SWOT
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Deere Engineering

To revolutionize farming and construction with smart technology that enables customers to do more with less while creating a sustainable future

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Align the strategy

Deere Engineering SWOT Analysis

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To revolutionize farming and construction with smart technology that enables customers to do more with less while creating a sustainable future

Strengths

  • PLATFORM: Strong precision ag tech stack with 55,000+ connected machines
  • TALENT: Deep domain expertise in agriculture and construction
  • ECOSYSTEM: Robust dealer network supporting tech implementation
  • ACQUISITION: Strategic tech acquisitions including Blue River Technology
  • BRAND: High customer trust with 187-year legacy in equipment

Weaknesses

  • LEGACY: Technical debt in core systems limiting integration speed
  • TALENT: Skills gap in emerging tech areas like AI and robotics
  • PROCESS: Slow software release cycles compared to tech competitors
  • ARCHITECTURE: Siloed systems across product lines reducing efficiency
  • SECURITY: Vulnerabilities in IoT implementation for connected machines

Opportunities

  • AUTOMATION: Growing demand for autonomous farming solutions
  • DATA: Monetization of agronomic data insights for customers
  • CLOUD: Shift to cloud infrastructure enabling scalable solutions
  • SUSTAINABILITY: Tech-driven precision solutions reducing input waste
  • ECOSYSTEM: API ecosystem to integrate with partner solutions

Threats

  • COMPETITION: Tech giants entering agricultural technology space
  • TALENT: Tech talent attraction to Silicon Valley over manufacturing
  • ADOPTION: Farmer hesitancy to adopt new complex technologies
  • SECURITY: Increasing cybersecurity threats to connected equipment
  • REGULATION: Data privacy regulations affecting data monetization

Key Priorities

  • BUILD: Accelerate autonomous machine capability development
  • TALENT: Upskill engineering teams in AI and cloud technologies
  • ARCHITECTURE: Modernize tech stack to enable faster innovation
  • SECURITY: Strengthen cybersecurity for IoT-connected equipment
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Align the plan

Deere Engineering OKR Plan

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To revolutionize farming and construction with smart technology that enables customers to do more with less while creating a sustainable future

BUILD AUTONOMY

Accelerate autonomous machine technology leadership

  • PLATFORM: Release autonomous navigation stack v2.0 for 5 equipment models by Q3
  • VALIDATION: Achieve 10,000 autonomous operation hours with <1 intervention per 8 hours
  • PERCEPTION: Improve AI vision system accuracy to 98% in all weather conditions
  • INTEGRATION: Deploy unified autonomous control architecture across 3 product lines
MODERNIZE CORE

Transform tech foundation for accelerated innovation

  • CLOUD: Migrate 75% of on-prem applications to cloud infrastructure by Q4
  • ARCHITECTURE: Implement microservices architecture for 6 critical systems by Q3
  • DATA: Unify data platform enabling cross-product insights for 85% of equipment data
  • PERFORMANCE: Reduce API response times by 40% while handling 200% more requests
SECURE IOT

Build world-class IoT security and compliance

  • FRAMEWORK: Implement comprehensive IoT security framework across all connected products
  • TESTING: Complete penetration testing on 100% of connected equipment interfaces
  • REMEDIATION: Address all critical and high vulnerabilities with mean time to fix <15 days
  • MONITORING: Deploy real-time security monitoring for 100% of connected machine fleet
GROW TALENT

Build world-class engineering and AI capabilities

  • HIRING: Recruit 75 AI/ML engineers by increasing tech brand awareness by 40%
  • TRAINING: Upskill 200 existing engineers in cloud and AI technologies via academy
  • RETENTION: Improve engineering talent retention to 95% through competitive packages
  • DIVERSITY: Increase representation of underrepresented groups in engineering by 15%
METRICS
  • TECH REVENUE: 35% of total revenue from tech-enabled products and services
  • AUTONOMY: 1M+ hours of autonomous equipment operation in real-world conditions
  • ENGINEERING VELOCITY: 35% increase in software delivery frequency
VALUES
  • Integrity
  • Quality
  • Commitment
  • Innovation
  • Sustainability
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Align the learnings

Deere Engineering Retrospective

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To revolutionize farming and construction with smart technology that enables customers to do more with less while creating a sustainable future

What Went Well

  • REVENUE: Tech-enabled features grew to 25% of total revenue, up from 18%
  • ADOPTION: Connected machine installed base grew 27% year-over-year
  • EFFICIENCY: Software development velocity increased 23% from last year
  • INNOVATION: Released 15 new digital products, exceeding goal of 12
  • RETENTION: Engineering talent retention improved to 92%, up from 85%

Not So Well

  • INTEGRATION: Tech stack modernization program behind schedule by 2 qtrs
  • SECURITY: Three critical vulnerabilities discovered in IoT platform
  • TALENT: Failed to fill 28% of open AI and ML engineering positions
  • DELIVERY: Six key digital product releases delayed due to quality issues
  • ADOPTION: Customer usage of advanced features at only 62% of target

Learnings

  • PROCESS: Agile transformation needs more leadership support to succeed
  • ARCHITECTURE: Microservices transition requires more specialized skills
  • TALENT: Remote engineering team model showing promising productivity
  • INTEGRATION: Cross-functional product teams outperform siloed approach
  • TESTING: Automated testing investment shows 3x ROI in reduced issues

Action Items

  • TALENT: Launch AI engineering academy to train 150 internal engineers
  • ARCHITECTURE: Accelerate cloud migration of 75% of applications by Q4
  • SECURITY: Implement enterprise-wide IoT security framework by Q3
  • PROCESS: Complete DevOps transformation across all engineering teams
  • PLATFORM: Consolidate tech stacks across business units to reduce cost
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Drive AI transformation

Deere Engineering AI Strategy SWOT Analysis

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To revolutionize farming and construction with smart technology that enables customers to do more with less while creating a sustainable future

Strengths

  • ACQUISITION: Blue River's See & Spray AI reduces herbicide use by 77%
  • INVESTMENT: Committed $500M to AI R&D over next three years
  • FOUNDATION: Rich proprietary agricultural dataset spanning decades
  • IMPLEMENTATION: 20+ AI use cases already deployed in production
  • HARDWARE: Sensor and compute integration expertise in harsh environments

Weaknesses

  • TALENT: Limited AI engineering talent with only 300 dedicated staff
  • INFRASTRUCTURE: Insufficient ML/AI infrastructure for large models
  • PROCESS: Slow AI deployment pipeline from concept to production
  • SKILLS: Limited experience with generative AI applications
  • STRATEGY: Fragmented AI approaches across business units

Opportunities

  • PRECISION: AI-powered precision agriculture reducing input costs by 30%
  • AUTONOMOUS: Full autonomous equipment potential $45B market by 2028
  • MAINTENANCE: Predictive maintenance AI reducing downtime by 25%
  • INTEGRATION: Unified AI platform across product lines
  • EXPERIENCE: AI assistants improving equipment usability

Threats

  • COMPETITION: Ag-tech startups deploying AI solutions 2x faster
  • TALENT: Tech giants offering 40% higher compensation for AI talent
  • REGULATION: Emerging AI regulations affecting autonomous systems
  • COMPLEXITY: Farmer adoption barriers due to AI system complexity
  • DATA: Data quality issues hampering AI model performance

Key Priorities

  • TALENT: Build specialized AI engineering team with competitive packages
  • PLATFORM: Develop unified AI/ML platform across product lines
  • AUTOMATION: Fast-track autonomous equipment capabilities development
  • EXPERIENCE: Create intuitive AI interfaces for improved adoption