Change by Design: Engineering Transformation with Chad Jackson

Ditching the Drawing: One Change Agent’s Playbook for Model-Based Transformation | Marshall Hulbert

Marshall Hulbert has done what most engineers only talk about — he's actually replaced the drawing. A veteran change agent now leading Model-Based Definition (MBD) and Model-Based Enterprise (MBE) adoption at Oshkosh Defense, Marshall joins host Chad Jackson to share what it really takes to drive a transformation that reaches far beyond the engineering department. The first half of the conversation covers the change agent role itself: the skills that matter, how to read organizational signals that predict success or failure, and the soft-skills battles you'll fight with departments that aren't yours to manage.
The second half goes deep on MBD and MBE — what engineering, manufacturing, quality, and procurement actually gain when the drawing disappears, why supplier adoption is the hardest bridge to cross, and a forward-looking idea Marshall raises that's rarely discussed: feeding manufacturing programs, inspection results, and downstream data back into the model so it becomes a living, circular source of truth rather than just an output.
Key Takeaways:
Two types of change agents: those who assess and push a new initiative up the chain, and those who deploy it once the decision is made — Marshall prefers the first.
Broad cross-functional knowledge is essential: before you can sell the change, you have to understand what every department actually does with a drawing today.
Upper management buy-in is the make-or-break factor: wavering at the top creates stalls at every level below.
MBD is unique because it removes the drawing entirely — unlike every prior shift in engineering (hand drafting to CAD to 3D), downstream departments can no longer rely on a familiar deliverable.
The circular model: manufacturing programs, feed speeds, and inspection data can eventually feed back into the MBD, making it a living source of truth — not just an output.
Supplier adoption is the hardest bridge to cross: quoting departments lack the software and training to interpret a model file, and until they can, the full value of MBD stays locked up.
ROI doesn't always get calculated — in the defense sector especially, companies are adopting MBD because the government is heading there, not because someone ran the numbers.
Start small and start now: run R&D or non-time-sensitive parts through the system first and get people used to it before production orders are on the line.

The MBSE Outcomes Gap: A Live Roundtable Discussion

Research says engineering leaders expect a lot from Model-Based Systems Engineering (MBSE) — improved reliability, better traceability, fewer integration failures. So why are those benefits so hard to actually realize? In a recent Lifecycle Insights study, fewer than 30% of teams reported achieving the outcomes they set out to get from MBSE. That's the gap this episode confronts head-on.
Host Chad Jackson brings together three veteran systems engineers for a live roundtable that goes beyond theory: Anand Rangaramu, Guy Zur, and Branden Ramsey. Together, they tackle the hard questions practitioners rarely say out loud in conference presentations.
In this episode:
Why building a business case for MBSE is harder than it looks — and the organizational dynamics that make or break adoption
How to scope your modeling effort without turning it into a bureaucratic burden
The "all or nothing" trap that kills MBSE initiatives before they deliver value
Why culture — especially psychological safety and tolerance for failure — may matter more than tooling
What AI actually changes (and doesn't) for MBSE: from auto-populating requirements to "vibe coding" system models
The one thing each panelist wishes engineering leaders truly understood about MBSE
Whether you're trying to justify your first MBSE initiative or troubleshoot a stalled one, this conversation delivers the honest, experience-driven perspective you need to hear.

Hardware is Just Software in Slow Motion: Why Early Prototypes Beat Perfect Plans | Ebele Okochar and Pete Oliver-Krueger

In this episode, Chad Jackson sits down with Ebele Okochar and Pete Oliver-Krueger, co-founders of Organizational Mindset Mapping (OMM), a coaching and training firm specializing in transformation for manufacturing and hardware companies. Together, they make a compelling case that Agile isn't just for software — and that the biggest breakthroughs in hardware development come from applying its core principles in ways most engineering organizations have never tried.
Ebele offers a framing that cuts right to the heart of the skepticism: "Hardware is just software in slow motion." Pete and Ebele walk through IDD — Industrialization Driven Development — a framework they developed with colleague Jim Dato, building on hardware Agile pioneer Joe Justice's work. IDD gives teams a system-level view from deployment all the way back to initial design, helping them identify what to build now, what to defer, and where the critical risks live.
The episode's most striking segment covers early prototyping. When OMM pushed a resistant client to build before designs were complete, the team uncovered three major problems within a month — a software-hardware integration failure, a materials issue, and customer feedback that eliminated an entire feature the engineering team had invested significant effort building. All discovered in month two, not month twenty-four.
Pete and Ebele also challenge the industry's "digital first" trend, arguing physical and digital prototyping should happen in parallel. They discuss cross-functional teams, backwards process mapping, and how a department full of Agile resisters ultimately came around when they recognized the approach as the collaborative, hands-on work that drew them into engineering originally.
Topics covered:
IDD and why hardware needs its own Agile framework
"Hardware is just software in slow motion" — and what that means in practice
What early prototyping revealed that a traditional timeline would have buried for years
Physical vs. digital prototyping — why it's not either/or
How cross-functional teams cut 3-year timelines to 18 months
The V-model vs. continuous verification
Why how you introduce change matters more than which change you introduce

The Hardware-Software Engineering Gap Nobody’s Closing | Lifecycle Insights

Chad Jackson digs into the growing gap between hardware and software development in engineering organizations — and why the industry's biggest solution providers may be running out of time to close it.
Chad also reflects on his recent conversation with Anand Rangaramu of The Shyft Group, an automotive software supplier applying MBSE to software development rather than hardware. Anand's team works within a unique constraint — they receive the physical chassis from the OEM and own only the software layer — making their systems engineering challenges distinctly different from more hardware-centric guests like Laura Otero Hernandez and Brandon Ramsey. A key takeaway: the team is getting real value from MBSE, but primarily on the software side, which Chad sees as a common pattern of partial vision achievement across the industry.
The conversation also digs into what separates successful MBD/MBE programs from stalled ones: executive alignment, the ability to translate practitioner-level impact into business ROI, and the soft skills that change agents need but rarely talk about.
Finally, Chad puts out an open call to practitioners and leaders actively running MBD or MBE initiatives — if that's you, they want you on the show. The podcast is growing on both audio and YouTube, and there's a real opportunity to share your experience with a community facing the same challenges.
Topics covered:
The hardware/software integration gap — and why PLM and ALM solutions still don't truly connect
AI as the emerging "middleware" threatening to commoditize legacy engineering platforms
Anand Rangaramu's MBSE journey at The Shift Group: software-first systems engineering in automotive
Partial vs. full vision achievement in MBSE adoption
Change agent soft skills and executive communication
Upcoming MBSE and MBD research from Lifecycle Insights
How to get involved as a podcast guest

AI Governance in the Real World: Change Leadership Across Defense and Healthcare | Joseph Laurine

Lifecycle Insights CEO and Chief Analyst Chad Jackson sits down with Joseph Laurine, PhD, AI Governance Lead at a major healthcare organization and former head of AI Governance and Assurance for the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA). Joseph's career spans cryptologic intelligence, applied statistics, data science, and executive coaching — an unconventional path that's made him one of the more distinctive voices on responsible AI adoption.
The conversation covers a lot of ground, starting with what it actually means to be a change agent in highly technical environments. Joseph argues that trust and usability are equally critical to adoption — and that framing AI governance as an obstacle rather than an enabler is one of the biggest mistakes organizations make. He also speaks candidly about how he deliberately developed his people skills, including earning an executive coaching certification, to bridge the gap between technical depth and organizational influence.
On data, Joseph is direct: "garbage in, garbage out" is a phrase everyone uses but few executives truly understand. He makes the case that data quality is the single most important foundation for effective AI — and that skipping that work in the rush to be first to market is a bet most organizations will regret.
He also offers a memorable framework for thinking about where AI models stand today: LLMs are the social butterfly — great at conversation, not your go-to for engineering or biology. Small language models (SLMs) represent the journeyman level the industry is moving toward, and Joseph predicts that shift will be visible within the next 18 months.
Topics covered:
What it means to be a change agent — and why trust and usability matter as much as technology
Developing soft skills as a deeply technical person
Why data governance is the true foundation of any AI initiative
The limits of LLMs — and why domain-specific SLMs are the next frontier
Digital twins as a safer environment for evaluating AI behavior
Why being second to market with clean data may beat being first with a shaky foundation
AI governance in healthcare vs. the intelligence community
The role of IO psychologists and psychometricians in AI development

Weekly Roundup: AI Companions in Engineering & Navigating MBSE Expectations

Are AI virtual companions the future of engineering work? Chad Jackson shares his takeaways from 3D Experience World, where Dassault Systèmes unveiled three AI assistants—each with distinct personalities tuned to different work modes. But what happens when exploration, execution, and expertise each demand a different interaction style?
The conversation then takes a turn into new research revealing a troubling gap in MBSE initiatives: two-thirds of organizations pursue model-based systems engineering for cross-functional collaboration, yet only 24% report achieving it. Chad and Josh unpack why expectations have shifted—and why delivering on the core promise of coordination remains elusive for most teams.What’s causing the friction? The answers point to challenges that extend beyond MBSE to nearly every engineering transformation initiative.
Plus, a preview of an upcoming conversation on merging Agile prototyping with systems engineering, and why putting imperfect work on the conference room table might be the breakthrough struggling teams need.

Sindhu Belki: Bridging Vision and Reality with Systems Engineering

What does it take to transform aerospace innovation from concept to reality? In this episode, we explore the critical role of systems engineering in modern aerospace through a conversation with Sindhu Belki, a graduate research assistant at Georgia Tech’s renowned Aerospace Systems Design Lab (ASDL).
 
Systems engineering bridges the gap that often derails complex projects—the disconnect between specialized disciplines working in isolation. As Sindhu explains, without systems thinking, “there’s not a clear path forward” when companies create new products or labs pioneer new technologies.
 
Key Topics Explored:
Why the “forest over trees” perspective matters in aerospace design and manufacturing
How condition-based maintenance using structural health monitoring could revolutionize aircraft operations and reduce costly downtime
The trade-offs between investing in current versus future technology through real-world disaster relief planning tools
Overcoming resistance to systems engineering adoption in established organizations
The critical need for multidisciplinary thinking in engineering education and practice
Balancing traditional mentorship with openness to unconventional approaches
Sindhu shares insights from hands-on projects including sensor optimization for blended wing body aircraft, humanitarian aid logistics tools developed for the Office of Naval Research, and collaborative work with the US Air Mobility Command and industry partners. These case studies reveal how systems engineering creates the foundation for breakthrough innovations while preventing costly conflicts between subsystems and teams.
 
Whether you’re an engineering leader, project manager, or technical professional navigating organizational change, this conversation offers practical perspectives on implementing systems thinking and fostering cross-disciplinary collaboration in complex environments.
 
Guest: Sindhu Belki, Graduate Research Assistant, Aerospace Systems Design Lab, Georgia Tech

Laura Otero Hernandez: Systems Engineering and Escaping the "Document Trap"

Can a lack of systems engineering really cost a program $68 million? Absolutely, according to Laura Otero, Director of Digital Engineering at Leidos. In this episode, Chad Jackson and Laura explore the trenches of digital engineering, where culture wars between document-based and model-based are still being fought every day.
 
Topics covered:
The Unpaid Labor of Change: Why change agents are essential but rarely have the official title or time allocated.
The Translator Role: How successful leaders bridge the gap between C-suite vision and engineering execution.
MBSE ROI: A case study on how live model reviews led to a “zero-action” PDR and saved weeks of back-and-forth.
The $68 Million Mistake: What happens when programs skip systems engineering in Phase 1.
Over-Modeling Pitfalls: Why you shouldn’t model COTS parts down to the resistor—or try to model two humans talking in a bunker.
AI & MBSE: The future of using AI to generate model templates and accelerate development.
If you’re navigating the shift from documents to data, this episode offers practical advice on what works, what fails, and how to survive the transition.

Branden Ramsey: Systems Engineering and Leading Change in A&D

Complexity is rising, timelines aren’t getting longer, and organizations can’t afford “set the stack once and never change it” thinking anymore.  In this episode, Chad Jackson sits down with Branden Ramsey to unpack what it really takes to lead change—especially in aerospace/defense and systems engineering environments where integration, interfaces, and risk are everything.
 
Topics covered:
Choosing the leadership track: Why caring about people is the tell for whether management is a fit.
What a “change agent” is (and why it usually becomes an extra job on top of engineering work).
Three essentials for successful change: a crisp “why,” realistic capacity, and trust (including how to reduce fear by framing change as upskilling).
Programs vs. change: Why big commitments make tradeoffs unavoidable—and why the decision is almost never “clear.”
Systems engineering reality check: SE provides value, but outdated document-heavy processes can turn it into a burden in a fast-change world.
MBSE and modeling depth: Why “model everything” breaks down, how to think about rigor vs. agility, and why interfaces are the anchor.
“SysML 2.0 / ‘CS ML 2.0’” implications: How stronger standardization can make models more computer-friendly for analytics and AI-era workflows.

McKray Jones: MBSE, Agile Hardware, and How to Be an Engineering Change Agent

In this episode, we sit down with McKray Jones, a Technical Program Manager and Deputy Director of Engineering, to explore the evolving role of the “Change Agent” in modern engineering organizations. McKray shares his unique journey from the Marine Corps to leading complex hardware integration teams, offering a fresh perspective on why the engineering industry is facing a leadership vacuum and how to fill it.
We dive deep into the challenges of transitioning from traditional waterfall models to accelerated, MVP-driven hardware development. McKray explains how to bridge the gap between software agility and hardware reality, the critical role of empathy in technical leadership, and when organizations should make the leap to Model-Based Systems Engineering (MBSE).
Whether you are an engineering leader, a systems architect, or an aspiring change agent, this conversation offers actionable insights on building trust, managing complexity, and keeping the business viable while driving innovation.
Key Topics Discussed:
Defining the Change Agent: Moving teams from long development cycles to revenue-generating MVPs.
The Human Side of Engineering: Why empathy, listening, and understanding business flows are critical skills for technical leaders.
Hardware vs. Software: Adapting Agile and “user story” concepts to physical hardware systems with long lead times.
MBSE Strategy: When to switch from document-based engineering (Excel/SharePoint) to models (Cameo/Capella) and how it aids in certification.
The Modern Engineer: How the profile of a successful engineer has shifted to demand higher EQ and communication skills.