Mark Fields is president and chief executive officer, Ford Motor Company, effective July 1, 2014. He also is a member of the company’s board of directors.

Formerly, Fields served as chief operating officer, Ford Motor Company, a position to which he was named in December 2012. Prior to this, Fields served as executive vice president, Ford Motor Company, and president, The Americas, a position to which he was named in October 2005. He led the development, manufacturing, marketing and sales of Ford and Lincoln vehicles in the United States, Canada, Mexico and South America, and was responsible for the transformation of the company’s North America operations and record profitability. Previously, Fields served as executive vice president, Ford of Europe and Premier Automotive Group, where he led all activities for Ford’s premium vehicle business group, and for Ford brand vehicles manufactured and sold in European countries. Prior to that, Fields was chairman and chief executive officer, Premier Automotive Group.

Fields joined Ford Motor Company in July 1989. From 2000 to 2002, he was president and CEO, Mazda Motor Company, leading the company through a period of significant transformation. He held a number of positions in both South America and North America, including managing director, Ford Argentina. Fields was named a Global Leader of Tomorrow by the World Economic Forum in 2000 and CNBC’s Asian Business Leader – Innovator of the Year for 2001. Born January 1961, Fields holds an economics degree from Rutgers University and an MBA from Harvard Graduate School of Business.

https://media.ford.com/content/fordmedia/fna/us/en/people/mark-fields.html

On Innovation Navigation, Fields spoke about Ford’s efforts to understand vast global trends and conduct global experiments to become the car company for the future growth markets, a real challenge while also trying to execute on a daily basis. In addition, he spoke about how the company continues to implement technology to make some semi-autonomous features, but keeps the driver at the center of control, in order to keep the driver feeling comfortable and in an active role in the process of driving. Finally, he spoke on the importance of innovation in a large company, and how it is vital to not only encourage and celebrate innovation successes, but also failures, such that trying is not only okay but part of the company’s continued identity.