Diane E. Jurgens is a strategic CTO and board member who thrives at the intersection of technology, product development and innovation. A Technologist who has managed large P&Ls, She has delivered revolutionary transformation in mining and manufacturing businesses and turned around a Sino-American joint venture. She has led teams in 25 countries and had award winning on-the-ground roles in China and Singapore for the past 14 years.
Currently the Executive Vice President, Enterprise Technology and Chief Information Officer for The Walt Disney Company, She leads a global organization, which includes enterprise business systems, infrastructure, workforce enablement, and enterprise resilience engineering. Her responsibilities include planning, prioritization, implementation and operations of Disney IT systems and infrastructure across the company.
As Chief Technology Officer at the multinational mining, metals and petroleum company BHP (2015 – 2020), She has delivered breakthrough innovation that produced the lowest cost iron ore operations in the world. From advances in autonomous mining operations to improvements in cybersecurity, data science, machine learning and the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT), She unlocked latent capacity in the core business and produced industry-leading efficiencies. One of her key initiatives, the deployment of autonomous systems for trucks and drills, reduced safety incidents by 89% and cut haulage costs by 20%.
Based at the time in Singapore, She transitioned 17 line organizations into a unified global team with improved technical capability and increased gender diversity. She also served on the boards of three BHP subsidiaries and was recognized as a Top 5 Technology Influencer (2018) and one of Australia’s “Iron Ladies” for turning BHP from a “fast follower” into a technology leader, and one of the 10 Most Powerful Women Leading Global Markets (2020).
Previously, She was President & Managing Director of Shanghai OnStar Telematics (2012-2015), a joint venture of American and Chinese companies that was at the forefront of the “connected car” segment in China. She leveraged data mining to create B2B business models with insurance, medical and consumer goods partners, and introduced digital initiatives that led to a 20% increase in revenue. She was awarded the Shanghai government’s prestigious Magnolia Award for her contributions to the city’s social and economic development through innovations in telematics.
Before joining OnStar, She had several global roles at General Motors. Based in Shanghai for ten years, as Vice President & Chief Information Officer at GM International Operations (2009-2011), She led strategic planning, execution and operation of IT functions in 19 countries across Asia Pacific, Latin America, Africa, Middle East, Russia, Europe and Uzbekistan. In this role, She supported the expansion into key growth markets with focus on manufacturing in India, Thailand and Vietnam.
As Vice President & Chief Information Officer at GM Asia Pacific, She was responsible for delivering IT solutions to drive transformation during a period of financial instability and industry consolidation. And as Chief Information Officer of GM China, She worked across 11 joint ventures and two wholly-owned foreign enterprises during a time when GM increased manufacturing capacity and sales distribution channels from 280,000 vehicles to more than 2M per year.
She began her career as an engineer at The Boeing Company in Seattle, WA, and later graduated from the company’s executive leadership development program. She has an MBA from Seattle University and an MS and BS in Electrical Engineering from the University of Washing.