Ford chief technology officer Ken Washington leaves automaker to join Amazon

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The current CTO responsibilities include Ford’s next generation vehicle electrical architectures; sensing and computing stacks; energy, propulsion, and sustainability; advanced materials and manufacturing; and controls and automated systems, the Ford website said. “He also leads Ford’s STEM and University research programs.”

Maintaining and growing those relationships are essential, Reid told the Free Press.

Having impact

Washington has been CTO since June 2017, where he leads Ford’s worldwide research organization, and oversees the development and implementation of Ford’s technology strategy and plans. He works with advanced engineers in Michigan, Silicon Valley, Germany, China, and Israel, according to his LinkedIn professional biography.

He was inducted into the National Academy of Engineering in 2020.

“My path was not linear. It was very indirect. And if you had asked me 30 years ago, would I end up as the CTO of Ford Motor Company, I would have thought you were crazy,” Washington said during a March 2 discussion hosted by the Franklin Institute science museum and education center in Philadelphia.

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“An important part of Ford+ is willingness and effectiveness in partnering with others for expertise, and Ken’s been on the leading edge of that within the company,” said Hau Thai-Tang, Ford’s chief product platform and operations officer, in the staff memo. “He’s had a tremendous influence in building out our capabilities and learning from others in ways that are making Ford a leader in connected vehicles.”

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Washington started at Ford in August 2014 as vice president of research and advanced engineering. He oversaw development of technology strategy and plans for vehicles and mobility services, LinkedIn said. Ford’s autonomous vehicle advanced engineering effort and Ford’s mobility research program both began under his leadership, he said on LinkedIn.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, he helped coordinate employee safety protocols.

Ford has announced a series of changes since CEO Jim Farley took the helm on Oct. 1:

• Former Renault exec Franck Louis-Victor will lead new businesses
• Henry Ford III is stepping down from a daily company role after 15 years
• Caroline Adler Morales, a former top strategist to the Obamas, will direct stakeholder advocacy 
• Suzy Deering started as global chief marketing officer
• Vijay Sankaran arrived and exited within a week as chief software and information officer 
• Anthony Lo, with Renault ties, was hired as global chief design officer
• John Lawler replaced Tim Stone as chief financial officer 
• Laura Dove, former aide to U.S. Sen. Mitch McConnell, joined the D.C. team
• Jon Huntsman started as the new vice chair of policy

Farley has said during investor calls that recruiting top tech talent is a high priority.

Ford has hired 600 software engineers this year alone to total more than 7,000 software engineers in the U.S. and Canada working on design, architecture, data, testing and other technical and infrastructure roles.

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Prior to joining Lockheed Martin in February 2007, Washington served as chief information officer for Sandia National Laboratories. He has a bachelor’s, master’s and doctorate degree in nuclear engineering from Texas AM University and is a fellow of the MIT Seminar XXI program on International Relations.

 Follow Phoebe Wall Howard on Twitter@phoebesaid.

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