Erica Baird: An Engineer's Path to Executive Leadership at Cummins

Erica Baird, newly promoted Vice President of Global Sales and Service at Cummins (NYSE: CMI), joins B2B eCommerce World's Women in B2B eCommerce Dinner for a fireside conversation on forging your path to leadership.

Baird's career began with a mining engineering degree, a technical foundation that has informed three decades of leadership across mining, construction, automotive, and power generation. She spent 25 years at Caterpillar, most recently as Global Allied Product Manager, where she led a $1 billion revenue global team managing more than 95 construction equipment manufacturers and grew market share across Caterpillar's global dealer network.

Baird joined Cummins in 2021 as President of the Industrial Business at Cummins Sales & Service North America, leading a $2 billion-plus P&L spanning rental, agriculture, construction, defense, marine, mining, oil and gas, and rail. She was promoted to Executive Director in 2023, taking on global functional excellence for sales, service, distribution design, and field engineering, and this past July, Cummins announced her promotion to Vice President. In her current role, she leads a team of more than 1,200 employees worldwide, oversees $4.9 billion in data center installation, commissioning, and aftermarket support, and delivers $700 million in annual parts sales.

Baird has built a reputation as a results-driven leader who pairs deep operational expertise with a strong focus on developing talent. She chairs the Association of Equipment Manufacturers' Construction Sector Board and sits on the Board of the Committee of 200 (C200), a network of the world's leading corporate and entrepreneurial leaders. In a C200 member spotlight interview, she spoke about the value of finding people who tell you the truth and support you, and about paying that support forward to the leaders coming up behind her.

I’m also the executive sponsor for the Cummins Black Network and the National Society of Black Engineers. I love opening doors for women, African Americans, and for all people to have a seat at the table...And I’m energized to see so many women in power at Cummins. My CEO, Jen Rumsey, is considered the most powerful woman in the industrial industry. My boss is also a remarkable woman. That is three women at the top of the command chain. It is unprecedented. Transparently, I never thought I’d see this in my lifetime.

Outside of Cummins, Baird and her husband have fostered more than a dozen children in addition to raising children of their own, and she serves on her state's foster care advisory board as an advisor to the governor. She is also active in her church and performs as an open mic poet, a creative outlet she has described as energizing and grounding.

Forging Your Path to Leadership

At the Women in B2B eCommerce Dinner, Baird will sit down for a fireside conversation on reclaiming ownership of your career, building a network on your own terms rather than waiting to be included in someone else's, and what she has learned from an authentic leadership course that shaped how she leads today. The evening, held the night before the main conference, brings together senior leaders, rising stars, and advocates for women in manufacturing and distribution for a night of connection and conversation. Seats are limited, and registration is required to attend.

Learn more about Erica Baird on LinkedIn.