For this article, I interviewed Tim Dickson, Chief Digital & Information Officer (CIDO) at Regal Rexnord.
Currently, Tim is CIDO at Regal Rexnord where he’s been for the last 3 years.
Regal Rexnord is a 70-year old industrial manufacturer that began in Beloit, Wisconsin and merged with Milwaukee’s Rexnord in 2021. Regal Rexnord makes products that transmit power and controls motion.
Tim grew up in La Crosse, Wisconsin, and has spent years of his career in other major tech cities. He came back to Wisconsin to become Chief Information Officer (CIO) at Generac in 2020.
Tim is one of the most visible tech leaders in Milwaukee, from local meetups to Summerfest TechAI and LinkedIn. Milwaukee runs through his veins.
I love going behind the scenes at Milwaukee companies.
This is especially true when it’s Regal Rexnord to visit my good friend Tim Dickson.
Regal Rexnord’s HQ is right in the middle of downtown Milwaukee. It’s easy to park. You can see the 3rd Street Market Hall from the windows of the building. And one of my favorite local, craft distillers is a block away. (It’s Central Standard in case you were wondering).
When you walk into the lobby at Regal Rexnord, it’s basically a history wall of everything the company has made over the last 70 years. Gears, couplings, and parts that move things around the world.
I’ve never seen Tim beam with pride like he does when he walks visitors through the space. I can tell he loves it here.
When he greeted me, he walked me through the space again, launching into a tour until I reminded him I’ve heard it all before.
We laughed and he then walked me down the hall to the conference room Tim actually interviewed in three years ago. He told me this was the room that made it all happen.
Another day and another seat at a table I know I’m lucky to be at.
“Tim makes it fun.”
That’s what Reshad Alam, Regal Rexnord’s singing CISO (Chief Information Security Officer), told me about Tim. (You can read/listen to my previous conversation with Reshad here.)
I asked: How you make a 70-year old manufacturing company’s tech team fun?
Tim said that when he interviewed, he saw a company with deep engineering and years of product innovation. What he didn’t see was energy around the tech or an identity for the team. And No brand in the city.
Those things are Tim’s secret sauce.
So he made changing those things his goal.
How?
Encourage people to bring their courage, creativity, and personality to their work. Make it safe to take risks. Innovation follows.
The sign at the airport.
Tim’s brother lived in Milwaukee and worked at Milwaukee’s iconic Harley-Davidson for 20 years. Tim grew up in La Crosse, Wisconsin and moved away in high school. But he kept coming back to visit Milwaukee for things like Summerfest and Bucks and Brewers games. His brother, Tim said, is the reason he learned to love this city.
Fast forward to 2020, during COVID. Tim is flying to Milwaukee from DC to interview with Generac.
He gets off the plane at Milwaukee’s Mitchell airport and sees a sign on the wall: “Milwaukee, the Midwest’s most underrated city.”
That sign changed things for Tim, right there in that moment.
He took it personally. He thought of it as a message to him. That, if he got the job at Generac and moved his family here, he wanted to help turn that sign upside down. Or, as I said, “to rip it off the wall.” He didn’t argue.
He told me there are 100s of Tim Dicksons in bigger cities. in Milwaukee, he can stand out and matter. Milwaukee is the right size, the right culture, and in 2020, it was the right time.
We’ve gone from “should we” to “we’ve done it!”
I asked Tim what he’s seeing from his tech leader peers that gets him excited.
“Over the past two or three years, Milwaukee’s tech leaders have moved from “should we do this?” to “we’ve done this, let’s scale it!” Companies are getting real value from AI, sharing use cases (problems they solve with technology), and talking openly about what failed.
As someone who has written about Executive AInxiety, this makes me happy.
He pointed to data centers coming to the area, universities with strong AI programs, and local leaders collaborating more. From his perspective, AI became a reason for people to work together.
Behind the scenes, he and Reshad have hosted a private gathering of CISO’s for the past three years. “People get vulnerable in those rooms,” Tim said.
So, what kind of tech city are we?
I’ve said Milwaukee IS a tech city and we should stop debating it. The better question is, what kind?
Tim, of course, had an answer.
Look around. Regal Rexnord, Rockwell Automation, Harley-Davidson, GE, Milwaukee Tool, Clarios, Johnson Controls. These are all companies that make and move things. And across all of them, the work is changing through automation and AI.
His answer: Industrial innovation and automation. The old and the new, in one sentence.
“We could own it,” I said.
He agreed. Nobody else, he told me, is claiming it.
Two asks for every Milwaukee tech leader.
I ended our conversation with this question: What’s one thing you want every Milwaukee tech leader to do differently in 2027?
Tim had two things.
First, step outside your company’s four walls. Coach someone through i.c.stars. Speak to students. Go to a meetup. Talk about something that might be a bit controversial.
Second, invest in your people. If we want to be a tech hub, our teams have to keep learning AND they have to want to stay.
Near the end, I told Tim something from the heart. He said there are hundreds of Tim Dicksons in other cities. I wish Milwaukee had 100 Tims here.
You can listen to the full conversation below or on Spotify.
Love you, #Milwaukee.
