Steve Nordlund

Steve Nordlund is vice president and general manager of Air Dominance division for the Boeing Defense, Space & Security (BDS) unit of The Boeing Company. In this position, he oversees an advanced research and development organization that is responsible for engaging customers through leading-edge visual modeling and simulation; innovating cross-cutting concepts and technologies; prototyping solutions to extend current products and capture new programs; and developing new businesses and entering new markets.

Most recently, Nordlund was vice president and general manager of Boeing NeXt, a business division he launched, dedicated to building a safe, sustainable and seamless future mobility ecosystem, ranging from electric air taxis to high-speed transport. This team led the company’s approach to future commercial mobility and next-generation airspace management and global airspace integration, working with regulatory agencies and cross-industry partners to ensure a future where autonomous and piloted air vehicles safely coexist. He oversaw the development of Boeing’s next-generation mobility platforms, including cargo and passenger air vehicles and launched the Wisk and SkyGrid joint ventures for Boeing.

Prior to leading Boeing NeXt, Nordlund served as founder and vice president of Boeing HorizonX, a strategy organization that experiments with solutions and business models for disruptive aerospace applications, leveraging nontraditional partnerships and the HorizonX Ventures fund that invests in strategic early-stage startups. Prior to launching HorizonX, Nordlund led Strategy for Boeing Defense, Space & Security and was a member of its leadership team.

Since joining Boeing in 2009, Nordlund has held business development, business line and strategy leadership positions across the enterprise, including his role as vice president of Autonomous Systems for Boeing Defense, Space & Security. He previously was the director of Business Intelligence and New Business Opportunities for the Business Development and Strategic Integration group in Boeing Commercial Airplanes. He also led Business Development activities for multiple military aircraft programs.

His operational and market development experience includes an early-stage role launching Insitu, Inc. and shaping the market for the ScanEagle and Integrator unmanned aerial systems and capturing the U.S. Navy’s RQ-21 program of record. Prior to joining the aerospace and defense industry, Nordlund held sales and marketing positions at IBM and was the chief information officer for Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University.

Nordlund is chairman of the Board of Directors of SparkCognition, an artificial intelligence and machine learning technology leader based in Austin, Texas and is a member of the Board of Directors for the Association for Unmanned Vehicles Systems International (AUVSI). He is also on the Board of Trustees of Embry–Riddle Aeronautical University in Daytona Beach, Florida and of Whitfield, a private independent school in St. Louis, Missouri.

Nordlund has a Bachelor of Science degree in aviation management from Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University and a master’s degree in business administration from the University of Florida. He is a licensed pilot and is involved in volunteer work related to non-profit educational organizations.