Legacy manufacturing environments are inherently complex. Deep technical expertise, global operations, and precision processes create a level of interdependence that makes transformation challenging to orchestrate. For CIOs, the task isn’t just about deploying new technologies, but untangling that complexity and evolving from old and deeply embedded ways of working.
When Aroon Sehgal joined Videojet Technologies as CIO last year, he became part of an organization with decades of technical excellence and a proud engineering culture. Videojet, a global leader in coding, marking, and printing solutions for product traceability, had long operated as part of healthcare company Danaher. Now, as a key business within Veralto, a $5 billion global tech leader focused on environmental and product quality solutions, Sehgal saw an opportunity to position technology as a source of differentiation and growth.
“When we were part of Danaher, Videojet was a rounding error,” Sehgal says. “Now under Veralto, we’re a meaningful part of the portfolio. That creates both visibility and accountability, and leadership is laser-focused on using technology to drive business outcomes.”
Tech moves to the center of strategy
Following Videojet’s most recent strategic planning cycle, one of the company’s top enterprise-wide initiatives focused on commercial excellence is being led by Sehgal himself. It marks the first time in company history that a technology executive has been chosen to lead one of its most critical strategic programs.
“Historically, these initiatives were owned by product or operations leaders,” Sehgal says. “The fact that technology is now seen as a primary driver of growth says everything about how the organization’s mindset has shifted.”
When he arrived, IT was viewed largely as a service provider. His first move was to rebrand the organization, both in name and purpose. IT became digital and technology solutions, or DTS, a deliberate signal that the function would no longer operate in the background. “We needed to recast technology,” he adds. “That meant aligning to our three most important outcomes: growth, margin expansion, and productivity.”
Embedding tech in the business
To make that shift real, Sehgal restructured how technology partners with the business. His team introduced geography-based business engagement leads, each embedded with regional leadership to ensure direct input into business decisions instead of hearing technology needs second or third hand. He also elevated leaders to run new centers of excellence around Videojet’s most strategic capabilities, including data and AI, e-commerce and web, and ERP transformation.
“It’s about being deliberate,” Sehgal says. “You can’t extract long-term value from AI or automation without first fixing your data strategy and governance. We’re laying the foundation for what I call the multi-agentic future, where workflows are increasingly autonomous.”
Laying the foundation for AI and automation
That foundation is already producing results. In partnership with Sehgal’s team, Videojet is piloting AI and ML applications across multiple fronts. In operations, they’re deploying ML to optimize production scheduling, and improve inventory forecasting and planning. The goal is to digitize their sales and operations planning process using a unified data set.
On the commercial side, Videojet has implemented AI-powered translation tools to create marketing content at scale across global markets, and is working with a startup to design an AI-first ERP system that automates order intake. At the same time, tools like Microsoft Copilot and ChatGPT Enterprise are being deployed widely to improve productivity across the organization.
“We’re not limiting experimentation,” Sehgal says. “Teams across R&D and operations are exploring large language models, and our job is to make sure they have the right data and governance in place to scale.”
Speaking the language of business
Still, Sehgal knows that even the most elegant technology story won’t land unless it’s translated into business terms. “You can’t walk into a leadership meeting and talk about APIs and architectures,” he said. “You have to talk about how technology contributes to growth and profitability.”
Every initiative under his watch is evaluated through a commercial lens, with clear visibility into how it supports both the customer and the company’s strategic and financial goals. Sehgal and his team also forecast how their programs will translate to earnings per share, giving leadership a tangible measure of technology’s targeted contribution to enterprise value. “When we model the impact of our initiatives, we express that impact in business terms that everyone in the organization understands,” he says. “That’s how technology earns its credibility.”
Lessons for tech leaders in legacy industries
For Sehgal, Videojet’s vision for technology holds lessons for every CIO navigating a legacy environment. His advice, shaped by leadership roles held at manufacturing giants Terex, ESAB, and ITT Inc., begins with identifying the business pain points where tech can drive the greatest impact. “In manufacturing, you have to know what holds the business back: labor intensity, asset dependency, supply chain complexity,” he says. “Then, pinpoint where technology can make a difference.”
Building credibility early is equally essential. “The business has to see you as a peer, not a service provider,” he adds. “And you can’t have your CFO reading about a breakthrough before you do.”
Above all, Sehgal believes technology leaders have to be willing to take risks. “In manufacturing or any legacy organization, you have to put skin in the game,” he says. “If you want to drive change, you need to be willing to take on the tough initiatives, own them, and deliver results.” In an industry where efficiency often surpasses innovation, Sehgal is positioning technology to be at the core of a strategy that blends Videojet’s track record of operational rigor with forward-looking ambition, grounded in the language of the business, and aimed squarely at customer growth and innovation. “Ultimately, our success will be measured not by how digital we are, but by how much we move the business forward,” he says.
Read More from This Article: How tech and strategy align at Videojet
Source: News