Otis Elevator CEO Judy Marks On How to Embrace Technology While Staying Human

Every day, 2 billion people across the globe use Otis elevators. The machines have been around for more than 165 years and are ripe with potential for innovative updates. In the future, elevators could use AI to better manage the flow of passengers and be connected to the Internet of Things for remote maintenance and self-reported repair checks.

Just like elevators have seen dramatic changes over the last century and a half, so has leadership. And like elevators, leadership is poised for technology-fueled growth and change.

Judy Marks is CEO of Otis Elevator, the world’s largest elevator company. Most people take elevators for granted—which is just how Judy likes it. The goal is for people not to think about the technology they are using because it is so seamless and safe. But even a standard in human movement needs an upgrade, and Judy is on a mission to guide her company through a digital transformation towards the elevator of the future.

I was excited to chat with Judy for my book The Future Leader. Judy recognizes the power and potential of elevators and of her people. She showcases how leaders of the future must not only be tech-savvy, but also have an eye towards innovation and staying human.

Leading With Technology  

When Judy became CEO, one of her primary goals was to turn a legacy company into a digital technology leader. To be successful in the future of work, Judy believes all leaders must be tech-savvy. In her eyes, there’s no avoiding digital transformation. Instead of running from new technology, leaders need to use it to improve their companies and disrupt their industries.

Elevators have been around for more than 100 years, but in that time, we’ve also seen incredible technological growth. The challenge for Judy is combining legacy technology with new advances to create a forward-thinking product that still holds strong to its roots. Her approach to technology falls into two main areas: developing her product and developing her people.

Judy’s team of nearly 70,000 global employees consists of 33,000 mechanics. On any given day, a mechanic could be servicing a 100-year-old elevator or one that was installed last week. Judy understands the importance of incorporating new technology not only into her products, but also into her employees. As automation grows, Judy grapples with questions of if people will continue to pursue labor careers in service and construction. She uses technology as a way to attract and retain talent by incorporating technology that mechanics are eager to learn and use. In Judy’s mind, technology isn’t optional—it’s a requirement for the future. Technology is changing the skills needed in her industry, and she needs to leverage those changes to continue to attract the top talent.

“It’s not just about applying technology for productivity,” she said. “Technology is mandatory because of the availability of skills in the future. We have to use technology to balance and blend with the future workforce.”

Elevators have a huge potential for new technology, such as using AI to group passengers by destination and increase speed and capacity. Otis is also working towards using analytics to pinpoint preventative maintenance before breakdowns occur to keep systems running smoothly. The future could also include remote service instead of having to fix issues on-site.

Judy realizes that skyscrapers and tall buildings aren’t going away, so there will always be a need for elevators. But those buildings are changing, and Otis needs to change alongside them. Judy views her job as leveraging new technology and encouraging her team to change its business models and the value it provides along the way.

Staying Human And Passionate 

Technology and digital transformation are crucial for every future leader, but Judy believes it’s also important to stay human.

“I hope as leaders we don’t become so data-focused and so automated and removed that we lose our passion and compassion,” she said.

Even with new technology, Judy says future leaders must always have passion about leading their teams and their industries. Leaders have to set the vision for each generation, which means looking to the future to guide the company and its people where they need to go.

But at the same time, leaders must have compassion for the people they serve. As Judy says, she’s in the people business. Even as Otis combines people and machines, it can’t lose compassion for the people.

Judy believes one of the most important roles of a leader is to create a sense of purpose for employees. As humans work more with machines, a challenge for leaders will be keeping the human workforce engaged and motivated.

“My role in terms of leadership is to set the vision and to share it. To create an environment where people can resonate not only with the mission but deliver it. To eliminate obstacles so my team can succeed. I think all of those are part of leadership,” Judy says.

Staying human and leading with compassion keeps leaders engaged with their workforces instead of focusing solely on technology and numbers. As technology and automation increases, finding the balance and not losing track of the people and vision will become even more challenging.

Even with all of the changes on the horizon, Judy looks towards the future with optimism.

“I think it will be fascinating and exciting and maybe even a little scary to be a leader 10 years from now. There won’t be a simple playbook to follow. The pace of change will be frenetic, and leaders will have to deal in a world with a lot of unknowns. But people will rise to the occasion. I have no doubt. They have every generation, and they will continue to do so.”

________________________________________________________________________________________
If you enjoyed the article and want more content like this here’s what you can do:

1. Subscribe to The Future of Work Podcast where I interview business leaders around the world each week.
2. Grab a copy of The Future Leader which has been endorsed by the CEOs of MasterCard, Best Buy, Oracle, Audi, Unilever, Domino’s Pizza, Ritz Carlton, Kaiser, and Marshall Goldsmith. It explores the most essential skills and mindsets for future leaders.
3. If you are or want to be an entrepreneur then my wife and I just launched a brand new podcast on how to Be Your Own Boss, called the BYOB Podcast where we share what we did and how we did it. You can subscribe to that here.