In Episode 435 of You've Been Heard, Doug Camin speaks with Stephen Hightower about a career that spans aerospace and defense, information security, quality engineering, private equity consulting, YETI Coolers, and technology leadership at Harmar.

Stephen explains why cycle time, service quality, and unit cost are the three metrics he uses to understand whether a business process is working. The conversation moves through private equity speed, order-to-cash thinking, Lean Six Sigma, master data, ERP and CRM discipline, AI decision quality, proactive monitoring, and the need for IT leaders to earn trust through transparency.

Stephen's through line is clear: technology should not be treated as a cost center when it can remove waste, improve customer experience, and help the business make better decisions.