Reflections on an Epic Year for GE

Epic. That’s the word I used when I was asked recently to describe GE’s journey in 2022. It’s hard to believe more than a year has passed since we first announced our plans to create three independent, investment grade companies to advance precision care, the future of flight and the energy transition.

Both the world and the markets we serve have seen dramatic change over that time. Against a backdrop of cost pressures, ongoing supply chain disruption and the invasion of Ukraine, which hits particularly close to home for me as a native European, we’ve been – and will remain – focused on what we can control: being the best GE we can be.

The world is transforming faster than ever before… and GE is transforming to better serve it. We saw the Inflation Reduction Act in the U.S. further accelerate the energy transition; we witnessed an unprecedented ramp in aerospace demand; and healthcare modernization continued at an impressive clip as providers prepare for increased demand over the long-term. 

In 2022, we began the work to set up GE HealthCare, GE Vernova and GE Aerospace for success as standalone businesses; further strengthened GE’s balance sheet through continued debt reduction efforts; and improved our working capital management – all while delivering for our customers across three critical sectors. I am grateful for the hard work of our teams, and as I reflect on their achievements, I want to share a few learnings:

Focusing on execution paying off

I have been continually amazed by the strength of the GE team. Our ability to establish and stay focused on what matters, and then execute effectively on those priorities allowed us to better navigate the macro-economic pressures and improve delivery to customers through the year. This is due, in large part, to engaging and unifying the team early on, not just in the planning stages of our separation but around the strategic rationale for what we are doing. This level of trust and empowerment allows us to work better together toward defined goals and timelines. Buy-in at the individual level and a clear hierarchy of needs helps organizations keep sight of what matters most, come what may. Then we double-down on executing, knowing we’re working towards the right goals. Strong planning also sets us up well to create an air-tight playbook to execute against as we look to separate GE Vernova and GE Aerospace in early 2024.

Decentralization is not just effective, it’s empowering

We continued to transform GE through decentralization this year – pushing more decision-making closer to the customer. This leads to faster, better decisions, which translate to better quality products, happier customers and greater efficiency, competitiveness and profitability. But equally important is the impact decentralization has on our culture. We’ve seen firsthand how it increases the commitment, motivation and – again – empowerment of our team, attracts talent and contributes to making GE an even better place to work. Who doesn’t want to work in an environment where you are trusted to make decisions that drive tangible, global change?

Changing the mindset to “offense”

Thanks to our strong execution, GE is now able to play offense again in a focused way for the first time in a long while. 2022 saw us shift our mindset to growth mode – investing organically, as well as reawakening our approach to selective M&A additions. This takes discipline. Our capital allocation for organic growth is driving investments in innovation, like the Revolutionary Innovation for Sustainable Engines (RISE*) program, a partnership between GE Aerospace and Safran to pioneer aviation’s next great era. At the same time, we’re investing in our commercial teams and capabilities that will allow us to execute and position each business at the forefront of its sector. We also have established a best-in-class approach to acquisitions – creating a clear framework for considering the pipeline of opportunities – from evaluating the strategic fit, defining the value-adds through synergies and integration and ensuring the deal math works – creating long-term returns for our shareholders. This past year, we made progress on several acquisitions that will help shape the future of growth for each business – including the continued integration of GE HealthCare’s purchase of BK Medical, which supports the expansion of our ultrasound business from diagnostics into surgical and therapeutic interventions, and GE Digital’s acquisition of Opus One Solutions, which is helping to advance the energy transition.

As we enter 2023, our team’s strong execution, our empowered employees and our strong capital allocation framework for organic and inorganic investments sets each GE business up for a tremendous year ahead. I have no doubt 2023 will bring its share of pressures, headwinds and curveballs, as did 2022. But I’m more confident than ever we will meet them head on successfully, as we continue shaping the future of our businesses and working with our customers to address some of the world’s greatest challenges.

GE HealthCare GE Aerospace GE Vernova