James Hannah

Global CIO and SVP for Supply Chain, GDIT

“Listen, encourage, and be respectful to everyone.” Those are the top qualities of a good leader, said James Hannah, global CIO of General Dynamics IT. “Leaders must listen to their customers and employees to lead effectively and deliver value. We must encourage employees to pursue their personal and professional goals and actively assist, coach, and be present to help them succeed. Leaders must be respectful to people at all levels within the organization. Everyone plays an important role in delivering successful outcomes for the customer while providing value to the business,” he said. At GDIT, Hannah leads his team to work with governments across the globe, focusing on cloud, cyber and AI as top priorities. “We are committed to our cloud journey, expanding our cyber capabilities, knowledge, and offerings, while looking at artificial intelligence to enable us to make informed business decisions,” he said. “I inspire my team to support these initiatives by getting them involved in our customer zero story. I put the team directly in front of our customers to share our journey and how we solved the challenges that our customers are facing now. This provides our teams a sense of ownership and builds trust and buy-in.”