CIO Profiles: Kyle Quinn Of PACCAR

Career Track

How long at PACCAR: I've been at this truck manufacturer for six years.

Career accomplishment I'm most proud of: The building of the Columbus engine plant and the introduction of the PACCAR MX engine into the North American market. The IT team showed it could efficiently deliver new and complex manufacturing systems.

Decision I wish I could do over: Early in my career, I considered going back to school to get an MBA but decided it could be deferred. Fifteen years later, I looked at it again and committed to it. Both the academic experience and the skills I acquired are much more valuable than I had imagined. Get it done early in your career--don't delay.

On The Job

IT budget: $120 million globally

Size of IT team: 700 globally

Top initiatives:

How I measure IT effectiveness: Return on investment to the business as a result of projects across our business units is a key measurement of success. We also measure effectiveness through adherence to our service-level agreements and the contribution IT makes to new products and services that drive our growth.

Vision

The next big thing for my business will be ... achieving global process standardization through system modernization. We'll accomplish this by adopting a global template for business systems, consolidating systems onto this template, and achieving the productivity and efficiencies driven by software standardization.

One thing I'm looking to do better: Accelerate large-scale project completion and delivery through innovation, creativity, and discipline.

Lesson from the last recession: IT is a team sport, and it's all about the people. Do everything you can to attract great people and help them grow.

The federal government's top tech priority should be ... to use its CIOs and IT organizations to drive system and process standardization. IT organizations with the mandate to simplify and consolidate systems can take millions in costs out of the budget and simplify processes at the same time.

Personal

Colleges/degrees: Washington State University, BA in mechanical engineering; Seattle University, MBA

Leisure activities: Golf and boating

Last vacation: A Mediterranean cruise

Best book read recently: The Big Short, by Michael Lewis

Business leader I'd like to have lunch with: Ford's Alan Mulally

Smartphone: iPhone

Personal computer: A high-end gaming computer I built myself

Ranked No. 1 in the 2011