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Aristóteles Buchán Piña was years ahead of the curve at Honeywell. In 2018, he messaged Zoom CEO Eric Yuan on Twitter. Buchán Piña had used Zoom extensively and put the communication platform through its paces on virtually every front. But all he said was that he was a fan of the product and hoped to meet Yuan at some point.
The next morning, he had a DM from the CEO, inviting him to company headquarters in San José, California. At the time, Buchán Piña was in an IT director role, but his CIO trusted him to make the trek himself. The visit marked the beginning of a relationship that would position Honeywell well ahead of its competition when the pandemic hit.
Both Buchán Piña and his CIO were so impressed with Zoom that Buchán Piña’s boss told him to roll out the platform company-wide.
“This is a company of over 150,000 people, and he wanted it done in three months,” Buchán Piña says, laughing. “I said that he needed to give me at least six. We settled on four.”
Implementing the platform meant that countless trainings, webinars, and contactless social gatherings were smooth, easy, and free of much of the chaos that dominated the pandemic years. Sure, Buchán Piña worked numerous sixteen-hour days in the process, but his diligence paid off exponentially for the organization.
“I want to make sure that this organization sees the value of my IT function. I want to create breakthroughs for this company because I truly believe I can standardize processes, enhance communication, and improve the way we do business all over the world.”
Aristóteles Buchán Piña
The success of that rollout, the buffer it provided Honeywell while so many other organizations floundered during the early stages of the pandemic, and Buchán Piña’s continuing ability to drive innovation across his organization all led to his 2023 promotion to senior IT director.
In the senior director role, Buchán Piña owns nine critical services, including direct IT support to his CEO and leadership staff—a privilege he does not take lightly. Buchán Piña says he’s determined to provide his company and its stakeholders with new ways to increase their productivity and reduce time spent on repetitive work.
“I want to make sure that this organization sees the value of my IT function,” Buchán Piña explains. “I can push the envelope in so many ways. I want to create breakthroughs for this company because I truly believe I can standardize processes, enhance communication, and improve the way we do business all over the world.”
In all things, Buchán Piña is disciplined. And that discipline starts with the senior director’s decades of practicing the martial art of tae kwon do.
“Honeywell didn’t give up on me. I had declined offers twice before. But the third time was truly the charm.”
Aristóteles Buchán Piña
At five years old, Buchán Piña was intent on becoming a champion boxer. His mother said no way, but she was willing to bring him to a tae kwon do class in his native Mexico. Buchán Piña fell in love. He became one of the youngest black belts at his school and, by sixteen, he was teaching classes himself. One year, he had a total of 230 students.
“The lesson I learned very early was to be patient, analyze the situation, breathe in, breathe out, and execute with rigor and discipline,” Buchán Piña says. “So much of the way I lead today goes back to what I learned as a young person.”
When it comes to leading his own team, Buchán Piña says he focuses as much on clear, open communication as he does on discipline and execution. While his vision centers on driving tech innovation, people are still the key to driving any great change. Buchán Piña says making sure his people receive the right information so they’re never in the dark is critical. He sees confusion as the enemy of good work, and he wants his team to deliver their best.
Though Buchán Piña has excelled at Honeywell, his career might have gone in a different direction if not for the company’s persistent efforts to bring him on board. When Buchán Piña came to Honeywell in 2006, it wasn’t the first time the organization had made an offer.
“Honeywell didn’t give up on me,” Buchán Piña explains. “I had declined offers twice before. Not because the offer wasn’t good, but because the call always seemed to come up when I was going through big moments in my personal life—my wedding and things like that. But the third time was truly the charm.”
Outside work, Buchán Piña says his family is what makes his life whole. The father of two near-teenagers says he knows a time is quickly approaching when he and his wife won’t be “cool” to their kids anymore. While that moment is inevitable for any parent, Buchán Piña says he hopes that his kids will always think of their father as someone who wanted the very best for them—and was willing to push himself and his family to be their best selves.
The children of Aristóteles Buchán Piña know their father as a man who was willing to bring his family to the United States in pursuit of new opportunities, both for himself and his family. They know he is a man who will do anything for his family, and who is always willing to push the boundaries of what is possible.
Videospace partnered with Aristóteles Buchán Piña and the Honeywell IT organization to deliver our video sharing platform to teams throughout Honeywell. Each team has a dedicated workspace to organize recorded meetings in channels and playlists, and AI generated summaries coupled with powerful search ensure teams can effortlessly find insights from videos.
