A. O. Smith Corporation has hired Chris Howe as the company’s new senior vice president and chief digital information officer (CDIO) to replace Melissa Scheppele, chief information officer (CIO). Howe was most recently the chief executive officer and co-founder of Rise and Shift, a boutique cloud transformation and Generative AI consulting firm. Prior to starting Rise and Shift, he worked at 3M in multiple leadership roles. 

“We made the change from CIO to CDIO intentionally to reflect our focus of selecting a leader with the experience to oversee our current technology operations and the vision to drive digital innovation across the company,” said President and Chief Executive Officer Steve Shafer.

This role will encompass all traditional CIO responsibilities while emphasizing the development of new digital strategies to support the business. As CDIO, Howe will lead organization-wide digital transformation initiatives, drive digital innovation and emerging technology adoption, and implement advanced data analytics and AI capabilities, while fostering digital culture and organizational change. 

“Chris is the transformational leader we need to leverage the technologies we have invested in today and help us invest in new technologies of the future to drive greater value realization,” said Shafer.

Since starting Rise and Shift in 2023, Howe and his team have been at the forefront of Generative AI solutions, commercializing a new widget-based, GenAI platform to reduce compliance burden and time-to-market in regulated industries and partnering with clients to deliver Agentic AI transformation solutions. Through strong collaboration with Amazon Web Services and global technology partners, Howe and team have delivered on numerous cloud transformation initiatives with targeted clients across the globe, including a cloud-native digital manufacturing solution for a global food company. Before that, he worked at 3M for 25 years, most recently as senior vice president of business transformation, vice president of global IT applications and director of global supply chain IT applications. 

Howe is a veteran of the United States Marine Corps, serving in Operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm, as well as Operation “Sea Angel,” bringing critical humanitarian aid to Bangladesh following a devastating cyclone that struck the southeastern coast of the country.