3 MRO Industry Insights from Raines’ Aerospace & Defense VP Richard Sarmiento

Richard Sarmiento, Vice President in Raines’ Aerospace, Defense, & Government Services Practice, recently attended Aviation Week’s MRO Americas in Chicago. This important tradeshow brought together more than 15,000 industry experts, vendors, and consultants in front of 1000+ vendors.

Below, Richard offers several key takeaways from the conference:

1. Executive Search Hiring Outlook Up: Now that companies are fully out of pandemic mode, there’s a desire to bring in the best talent and open up the hiring spigots. Many MRO (maintenance, repairs, and operations) companies first are seeking executive talent in core functions of finance, supply chain, operations, and technologies not just for filling older, open positions but with an eye toward new roles.  The competition for talent is only increasing and many clients are open to talent from other industries – for example, hiring a non-A&D executive who can transform an MRO client’s online presence. One exciting opportunity? Creating new chief transformation or strategy roles to help build new capabilities and get products to market faster.
   
2. Mergers & Acquisitions: On the Private Equity side, it’s been well-reported that many firms slowed new investments and held onto investments longer recently. At the conference this month, one hot topic was the potential for a surge in mergers and consolidations. Aviation Week released a podcast that also highlighted this topic. As companies consider streamlining and partnering better, this also leads to a major talent discussion – what roles and experience will shepherd growth and efficiencies?
   
3. AI: While the MRO industry often relies on existing know-how, many sessions and conversations at this and other recent industry events have centered on AI. That tension between how we’ve done things and how we could do things faster and smarter will continue to be a hot topic, especially as companies determine how to balance the incredible amount of new data with data privacy. Additional concerns include how to stay on the right side of government regulations in the AI and data front.

Would you like to learn more about the event or discuss Aerospace, Defense, & Government Services industry trends further? Contact Rich at rsarmiento@rainesinternational.com.

Based in Washington, D.C., Richard Sarmiento is a Vice President at Raines International in the Aerospace, Defense, & Government Services Practice.  Richard has worked on CEO, CFO, COO, and other C-suite roles across Commercial and Operations Excellence for private and public companies and non-profit organizations. Prior to joining Raines, he worked in executive search at Korn Ferry and Northwind Partners and served in the U.S. Army as an Armor/Cavalry Officer.