Industrials Exchange Chicago

Dave Leone is Senior Director of Digital & Dimensional Engineering at GE Appliances, a Haier Company, where he leads enterprise-scale transformation across product development and manufacturing. With deep expertise in dimensional control, model-based definition, digital metrology, and variation analysis, Dave has helped build scalable engineering systems that improve product quality, consistency, and execution. He has played a key role in advancing GE Appliances’ digital engineering journey, including the development of dimensional control as a core engineering discipline embedded early in product design. Dave is passionate about modernizing engineering practices so quality and craftsmanship are designed into products from the start, and he brings a practical, team-oriented approach to helping organizations translate complex engineering capabilities into measurable business impact.

Chris leads installation and advancement of Systems Engineering and ALM processes at Polaris across their global Off-Road, On-Road, Powertrain, and Vehicle Electronics Systems (VES) teams. His team focuses on product development productivity and quality through simplified and integrated processes and tools with the emerging support of integrated agentic AI to help teams manage increasing product complexity.

Tony Smidl is a Product Lifecycle Management Manager at Rockwell Automation, where he drives strategy and value realization for the company’s enterprise PLM solution, Windchill, along with initiatives related to simulation and ECAD. With experience spanning product lifecycle, inventory, manufacturing engineering, operations, product quality, development, and IT, Tony brings a broad perspective to digital transformation and enterprise process improvement. He is passionate about enabling high-performing teams through clear communication, change management, collaboration, and a strong people-centered culture.

Scott Ward is a senior aftermarket operations leader at AGCO, where he leads global customer care. Over more than a decade with AGCO, Scott has held responsibilities spanning supply chain management, parts distribution, customer support, dealer operations, and aftermarket business performance. Since being named General Manager of Aftersales Operations for North America in 2018, he has led organizations responsible for ensuring parts availability, supporting dealer networks, improving customer service, and driving operational excellence across AGCO's portfolio of agricultural equipment brands. His experience provides a unique perspective on the intersection of supply chain execution, dealer success, customer uptime, and aftermarket profitability.

Doug Gray is Vice President of Integrated Supply Chain at Trane Technologies, where he leads global supply chain operations supporting the company's HVAC, refrigeration, and climate innovation businesses. He is an experienced supply chain executive with a career spanning manufacturing, distribution, logistics, and aftermarket service operations. Prior to joining Trane Technologies in 2024, Gray spent much of his career with Caterpillar, holding leadership roles across supply chain, distribution, and aftermarket operations. He is recognized for his focus on supply chain resilience, inventory optimization, customer service, sustainability, workforce development, and the application of AI and automation within supply chain organizations.

With over 15 years in Material Handling and Intralogistics, Jeff has extensive experience in the execution and deployment of technological solutions that have tranformed the industry. Utilizing multiple partnership models, North America’s top enterprise-level customers have enjoyed the operational efficiencies with quantifiable and actionable visibility.

Andrew Carlson is a solutions-driven mechanical engineer based in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, with expertise in engineering simulation, industrial product development, and big-data analysis. He serves as a Senior Project Engineer at Rockwell Automation, leading advanced simulation initiatives and driving cross-functional engineering innovation, with 25 granted patents. Andrew is currently leading efforts in PLM data readiness and large-scale migration, enabling more reliable and scalable product development. He develops automation workflows and utilizes AI-assisted tools to streamline engineering analysis and accelerating decision making. With nearly two decades of experience, he has contributed across a wide range of Rockwell Automation’s new product development and technology initiatives.

Steve Dertien is EVP and CTO at PTC, responsible for championing corporate technology strategy across the portfolio and solution offerings. Steve also leads the team in PTC’s Reality Lab researching new, unchartered, and possible next technology while figuring out the business advantages it can provide to our customers and global partner network.
Since joining PTC in 2000, Steve has spearheaded many different initiatives at PTC including the business transformation to bring IoT into our solution offerings and the go-to-market strategy and product marketing that followed. Prior to PTC, he was a business systems analyst and manufacturing engineer at Medtronic.
In addition to his role at PTC, Steve serves on the Massachusetts Technology Leadership Council's Technology and Innovation Advisory Board.
Steve earned a B.S. in Manufacturing Engineering Technology from Ferris State University in Michigan.

As the General Manager of PLM, John is responsible for:

• The strategy, product, go-to-market, and customer success for Windchill, Windchill+, and Windchill Navigate
• Strengthening leadership and growth of key company initiatives

John was part of the sales organization at PTC from 2010-2022, driving revenue growth, securing major contracts, and leading global teams in the PLM and SaaS space. Before coming back to PTC, he was the Chief Revenue Officer (CRO) at aPriori, where he:

• Led global revenue teams across Sales, Customer Success, Services, RevOps, and Solutions Engineering
• Rebuilt sales org with enterprise expertise, implemented value-selling, and expanded recurring revenue
• Built scalable RevOps with key systems (Salesforce, 6sense, Gong), optimizing sales processes and forecasting

Outside of his role at PTC, he has been married for over 30 years and is a proud father of three adult children. He also enjoys the companionship of two dogs. He has a passion for traveling and has honorably served in the Navy.

Brian Thompson is General Manager of the Creo Computer-Aided Design (CAD) Segment at PTC. In this role, he oversees product strategy, development, and operations for the Creo CAD and PTC Mathcad engineering calculations businesses. Since joining in 2009, Brian has been instrumental in the development of PTC’s award-winning Creo CAD solution. Under his leadership, this 30-year business continues to enjoy above-market growth rates and a reputation for the highest levels of innovation in support of customer needs.
Prior to joining PTC, Brian worked for more than 15 years in electro-mechanical product development in a variety of discrete manufacturing industries. He holds six product design patents, many of which are on products sold today.

Ayora Berry is Vice President of AI Product Management at PTC, where he works with customers and product teams to drive PTC’s AI strategy, incubate new AI offerings, and build PTC’s centralized AI platform. With 16 years at PTC, Ayora has held diverse roles in product management, design, and enablement. He holds a doctorate and master’s degree in education, along with bachelor’s degrees in biology and history.

Mr. Froebel joined PTC in 2024 after 35 years of experience in the automotive, construction, medical device, electronic and agricultural industries. His experience includes all aspects of digital transformation of global product development and manufacturing organizations across 5 continents. He has also served on the PTC User and Georgia Southern University Engineering Boards.
As PTC’s Engineering Executive Advisor, he provides guidance internally to PTC and to PTC customers with a focus on product development, manufacturing and service. Mr. Froebel holds a Bachelors Degree in Engineering Physics from St. Bonaventure University.

Bradley Rhoton is Director of Portfolio Development at PTC, where he collaborates across customers, product management, sales, marketing, and executive leadership to advance Servigistics' strategy, innovation, and market growth. He leads many of Servigistics' strategic customer engagement initiatives, including executive forums, Customer Advisory Group (CAG) programs, industry thought leadership efforts, and customer transformation initiatives worldwide. Bradley brings a broad perspective on the challenges and opportunities shaping modern service supply chains, drawing from more than 20 years of experience working with global organizations across aerospace and defense, industrial equipment, automotive, medical technology, telecommunications, and high-tech industries.