Artificial intelligence, 3D printing, robotics—"We need to have a point of view on all these things," said Ford executive chairman Bill Ford in a press conference this morning to introduce new CEO Jim Hackett, who abruptly replaced Mark Fields at the company. During Fields' tenure at the top, Ford has been criticized for not moving that far beyond its core auto business. Likewise, its stock has dropped 37% over the last three years. Though Ford has invested substantially in autonomous car technology—most recently through a deal with Argo AI—the company has been quiet about how it plans to monetize its boldest bets.
"The future is not a fantasy," said Hackett, who led Ford's Smart Mobility unit, adding that the company is working on a vision for the future concerning, "where we're going to play and how we're going to win." Both Ford and Hackett want to scrap some of the hierarchies embedded in the business in order to make decisions faster. It's uncertain what that will look like and whether Ford may need to cut some of its workforce in order to flatten its ranks. Since making the announcement this morning, Ford's stock is up 1.4% .