Former President & Chief Executive Officer, Agilent Technologies
Mike McMullen - Why I Support ARCS NCC
About Michael Mcmullen
During Agilent's Q3 2021 earnings call, McMullen reported double-digit growth in the biopharma sector across platforms including cell analysis, LC, and LCMS, as well as in consumables and services. He stated that the company was not seeing significant changes in its ability to conduct business between the United States and China, despite ongoing trade tensions. McMullen also noted that the company's long-term margin expansion story remained intact, driven by increased digital investments and reduced travel expenses. In a separate interview supporting the ARCS NCC organization, McMullen described Agilent as a "mission-driven company" that helps customers "improve, impact the human condition" by providing instrumentation and chemistries to advance quality of life. He said the "real hook" for supporting ARCS was the ability to "make a difference" by helping young researchers who are "driven, motivated, and passionate about the research."
Transcript (17 segments)
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Michael Mcmullen0:05
Hello, my name is Mike McMullen, CEO of Agilent Technologies.
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Interviewer0:09
I was fascinated in reading about your company. How do you ever describe the multi-faceted things that you do at Agilent, you know?
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Michael Mcmullen0:19
What I always start those conversations with is to talk about Agilent's mission. Agilent is a mission-driven company, and what we do is help our customers really improve, impact the human condition if you will, the quality of life. We provide instrumentation and chemistries to help our researchers, our quality control technicians advance the quality of life.
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Interviewer0:40
Well, I read something that I love. You take and transform analytic data.
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Michael Mcmullen0:47
Into scientific insight. Yeah, it's just fascinating what happens here. And I don't claim to understand all the science, but we have great scientists on our team that understand it. But we're able to analyze samples, compounds, and be able to extract that information, meaningful scientific data that a trained scientist can interpret and understand whether or not discovery has been made, whether or not a process is under control, or the food that you're about ready to eat is safe to eat. So a lot of great applications for our technology.
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Interviewer1:16
Well, that's what I was going to ask you about. The work that your scientists and engineers do, how does that relate to our everyday lives? You know, a lot of people may not have heard of our company, Agilent Technologies, but the applications are quite familiar.
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Michael Mcmullen1:33
So we're helping the world understand disease, treat disease, make the world a safer place from the air you breathe, the water that you want to drink, or the food you're going to eat. So we do the analysis to ensure that all those compounds that you're going to consume are safe, that the air you breathe is of the right quality. And as researchers look at ways to find new ways to treat disease through drug development, we're right there helping them with our tools.
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Interviewer2:00
You're one of those working on a personalized approach to cancer that you can do the analysis to know what's going to work.
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Michael Mcmullen2:06
Yeah, absolutely. I think you're perhaps quite familiar with the revolution of personalized medicine. So for example, the Agilent team worked very closely with Merck on their most recent drug, Keytruda, which has applications, you may know, for the treatment of lung cancer. Our company came up with the diagnostic, what's called the companion diagnostics, so that if your doctor would like to prescribe Keytruda to you, you first must get a test on biopsy to ensure that it'll actually work for you. Our team gets so motivated by these stories about how our technology does make a difference in the world.
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Interviewer2:38
It does. You must feel very passionate about that work and scientific research in general.
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Michael Mcmullen2:46
Probably more now than ever. Yeah, absolutely. I think you really start to understand really how science is so entwined in our everyday life and things that we take for granted. And we always assume that life is going to get better, we're going to have answers to certain challenging problems. If you think about the whole area of health care, you know, I think we often take for granted that there's been advances in new pharmaceuticals and various types of medical treatments. That doesn't happen without science. It doesn't happen without investment.
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Interviewer3:16
I want to thank you personally for all the support you've shown, um, in your CEO position for ARCS. And you must feel very strongly about ARCS. What was it that just impacted you? Yeah?
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Michael Mcmullen3:32
Thank you very much for that. And uh, when I learned more and more about the mission of ARCS, it was so inspiring to me, which is why would you want to get behind an organization that really is trying to advance science. And you know, you realize there's some hugely talented scientists out there that just need a little bit of financial help. And if we can be part of that, why not? I mean, the talent that we've brought across ARCS is just simply amazing.
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Interviewer3:57
You've been a sponsor of the symposium three times. How do you describe that experience in trying to encourage others to attend?
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Michael Mcmullen4:06
Yeah, so the first thing I would encourage people to do is just take a minute or two to find out what is ARCS all about. And then perhaps come to a symposium. It doesn't take a lot of time, and you will just be blown away by what you're going to see there. So much talent. As you go around to hear the different presentations, you're going to be amazed at the research that's underway and just what talent this organization sponsors.
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Interviewer4:27
What was it when you heard about the mission of ARCS and what they did? What was the real hook for you? What really was the key thing that they do?
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Michael Mcmullen4:35
The real hook for me was you can make a difference here. And uh, when you think about how these young people are really trying to make the world a better place, they are driven, they're motivated, they're passionate about the research. And if we can be a part of that solution... wow. It also feels good for the company sponsoring it as well. So it was a win-win. I think the students appreciate the support that companies like Agilent give them, and I know our organization is very proud that we are actually sponsoring this type of work as well. Well, science is crucial to our future. This organization is 110% behind that. With just a little bit of engagement from you, you can make a huge difference. And not only will you make a difference to your community, but your employees will be very happy you're taking the step as well. Find out about it and get involved.