John Comacchio’s Field‑Trip Tech Strategy
John Comacchio, CIO of Toronto‑based furniture maker Teknion, leads his team on observational field trips to understand how people work. By studying everyday environments—from libraries to parking garages—he shapes IT strategy, standardizes laptops, expands Wi‑Fi, and pioneers AI agents that follow…
By Felo News Desk · Published
John Comacchio, senior vice‑president and chief information officer at Teknion, has spent almost a quarter of a century turning everyday observations into technology strategy. Every year, he takes his tech team on field trips to places where people naturally work: the Toronto Reference Library, a downtown park where condo residents set up impromptu boardrooms, and even hotel lobbies. “Everyone’s getting ready for their meeting the next morning,” he says. “They’re sitting, having coffee and breakfast, laptops open, and they’re having meetings live.”
From Observation to Infrastructure
Comacchio’s approach began with a simple question: how do people move through a space? Teknion, a manufacturer of office furniture, builds each piece to a customer’s exact specifications, meaning nothing is produced until an order is placed. Production is spread across multiple plants—one makes tops, another handles electricals, and a third crafts wooden credenzas. The result is a fluid, stage‑by‑stage assembly line that mirrors an office floor. Employees constantly move between plants, buildings, and half‑finished campuses.
To support this dynamic workflow, Comacchio implemented a company‑wide laptop standard in 2012, a bold move at a time when laptops and wireless infrastructure were costly. He also installed Wi‑Fi access points throughout manufacturing sites and even in the parking garage, where workers often set up makeshift meeting spots. By reading network endpoints and tracking where people connected, he discovered that executive floors required more coverage than the number of occupants suggested, because executives frequently convened in those spaces.
Building a Distributed, AI‑Ready Network
With the pandemic forcing remote work, Teknion’s pre‑existing laptop fleet, bandwidth, and remote access tools allowed employees to transition smoothly. The company’s IT budget covers day‑to‑day operations, while project budgets sit under the executive team, ensuring every initiative has a business co‑sponsor. When securing additional security funds, Comacchio frames the cost of a breach in terms of potential loss, a strategy that has earned him credibility with large multinational and government clients who demand rigorous security documentation.
Comacchio’s next frontier is AI. He introduced Gemini, part of Google Workspace, to the organization two years ago and ran monthly sessions where staff shared what they had built. Manufacturing engineers fed machine data into Gemini, creating dashboards that appeared on plant screens at shift change. Marketing used the platform to quickly re‑imagine product settings, swapping fabrics and finishes with a single photograph. These pilots proved that AI could enhance outcomes without cutting jobs.
Challenges of End‑to‑End Automation
Embedding AI across Teknion’s systems is easier when the data is already structured, but the real test comes with AI agents that follow a customer order through all divisions. An agent must understand the unique processes of each department—something that no single job description can capture. Comacchio compares this to the institutional knowledge that exists when a call is made after a system rejects an order: “There’s that institutional knowledge where if this doesn’t work, I call so‑and‑so, I look at this other screen.” He maintains a spreadsheet of anomalous data to help agents learn these hidden steps.
Data compliance adds another layer of complexity. Teknion sells to the EU, Canada, India, and the U.S., each with distinct data protection regulations. Comacchio is currently untangling these requirements before any agent can touch sensitive information. He also considers the potential impact of quantum computing on engineering speed, noting that 35% of sales involve custom‑built products.
Key facts
- Field trips uncover real work patterns
- Early laptop and Wi‑Fi rollout enabled remote work
- AI pilots improve manufacturing and marketing
- AI agents need detailed process maps
- Data compliance is a critical hurdle
Why it matters
By turning everyday observations into actionable IT strategy, Comacchio demonstrates a practical framework for integrating AI while maintaining operational flexibility and security.
Frequently asked questions
What is Teknion’s core product?
Customized office furniture built to customer specifications.
How did the pandemic affect Teknion’s IT strategy?
Existing laptops, bandwidth, and remote access allowed a smooth transition to remote work.
What is Gemini?
A Google Workspace tool used by Teknion to share AI‑generated dashboards and insights.
Why are AI agents challenging?
They must navigate undocumented, department‑specific processes and comply with multiple data regulations.
Sources
- [1] digitaljournal.com — originally reported as “The steps nobody thought to write down”
