{"id":383274,"date":"2026-01-02T09:17:27","date_gmt":"2026-01-02T09:17:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/383274\/"},"modified":"2026-01-02T09:17:27","modified_gmt":"2026-01-02T09:17:27","slug":"ge-healthcare-ceo-peter-arduini-is-forging-a-new-chapter-while-drawing-on-jack-welchs-legacy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/383274\/","title":{"rendered":"GE HealthCare CEO Peter Arduini is forging a new chapter while drawing on Jack Welch\u2019s legacy"},"content":{"rendered":"

On Jan.\u00a04, 2023,\u202fGE HealthCare Technologies<\/a>\u00a0(No.\u202f219\u202fon the\u202fFortune 500<\/a>)\u202fdebuted as a\u00a0standalone\u00a0public company\u00a0on the Nasdaq<\/a> exchange.\u00a0Since then, its stock\u00a0is\u00a0up almost 50%.\u00a0It was the first\u00a0of three businesses\u00a0to be spun off\u00a0in the breakup of\u00a0General Electric<\/a>,\u00a0the\u00a0conglomerate\u00a0founded on the inventions of Thomas Edison that went public in 1892 and became one of the original 12 components of the Dow<\/a> Jones Industrial Average\u00a0four years later.\u00a0(GE\u00a0Vernova<\/a>, No. 130,\u00a0and\u00a0GE\u00a0Aerospace<\/a>, No. 118,\u00a0each\u00a0went public\u00a0on the New York Stock Exchange\u00a0in April 2024.)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

GE HealthCare\u00a0CEO\u00a0Peter J. Arduini,\u00a0the man tapped to\u00a0lead\u00a0the\u00a0$20 billion-a-year\u00a0business,\u00a0spoke to\u00a0Fortune\u00a0about\u00a0how\u00a0he\u2019s\u00a0forging\u00a0a new chapter for\u00a0the medical\u00a0technology and digital health company while drawing on\u00a0GE\u2019s legacy.\u00a0<\/p>\n

This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.\u202f\u202f\u00a0<\/p>\n

You\u00a0were\u00a0initially\u00a0at GE during the Jack Welch years, starting in 1990, and left a few years\u00a0after\u00a0Jeff Immelt\u00a0took over. What do you think made GE\u00a0stand apart?\u00a0<\/p>\n

At the time, I was a\u00a0Proctor\u00a0&\u00a0Gamble<\/a>\u00a0guy, and I did not love the grocery business.\u00a0I got a call from someone\u00a0who\u00a0talked about\u00a0a perfect opportunity in\u00a0technology and global businesses\u00a0at\u00a0a company called GE\u00a0Medical\u00a0Systems at the time. I\u00a0didn\u2019t\u00a0even know GE had a medical business\u00a0then.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Going\u00a0to\u00a0GE in those days,\u00a0with its\u00a0leadership development,\u00a0you had\u00a0the opportunity to take on\u00a0bigger responsibilities at\u00a0a very young\u00a0age\u2014I look back and say,\u00a0probably too\u00a0young\u00a0an\u00a0age. But it\u00a0was one of those rare companies where they gave you bold\u00a0assignments\u00a0and\u00a0you had this wide diversity of potential opportunities that you could play in.\u00a0You\u00a0learned how to run a company the GE way.\u00a0The\u00a0candor and the openness about\u00a0what\u2019s\u00a0working,\u00a0what\u2019s\u00a0not working,\u00a0really permeated,\u00a0how to\u00a0do the right thing.\u00a0It\u00a0was\u00a0tough\u00a0culture, but you knew it was a fair culture,\u00a0and\u00a0that\u2019s\u00a0what really made it successful under\u00a0Jack.\u00a0<\/p>\n

After leaving in 2005, what made you decide to come back?\u00a0<\/p>\n

A\u00a0headhunter\u00a0called and\u00a0said,\u00a0[the then-GE CEO]\u00a0Larry Culp wants to speak with you.\u2019\u00a0And I said,\u00a0\u2018I don\u2019t know if I\u2019m really interested in going back to GE.\u2019\u00a0My wife\u00a0convinced me to\u00a0give\u00a0a call back. I talked to the\u00a0headhunter, and he said,\u00a0\u2018Well, I\u2019ll pass it on to Larry.\u2019\u00a0Literally, 10\u00a0minutes later, I got a text that said,\u00a0\u2018Hey, Pete, this is Larry\u00a0Culp.\u00a0I\u2019d\u00a0love to chat with you.\u2019\u00a0I\u00a0texted back to say,\u00a0\u2018Well, look, I can contact your assistant.\u2019\u00a0And Larry, right then,\u00a0said,\u00a0\u2018Hey, do you have five minutes now?\u2019\u00a0That\u2019s\u00a0the essence of Larry;\u00a0he\u2019s\u00a0a\u00a0very down-to-earth guy,\u00a0a\u00a0very focused\u00a0and\u00a0very intentional guy.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Those five minutes convinced you to take the job?\u00a0<\/p>\n

It\u00a0was\u00a0probably more\u00a0than the five, but honestly,\u00a0his\u00a0impact and his leadership\u00a0made a difference. This was a\u00a0chance to create\u00a0three separate companies,\u00a0to\u00a0take this company public. I got\u00a0very interested\u00a0and\u00a0very excited\u00a0about it.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Why\u00a0did it make sense\u00a0for GE HealthCare to be\u00a0a\u00a0separate\u00a0company?\u00a0<\/p>\n

Everything has a cycle.\u00a0On\u00a0the technology side and\u00a0on\u00a0the market side,\u00a0there was\u00a0such a fast transition and evolution,\u00a0with\u00a0new competitors coming\u00a0into\u00a0new\u00a0markets.\u00a0When\u00a0you\u2019re\u00a0in a\u00a0larger business, in many cases, decisions take longer.\u00a0And\u00a0focus\u00a0matters\u00a0in\u00a0our business.\u00a0It is\u00a0all about signal to noise; you want\u00a0more signal, less noise.\u00a0In a larger company, there\u00a0has to\u00a0be a little bit more noise.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

The past three years have been\u00a0interesting\u00a0time for med tech.\u00a0Looking back, what\u00a0did you over-index on or under-appreciate?\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

At\u00a0a\u00a0macro\u00a0level,\u00a0look at the\u00a0environment,\u00a0between the China market, which\u00a0was always a double-digit growth\u00a0or changing the geopolitical environment\u00a0and how\u00a0we need to change around\u00a0our\u00a0supply chains because of tariffs. Those\u00a0are kind of\u00a0the unplanned\u00a0events\u00a0that\u00a0where\u00a0you ask:\u00a0Do you have the right people? Do you have a management system that can deal with\u00a0the clock\u00a0speed and\u00a0the differentiation? Do\u00a0you have the right innovation-processing capability?\u00a0If\u00a0you\u00a0don\u2019t\u00a0have the innovation,\u00a0it\u2019s\u00a0difficult to get\u00a0the price,\u00a0it\u2019s\u00a0difficult to\u00a0hold share,\u00a0it\u2019s\u00a0difficult to grow.\u00a0We\u00a0were somewhat of a\u00a0cash cow\u00a0as part of the GE integrated model.\u00a0We\u00a0weren\u2019t\u00a0starved, but we\u00a0weren\u2019t\u00a0funded for leading innovation.\u00a0So\u00a0I\u2019d\u00a0say one of the things I felt that I did well\u2014and,\u00a0like most credit,\u00a0comes\u00a0from\u00a0listening to people that are wiser than you and having humility to understand that\u00a0that\u2019s\u00a0the action\u2014is\u00a0lean\u00a0into innovation.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

You\u00a0think\u00a0what products you need, four years out,\u00a0and\u00a0fund them to the max, because\u00a0it\u2019s\u00a0the rules of the farm. You got to get the seeds\u00a0in\u00a0the ground.\u00a0They\u2019ve\u00a0got\u00a0to germinate. You\u00a0got\u00a0to get the plants to grow till you get fruit.\u00a0In\u00a0our business,\u00a0that\u2019s\u00a0a\u00a0three to five year\u00a0cycle.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cWe laid out this purpose of creating a world where health care has no limits, and a big part of that was to say we\u2019re humble to know that we don\u2019t have all the answers.\u201dGE HealthCare\u00a0CEO\u00a0Peter J. Arduini<\/p>\n

I think our\u00a0teams\u00a0did a really\u00a0good job\u00a0with the focus on making\u00a0the right\u00a0investments early.\u00a0In\u00a02018,\u00a0to give\u00a0an example,\u00a0we\u00a0probably\u00a0spent\u00a0$750\u00a0million\u00a0to\u00a0$800 million\u00a0on research and development.\u00a0R&D will be north of\u00a0$1.4 billion this year.\u00a0So\u00a0we\u00a0fundamentally doubled the R&D investment.\u00a0We\u00a0cut costs in other areas\u00a0and simplified\u00a0some of the\u00a0company.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Through\u00a0lean manufacturing techniques?\u00a0<\/p>\n

We changed some of the field organization, about 40% to 50% of the leaders. We upgraded talent across the board, and I spent a lot of time on what our vision is, what our values are, and do we have the right people\u00a0who\u00a0can\u00a0match up to\u00a0that?\u00a0In the last two years,\u00a0we\u2019ve\u00a0really made a lot of progress on\u00a0what\u00a0we\u2019re\u00a0calling our heartbeat management system, which is really about a\u00a0lean principles\u00a0construct for how you run your company. What is\u00a0the daily\u00a0management at\u00a0different levels\u00a0in the organization? What is standard work that\u00a0is\u00a0needed\u00a0to be done in all areas, the use of\u00a0Kaizen\u00a0and really bringing customer employees into the decision making?\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Larry\u00a0Culp\u00a0is a big proponent of\u00a0Kaizen\u00a0and\u00a0I think back to GE\u2019s reputation in promoting\u00a0Six Sigma. How would you say the culture has shifted\u00a0as\u00a0an independent company?\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

I tried to take the GE of old and took what was\u00a0really good:\u00a0how we think about our distribution of leadership, how we\u00a0actually talk\u00a0about\u00a0leader development, how we build out our own\u00a0Crotonville\u00a0virtual\u00a0university of development.\u00a0The\u00a0GE model was\u00a0really stellar, and,\u00a0honestly, prior to Larry coming back, some of that had dissolved.\u00a0We\u00a0didn\u2019t\u00a0even really do performance reviews\u00a0in\u00a0the same\u00a0way\u00a0and\u00a0he brought that back.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

I would say I even reached back further to\u00a0some\u00a0of the\u00a0Jack Welch-period of tools,\u00a0There\u00a0are\u00a0things that we\u00a0did\u00a0really well\u00a0that we\u00a0want to\u00a0utilize\u00a0in a more contemporary way.\u00a0As\u00a0an example, I think\u00a0Crotonville\u00a0was a fabulous destination for training and development,\u00a0In\u00a0today\u2019s world,\u00a0it\u2019s\u00a0not practical to bring everybody to upstate New York,\u00a0but\u00a0we can take the\u00a0tools and the capabilities and recreate that in virtual\u00a0and\u00a0other environments around the world.\u00a0<\/p>\n

In health\u00a0care,\u00a0we had our own distinct way of thinking about innovation\u00a0pipeline, and it was\u00a0something called worldwide product. It had\u00a0kind of phased\u00a0away in the last decade or so, and I resurrected it,\u00a0but in a new format:\u00a0more digital focused,\u00a0more\u00a0connected\u00a0\u2026from diagnosis through therapy, through action,\u00a0follow up and how the money flows.\u00a0The\u00a0integration of cloud-based computing and artificial intelligence.\u00a0We\u00a0look at the full stack for the company. And\u00a0that\u2019s\u00a0been a game changer for us to take valuable resources and move\u00a0them.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

What is\u00a0the vision?\u00a0<\/p>\n

We laid out\u00a0this purpose of creating a world where\u00a0health\u00a0care\u00a0has no limits, and a big part of that was to say\u00a0we\u2019re\u00a0humble to know that we\u00a0don\u2019t\u00a0have all the answers. We\u00a0want to work with customers on jointly solving problems\u00a0which, again, is the core\u00a0to the\u00a0lean\u00a0mindset.\u00a0Servant\u00a0leadership\u00a0as\u00a0a big part\u00a0of it,\u00a0which\u00a0turns\u00a0the pyramid upside down. My job is to help\u00a0everybody\u00a0else get\u00a0their job\u00a0done.\u00a0We\u2019re\u00a0all focused on\u00a0the customer.\u00a0We\u2019re\u00a0all focused on the\u00a0patient.\u00a0We spent a lot of\u00a0time\u00a0talking about entrepreneurship\u00a0because in our business, the way\u00a0we\u2019re\u00a0going to\u00a0be successful is in this broader ecosystem. We\u00a0don\u2019t\u00a0have to own everything, we\u00a0don\u2019t\u00a0have to make everything, but we\u00a0have to\u00a0be more creative.\u00a0We\u00a0talk\u00a0about teamwork and inclusive teams. We\u00a0actually drive\u00a0and reward and recognize people on how well they live up to those\u00a0values.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The\u00a0landscape has shifted\u00a0for global companies.\u00a0Where\u00a0do you see the biggest challenges and opportunities right now?\u00a0<\/p>\n

If\u00a0I think about med tech as an industry,\u00a0it\u2019s\u00a0an American gem. Still, 70%-plus of the products are made the United States,\u00a0the majority of\u00a0the IP,\u00a0the technology\u00a0is here.\u00a0And so having that protected or enhanced by our government policy is important.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

We\u2019ve\u00a0spent a lot of time trying to make that case\u00a0clear\u00a0and\u00a0I think,\u00a0for the most part,\u00a0it\u2019s\u00a0been heard.\u00a0Having\u00a0global footprints and manufacturing and R&D is super\u00a0critical\u00a0because\u00a0you\u00a0can\u2019t\u00a0make everything in the United States to be competitive.\u00a0You\u00a0can\u2019t, in a world post-COVID, have an integrated single point of control for all supply chains.\u00a0Many\u00a0of us used to say,\u00a0here\u2019s\u00a0the least expensive place to buy this, or the best\u00a0quality, then\u00a0we\u00a0would\u00a0do\u00a0it\u00a0one place and ship it all over the world. We found during\u00a0COVID\u00a0that\u2019s\u00a0just not the model that works.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

We\u2019re\u00a0bringing\u00a0more and more\u00a0U.S.\u00a0products and their subcomponents back to North America. In\u00a0China, we used to\u00a0ship in 75% of the products from\u00a0different parts\u00a0around the world. Now we make 85%,\u00a0almost 90% of the products in China, for China.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Why do you want to be in China?\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Look,it\u2019s 1.4 billion people, where 400 million have reasonable. We often forget that. You know, we\u2019re a nation of 375 million people, and you can judge how good our care is. There\u2019s still a billion people in China that\u00a0don\u2019t\u00a0have adequate care, and so at some point, it will be the largest health care market.\u00a0I\u2019m\u00a0a big believer\u00a0that, with\u00a0China and the\u00a0U.S.,\u00a0the more we work together in harmony,\u00a0it\u2019s\u00a0only going to help the world. And\u00a0honestly, for companies like us,\u00a0it\u2019s\u00a0really a necessity for being able to\u00a0kind of reach\u00a0our full potential.\u00a0<\/p>\n

You\u2019ve\u00a0been\u00a0at\u00a0companies that are known as training grounds for leaders.\u00a0I\u2019d\u00a0just love to hear your reflections on being in a CEO\u00a0role\u00a0the last three years.\u00a0<\/p>\n

I think authenticity\u00a0is super important.\u00a0I can be an extrovert when needed, but I tend to be a little bit more introverted.\u00a0In\u00a0today\u2019s world, with our younger employee base, being out front and being vocal as the senior leader\u2014not necessarily the charismatic leader, but the communicator directly to individuals\u2014is super important.\u00a0Social\u00a0media gets more reads from your employees than even some internal communications.\u00a0It\u2019s\u00a0a reality.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

I\u00a0think this ability to reach people in\u00a0many different ways\u00a0is critical for running a company.\u00a0Leaning in on what the mission of the\u00a0company is,\u00a0and the\u00a0why\u00a0and helping people understand\u00a0the\u00a0why,\u00a0is also critical.\u00a0And then\u00a0there\u2019s\u00a0the classic age-old\u00a0factor\u00a0of\u00a0bringing\u00a0customers\u00a0into the story, talking about how\u00a0you\u2019ve\u00a0changed the life\u00a0of\u00a0a\u00a0patient. This\u00a0could be your mother, your father on that table. The\u00a0more I can empower people to live those\u00a0values,\u00a0that\u2019s\u00a0how we get excellence.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"On Jan.\u00a04, 2023,\u202fGE HealthCare Technologies\u00a0(No.\u202f219\u202fon the\u202fFortune 500)\u202fdebuted as a\u00a0standalone\u00a0public company\u00a0on the Nasdaq exchange.\u00a0Since then, its stock\u00a0is\u00a0up almost 50%.\u00a0It…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":383275,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[59],"tags":[2536,6066,186833,97,252,253],"class_list":{"0":"post-383274","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-health-care","8":"tag-chief-executive-officer-ceo","9":"tag-fortune-500","10":"tag-fortune-500-ceo-interview","11":"tag-health","12":"tag-health-care","13":"tag-healthcare"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/383274","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=383274"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/383274\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/383275"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=383274"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=383274"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=383274"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}