How do you manage the reputation of a 100-year-old icon while it reinvents itself?
In our latest episode of Strategy, Story & Stakeholders, I sit down with Stacey Jones, Chief Communications Officer at Honeywell. Stacey joined Honeywell in September 2023 after a 25-year tenure at Accenture, arriving at a pivotal moment in the company's history.
As we spoke in February 2026, Honeywell is in the midst of a historic separation into three distinct companies to sharpen its focus on the future of aviation and automation. We discuss the realities of leading a global communications team through complex corporate change and transformation, the importance of effective internal communications, how to align a global team, the rise of 'physical AI', and how to talk about automation without triggering anxiety over job losses.
Communicate through historic corporate change
Honeywell is currently navigating a massive transformation. They spun off their advanced materials business, Solstice, last October and are preparing to spin off their aerospace and defence division by the third quarter of 2026. Following this, Honeywell will operate as a pure-play automation company.
When you are breaking up an industrial conglomerate, internal communications play an essential role. Stacey highlights how her team is actively preparing employees for 'Day 1' of the new companies. To ensure teams feel supported and informed, Honeywell uses pulse surveys, hosts town halls with the CEO, and runs open office hours. This ongoing dialogue helps catch potential friction points — like IT migrations — before they escalate.
Align your communications with business strategy
When everything feels important, how do you prioritise? For Stacey, the answer is simple: communications does not set the priorities; the business strategy does.
As CCO, she looks directly to the CEO and the broader business vision to dictate her team's focus. She warns against running out to execute tactics just to stay in motion. Instead, every action your communications team takes must link back to why you are doing it and how it supports the company's future. You have to understand the business priorities intimately and use that knowledge to inoculate your organisation against future issues.
Orchestrate global stories locally
Leading a communications team across a massive global organisation requires more than a 'cookie-cutter' approach. Stacey highlights that true alignment is not about handing a central message to your global teams and expecting them to just add water and stir.
It is about taking a coordinated corporate story and orchestrating it so it lands authentically in local markets. When you combine strong central leadership with local communicators who deeply understand their stakeholders, you create magic. It relies entirely on a "say-do" culture — if your team says they are going to do something, they finish it.
Understand the shift to physical AI
If generative AI dominated the last few years, the industrial sector is now experiencing the rise of physical AI.
Stacey explains that technology in the industrial space typically lags three to five years behind the broader tech sector, but that gap is closing rapidly. By partnering with hyperscalers like Google and Azure, Honeywell uses its Forge software platform to unlock decades of trapped data from physical assets, such as factories, refineries, and connected buildings.
This connectivity allows for unprecedented operational oversight. Stacey notes that from her office, she can monitor live data worldwide, tracking everything from building occupancy to temperature trends.
Close the industrial skills gap
When leaders discuss AI and automation, employees often fear job losses. However, Stacey argues that in the industrial sector, AI is a tool for growth and operational resilience.
The industry is facing a severe skills shortage as long-tenured employees retire. When a 25-year veteran retires, they take highly specific, institutional knowledge with them. Physical AI steps in to capture that highly specific operational knowledge, empowering a newer employee with just two years of experience to operate with the expertise of a veteran. It is not about replacing workers; it is about keeping critical infrastructure running as populations shrink and experienced workers step down.
Protect your mission-critical reputation
In the industrial sector, trust is not negotiable.
Stacey reminds us that Honeywell's work is deterministic; their systems must operate with 99.999% reliability. Whether it is safely landing a plane, detecting a cyber intrusion, or cutting emergency service response times in half, the company's reputation relies entirely on its ability to deliver when it matters most.
Master the fundamentals and find a mentor
When looking at what will define the most effective corporate affairs teams over the next five years, Stacey believes the fundamentals remain unchanged. You still need to tell the stories that matter, conduct thorough stakeholder analysis, and — most importantly — respond effectively in a crisis. You can spend years promoting your brand, but if you mishandle a crisis, you lose that hard-earned trust.
Crucially, Stacey advises every communications professional to find a mentor. We all have blind spots. Having someone who speaks straight to you, helps you look in the mirror, and grows with you over your career is game-changing. In fact, it was a former mentor who ultimately brought her to Honeywell.
Build high-performing teams
Navigating complexity requires the right communications leadership. Whether you are building an expert team to advise the board, or you are looking for your next executive role, we can help you take the next step.
