How is the legendary automaker Ford Motor Company (NYSE: F) incorporating AI into its operations to innovate and transform its business for the 21st century?
Just over a century ago, Ford pioneered one of the most significant technology transformations of our times–the introduction of the automobile. In 1903, Henry Ford incorporated the Ford Motor Company in Dearborn, Michigan, followed by the introduction of the Ford Model T in 1908–widely credited with having revolutionized both transportation and American industry.
Today, Ford is betting on the next stage of technology innovation–AI. With annual revenues of $185 billion, Ford ranks 19 on the Fortune 1000, and markets automobiles and commercial vehicles across the globe. So, how does a company that pioneered an earlier era of innovation adopt the next wave, manifested by artificial intelligence (AI), to optimize its business operations for the next generation of customers?
AI and Data Leadership at Ford
I recently posed this question and others on the topic of AI and data transformation and leadership to Franziska (Fran) Bell, who has served as chief data, AI, and analytics officer (CDAAO) for Ford since January 2025. Bell previously was the CTO at bp and held tech executive roles at Toyota Research Institute and Uber. She earned a PhD in theoretical chemistry from the University of California, Berkeley. Earlier this year, Bell was recognized as Chief Data Officer of the Year and named to the AI100, Top 100 Women in AI and Top 100 Women in Tech.
Bell explains her AI and data leadership role at Ford, commenting, “My primary role is to closely partner with the business to drive improved user experiences and tangible business value at scale.” She adds, “My mandate is to ensure that we are not only leading in AI application but also treating our data as the strategic asset it is.”
Bell elaborates on her primary responsibilities, including:
- Delivering Business Value: Ultimately, the mandate of the chief data, AI, and analytics officer at Ford is to ensure that the company’s investments in data and AI translate into measurable business impact.
- Driving Strategy and Vision: As CDAIO for Ford, Bell is responsible for defining and aligning the company around its enterprise-wide Data and AI strategies to ensure that Ford is making the right investments to maintain a competitive edge.
- Enabling the Business: Bell’s organization provides the foundational platforms, such as the Enterprise Data Platform (EDP), and democratized tools that empower teams across Ford to build and deploy AI solutions securely and efficiently. Bell notes that Ford had the foresight to centralize its data team 10 years ago. This provides the advantage, explains Bell, to “connect the dots across the company, and sets us up nicely to re-use technology, making us faster and more efficient.”
- Governance and Oversight: Bell chairs Ford’s Enterprise Data Council, which governs the company’s data assets, platform usage, and technology investments. This ensures that Ford is using its resources effectively, avoiding duplicative efforts, and building on a common, scalable foundation. It also ensures that Ford is protecting personal information and ensuring Ford has the appropriate approaches to protecting consumer privacy.
Using AI and Data to Transform the Enterprise at Ford
AI is being developed as a core capability across Ford, notes Bell. Data is a fundamental underpinning to all aspects of Ford’s business, including design, engineering, testing and safety, manufacturing and quality, marketing and sales, as well as back-office systems and customer support. “We use data for virtually everything we do”, adds Bell. “For a company with a 120-year history, our unique and vast data sets—spanning decades of design, engineering, safety, connected vehicle, and manufacturing data—are invaluable.”
Bell elaborates, “Our strategy is centered on capitalizing on Ford’s data advantage.” She continues, “We’re not just collecting data; we are positioning it as a core corporate asset through our Enterprise Data Platform (EDP). This is the cornerstone of our efforts, designed to be the authoritative source for analytics and AI-driven insights.” Ford is combining its wealth of data with work to deeply embed AI as a core capability across every business function.”
Ford is moving beyond isolated projects to create a truly integrated and intelligent ecosystem of AI and data. Bell explains, “This means weaving AI into the fabric of our core processes—from the initial design concept all the way through to manufacturing and the customer ownership experience.” She adds, “The goal is to create a holistic system where data and insights flow seamlessly, allowing us to innovate faster and drive business value at Ford’s scale.”
Central to this vision at Ford is the concept of AI as a digital partner for the Ford workforce. Bell explains, “We believe AI’s greatest value is realized not by replacing human ingenuity, but by augmenting it.” She continues, “We are building powerful ‘human-machine teams’ where AI assists in complex data analysis, runs simulations, and automates repetitive tasks, freeing our talented engineers, designers, and business leaders to focus on what they do best: strategic thinking, creative problem-solving, and building the future of mobility.”
Ford’s ‘Big Bet’ AI Projects
Central to Ford’s plans to use AI to deliver transformative value across business lines is the idea of what Ford calls its “big bet” AI projects. Bell comments, “While these projects are designed to deliver transformative value across the business, we are at the same time democratizing access, encouraging individuals to use AI in their jobs, and seeing lots of projects percolate up out of experimentation.” Examples of Ford’s AI initiatives include:
- AI-Accelerated Vehicle Design: Ford designers now use generative AI to turn a single sketch or use a set of parameters to render hundreds of high-fidelity images and 3D models almost instantly. This elevates Ford designers to creative directors, allowing them to explore a vastly wider range of possibilities.
- Virtual Wind Tunnel: Ford has developed proprietary AI models that reduce the time for a complex aerodynamic simulation from 15 hours to approximately 10 seconds (a 5000x speed increase), with results that are within 2.3% of the traditional physics-based models. This allows Ford engineers to iterate and optimize designs at a speed that was previously unimaginable.
- AI-Powered Customer Support: Ford has launched an AI agent on the Ford.com site that acts as a single front door for customer questions. It can query multiple knowledge bases, access tools like a towing calculator, and synthesize the information into one clear, referenced answer, dramatically improving the customer experience.
- AI-Supercharged Code Reviews: In software engineering, Ford has implemented an AI-assisted “code reviews-as-a-service” capability. Early results with over 1,000 software engineers have shown a 3x reduction in cycle time, allowing Ford to innovate on digital experiences much faster.
Building an AI & Data Business Culture within Ford
One of the greatest challenges that organizations face in adopting AI and data within their businesses is due to cultural obstacles, according to 92% of organizations surveyed.
Ford is taking measures to build an AI and data culture which will lay a foundation for adoption and business success. Bell explains, “Building a data and AI-driven culture is about empowerment and collaboration — where we constantly show quantifiable business wins and solve real problems across Ford’s business.” She continues, “Along that path, we are making internal data, analytics and AI products intuitive to use, putting the human user at the core of the experience.”
Bell elaborates, “Our data and AI teams are integrated with the various parts of the business, so that data and AI are being deployed where they solve the biggest business problems.” She notes, “Our philosophy is that AI’s greatest value is realized when it augments our talented workforce, creating powerful “human-machine teams.” Bell notes that to achieve this outcome, Ford has focused on three key areas:
- Democratizing Access: Ford is currently providing employees at all levels of the organization with access to AI tools and platforms. FordLLM is the internal Ford platform where teams have access to the latest large language models and other AI tools and agents. This puts AI in employees’ hands and is proving very useful for internal productivity, notes Bell. She notes that Ford is currently seeing about 50,000 weekly active users, which represents significant repeated usage.
- Fostering an AI-Powered Workforce: Ford is committed to continuous training and upskilling to ensure its workforce can operate at the highest level. Bell explains that it is the goal within Ford to integrate AI where it can augment human potential and not just automate tasks. Bell explains that this means, “co-designing future workflows with our people.” In the first half of 2025, she notes that AI training has reached 10,000 employees within Ford.
- Championing Responsible AI: Trust is paramount at Ford. Bell explains, “We champion a ‘human-in-the-loop’ model, where human oversight provides essential judgment and validation.” She continues, “Our AI principles, guided by our AI Technology Council and Ethics Hub, ensure that we innovate responsibly, with a strong focus on data privacy and transparent governance.”
Delivering Business Value from AI and Data Investments at Ford
Delivery of business value from its AI and data investments is a top organizational priority for Ford. Bell explains, “We measure the value of our data and AI investments through a disciplined framework that combines financial rigor with key operational metrics.” She continues, “We have a robust process, run in close partnership with our Finance team, to ensure every significant AI project has a clear business case.”
Beyond direct financial returns, Ford measures business value through a balanced scorecard of key performance indicators (KPIs) that reflect the company’s strategic priorities, including:
- Accelerated Delivery: Ford tracks reductions in the cycle times of critical processes. By delivering products and features to market faster–in engineering design, software development, and other domains–Ford can create a significant competitive advantage.
- Improved Quality and Reduced Costs: Ford measures the impact of AI on product quality and operational efficiency. This includes tracking improvements in manufacturing defect detection, which in turn helps reduce potential warranty costs and enhances customer satisfaction.
- Enhanced Agility: Ford assesses the ability to make faster, more informed decisions across the company. By making data and self-service AI tools more accessible, Ford empowers its teams to respond more quickly to market shifts and customer needs.
Bell comments, “In some cases, business value is achieved by solving quality issues earlier and faster than we have traditionally been able to do. She continues, “In another case, AI is helping software coders with code review, making it three times faster than it used to be.” Bell concludes, “We continuously track the business outcomes of these initiatives to ensure they deliver on their promised value.”
Planning for an AI Future at Ford
Looking ahead to the future, Ford is being tested by forces that are reshaping the automotive industry. These include adapting to technological leaps forward and responding to the emergence of new competitors. The ability to leverage the transformation potential of AI and data will be distinguishing factors for those companies that continue to innovate and lead.
Bell reflects on change and the future of the automotive industry. “At Ford, we see the application of data and AI as fundamental tools to transform our entire enterprise, improve the user experience, and drive tangible business value,” comments Bell. She elaborates, “We view data and AI as critical strategic assets that provide a significant competitive edge. By effectively leveraging these assets, we can develop innovative AI applications rapidly and securely that differentiate us from competitors, from optimizing supply chains to personalizing the customer experience.”
AI and data leadership starts at the top and extends across the Ford organization. “Our leaders are hands-on, actively using our new AI tools themselves”, explains Bell. “By becoming practitioners, our leaders not only gain a deeper understanding of the technology’s potential but also serve as powerful advocates, championing adoption and encouraging employees to integrate these capabilities into their daily work.” She adds, “Our leadership team at Ford is not just embracing data and AI–they are driving it as a core component of our business strategy.”
Bell sums up, “This visible, top-down engagement sends a powerful message across the organization–AI is not just a Tech initiative; it is a fundamental part of how Ford will lead and compete. We think AI will deliver significant business results that will improve cost and quality, make us a more agile business, and will enable Ford to vigorously compete in the future of this industry.” She concludes, “We are making AI available to every employee at Ford, and in doing so we are helping make our teams smarter, faster, and more effective as we redefine automotive excellence.”