played center on the University of Michigan football team prior to graduating from the university with a bachelor’s degree in 1977.
Moderating the conversation at the Detroit Economic Club will be John U. Bacon, the author of eight books on sports and business, four of which were national bestsellers.
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