Chad Jackson

Background

About Chad Jackson

Digital transformation shouldn’t put your current product development programs at risk. You have commitments to launch dates, budgets, and quality, and those promises are real. Yet, digital transformation doesn’t always work. Culture can push back. Tools can collide. And vendors flood you with confident claims and hyperbole that conveniently align with their quotas. Meanwhile, your products are shifting toward electronics, software, networking, and electrification. The old, mechanically dominated operating model strains under the new mix. You know you must modernize, yet you cannot afford disruption. That tension is exhausting. I have lived inside that tension for nearly three decades. At a software provider, I sat shoulder to shoulder with NASA engineers, supporting the development of a crew return vehicle. I moved into product management and fell in love with rigorous research. I built plans grounded in data, only to watch leadership overrule the evidence and go with vision. That moment hardened my conviction that decisions deserve facts, not fashion. In 2007, I joined Aberdeen to conduct research full time. In 2010, I founded Lifecycle Insights to study how engineering organizations actually succeed. This year, we’ve asked manufacturers to fund the truth they need. Our new subscription delivers independent, frequent, quantitative and qualitative research you can trust. We pair it with a growing community of change agents, practical guidance, and audio-video content. We even integrate AI to surface patterns and risks faster. The result is clarity about what to do now, what to defer, and what to avoid. You make informed decisions, so initiatives are right-sized with quantified value, explicit realization risks, and realistic timing. Sometimes the smartest step is a pilot in one program to prove value. Sometimes the smartest step is a pause until prerequisites are in place. Sometimes the smartest step is a clear ‘no’ that prevents disruption. With this insight, you modernize without jeopardizing today’s product development programs. Engineering disciplines align. Your teams execute, confidence rises, and momentum compounds. If you want research instead of rhetoric or progress without drama, find out more at change.lifecycleinsights.com.