The Toro Company announced that Neal M. Lackritz will join the company as its vice president and chief technology officer, effective Nov. 2, 2026.
In this newly created role, Lackritz will lead The Toro Company's enterprise technology strategy with responsibility for accelerating breakthrough innovations and commercializing autonomous, alternative power and connected solutions. As chief technology officer, he will oversee the global engineering organization and the company's Center for Technology, Research and Innovation (CTRI).
This structure will enable greater alignment across the portfolio, creating a more unified technology roadmap that prioritizes investments, streamlines platforms, and drives profitable growth.
“I am excited to welcome Neal [Lackritz] to The Toro Company and our leadership team," said Edric C. Funk, president and chief operating officer. "Throughout his career, he has built and transformed high-performing engineering organizations by uniting teams around clear priorities, shared technology platforms, and disciplined execution. Neal [Lackritz]'s collaborative leadership, passion for developing teams and ability to build alignment across organizations position us well to advance our technology strategy, accelerate innovation and create meaningful value for customers and shareholders.”
Lackritz brings more than 30 years of technology leadership across automotive, robotics, outdoor equipment and consumer hardware, with deep expertise in autonomous systems, electrification, connected solutions and embedded controls.
He joins The Toro Company from Whisker, where he most recently served as vice president of engineering with responsibility for engineering strategy and development. Earlier in his career, he was vice president of advanced development at Ariens Corporation and held senior technology roles at Genesis Motion Solutions, Apple Inc. and Bose Corporation.
Lackritz holds a Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science and a Master of Science in Electrical Engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). He was also a Doctoral Student at MIT.
