Jessie Adcock to join Finning as VP of digital

Back in 2013, Jessie Adcock joined the City of Vancouver as its first-ever Chief Digital Officer, the first person to hold that title in the public sector in the country.

As Vancouver Tech Journal has previously reported, Adcock has since led the city out of the digital dark ages to become a global exemplar and a model for other cities to follow in their digital transformation journeys.

Along the way, Adcock's role was upgraded—to Chief Technology Officer and now, General manager of Development, Buildings, and Licensing—and her work was recognized with an IT World Canada Digital Transformation Award, among other accolades.

Which makes Finning International's recent hiring of her such a coup. Adcock is joining the multinational as Vice President of Digital, starting July 20. “I’m going back to what I do best,” she told me over email.

Headquartered in Vancouver, Finning (TSX: FTT) was founded in 1933, employs 13,000 people, and has regional head offices in Canada, UK and Chile.

What motivated Adcock’s move to the $5.25 billion business? “Digital technologies and innovation have been at the centre of my career,” she wrote to city staff in a letter announcing her departure, “and this was a very unique opportunity to join a Vancouver-based global company at an exciting time in their journey while they are navigating the transformation of the heavy equipment industry and are witnessing technologies such as AI, analytics, self-driving machines, remotely operated machines, digital twins and virtual reality being deployed to drive performance, safety and environmental stewardship.”

“During my tenure at the City, I am proud of the many changes and challenging projects we have worked on together,” she also wrote to staff. “The City’s own digital transformation journey has been remarkable and I am so proud of the work we have accomplished since we rolled out our Digital Strategy in 2013.”

Prior to the city, Adcock held global roles in technology, marketing and operations and digital teams, in the telecommunications and financial services sectors, including at HSBC.

Newly-named city manager Paul Mochrie recently acknowledged what he called Adcock’s “remarkable accomplishments over her 7+ years of service with the City.”

“Since joining us as the City’s first Chief Digital Officer and continuing through to her current role with Development, Buildings and Licensing,” Mochrie wrote to city staff, “Jessie has led a series of fundamental changes that will have lasting impact on how we operate and serve the public. Over and over, she has demonstrated her acute intelligence, creativity, perseverance and personal energy.”

That intelligence and energy will now be put to work at the world’s largest Caterpillar dealer.

“Jessie's experience speaks for itself and we are thrilled to have a leader of her calibre joining our digital team," said Dave Cummings, Finning's Chief Digital Officer. "She is joining Finning at the perfect disruptive moment in the heavy equipment industry. We know her innovative thinking will motivate and inspire us as we deliver leading digital Performance Solutions to our customers.”

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