Dive Brief:
- Raj Kalathur, CIO at Deere & Co. and president of John Deere Financial, will retire Jan. 31, 2026, according to a Wednesday securities filing. The company did not provide details on what steps it would take to replace Kalathur.
- Kalathur spent 28 years at the company, rising up the ranks through logistics, manufacturing, sales and finance before taking the reins as CIO in 2018, according to a company spokesperson. During his time in the C-suite, Kalathur toggled between the finance and IT offices, eventually straddling both beginning in 2022.
- “As CIO, Raj led a significant shift to an agile IT operating model and accelerated the company’s adoption of AI, automation, and other advanced technologies,” the spokesperson said in an email to CIO Dive. “Under his leadership, IT and cybersecurity evolved into strategic drivers of innovation across the enterprise,” a direction the company said it remains committed to.
Dive Insight:
The agricultural industry has seen massive technology changes in the last three decades, as sensors were added to every machine and data became a valuable byproduct of every mower.
John Deere, founded in 1837, didn’t shy away from its potential. In 1996, just before Kalathur’s start date as a project manager in business development, the company began outfitting tractor cabs with satellite-based navigation, which allowed for more accurate planning and harvesting. In the years that followed, John Deere embraced precision agriculture, smart farming and autonomous vehicles, the first of which it unveiled at CES in 2022.
Front of the house success requires back of the house tech to be in order. In 2019, around the time Kalathur took on the CIO position, John Deere launched an effort to establish a global agile practice alongside a tech modernization push, looking to increase speed and efficiency. It was an expensive and multiyear undertaking but it delivered a more than 100% ROI and increased engineering output by 165%, according to a 2022 case study published by Scrum Inc., which provides consulting services to businesses.
John Deere Financial is another example of how technology can transform business. Launched in 1958 as a credit company, John Deere Financial now leans on fintech capabilities and services, a transition Kalathur helped propel, according to the company website.
Although the two are distinct parts of the company, Kalathur's dual role in finance and IT provided “strong alignment between our technology modernization efforts and the financial systems that support customers, dealers, and the broader business,” a company spokesperson said.
As Kalathur prepares to exit the company, the agriculture industry continues to evolve. Last month during its Q4 2025 earnings, John Deere reported net income of $1.06 billion, a 14% decline year over year while worldwide net sales and revenues increased 11%, to $12.39 billion. Despite seeing some growth in Q4, CEO John May described fiscal 2025 as challenging due to headwinds from tariffs and cautious consumer spending.
