Big changes are coming to Otis Elevator. The 166-year-old company will soon spin out of United Technologies where it has been a subsidiary for the past four decades.
Leading the newly independent Otis is CEO Judy Marks. Once the separation is completed, which is expected to be in April 2020, Marks will preside over the world’s leading elevator company that begins its new life with $12 billion in revenue, 68,500 employees and two million elevators in service around the world.
Looking ahead, Marks says the new elevators that Otis will be designing and installing will have have digital technologies. And some older elevators like the ones in the iconic Empire State Building that were installed in the 1930s have already been retrofitted with new tech electronics. “Our vision”, explains Marks, “is we give people the freedom to connect and thrive in a taller, faster, smarter world.”
For Marks, that “smarter world” is defined by incorporating technologies like artificial intelligence, biometrics, and data sensors. She talks about a future where people can call elevators from smartphones, elevators can recognize building tenants through facial recognition, and sensors that act as early warning indicators of maintenance issues.
“Today’s elevators are far more connected,” she says. “They are far more intelligent.”
Marks will be outlining her strategy for the new Otis in February when she meets in New York with investors and Wall Street analysts. At that time, she also plans to announce Otis’ return as a publicly-traded stock on the New York Stock Exchange. The company was first listed in 1920 and now plans to return 100 years later.
One more thing to watch: Otis may soon join the Fortune 500 list of the biggest companies in America. If that happens, Marks will become a new member of the elite group of female Fortune 500 CEOs.
Watch the video above for more.