Mona Bates is not just steering Collins Aerospace’s IT infrastructure; she is redefining the role of a Chief Information Officer. Her approach extends beyond traditional technology management, focusing on the integration of business strategy with IT innovation. Bates emphasizes the importance of aligning technological investments with business needs, ensuring that every dollar spent on digital transformation directly addresses a core business challenge. This mission-driven focus allows Bates to justify investments and drive meaningful change within the organization, making her a key player in the company's ongoing evolution.
With over 20 years of experience in IT and leadership roles across the aerospace, defense, and commercial sectors, Bates brings a wealth of knowledge to her current position at Collins Aerospace. Before joining Collins, she served as CIO for Raytheon Missiles and Defense and Raytheon Integrated Defense Systems, where she played a crucial role in digital transformation initiatives. Her career also includes senior leadership roles at Boecore, where she successfully consolidated IT organizations for the Missile Defense Agency, and at Verizon, where she led network engineering teams across the western United States. Bates holds an MBA in technology management and a bachelor’s in computer networking, underlining her strong technical foundation.
One of Bates’s most notable contributions at Collins Aerospace is her commitment to talent development and diversity, equity, and inclusion (DE&I). She has spearheaded initiatives like the Tech Tracks program, designed to cultivate the next generation of technical leaders, and expanded the company's Fellows program to deepen the talent pipeline. Bates also established a DE&I council that actively integrates these values into the company's culture, ensuring that every initiative is aligned with her vision of a unified, mission-driven team. This focus on people, combined with her relentless pursuit of technological excellence, makes Bates a transformative leader who is shaping the future of Collins Aerospace.