About Highlands Consulting
Experienced Leadership. Practical Thinking. Meaningful Results.
Business transformation requires more than a compelling strategy. It requires experienced leadership, an understanding of operational realities, and the ability to turn ideas into action.
Highlands Consulting is a boutique executive advisory and fractional leadership firm helping industrial and technology companies navigate growth, organizational change, and digital transformation.
We combine strategic perspective with hands-on executive experience, helping organizations strengthen customer relationships, unlock new opportunities, and translate complex technology investments into measurable business value.
Our philosophy is simple: The best strategies are grounded in experience and designed to be executed.
The Highlands Approach
Strategy Grounded in Real-World Experience
Every organization faces its own combination of challenges, opportunities, and constraints. Effective solutions require an understanding of both the broader business environment and the practical realities of execution.
Highlands Consulting takes a collaborative, results-oriented approach built around three principles.
Perspective That Connects the Dots
We bring experience across enterprise software, industrial manufacturing, connected products, and digital transformation to help organizations see beyond individual functions and identify opportunities across the business.
Practical Strategies, Not Just Recommendations
Successful transformation requires more than a roadmap. We focus on aligning people, processes, technology, and organizational priorities to translate strategic objectives into meaningful outcomes.
Direct Executive Engagement
Clients work directly with experienced executive leadership rather than navigating layers of consultants. Our flexible engagement model provides the perspective, expertise, and accountability needed without unnecessary complexity or overhead.
Founder & Principal
Sean M. Slyman
Executive Advisor | Fractional Executive | Technology & Transformation Leader
Highlands Consulting was founded by Sean M. Slyman, a technology and business executive with more than 30 years of experience spanning enterprise software, industrial manufacturing, connected vehicle technologies, customer experience, and digital transformation.
Throughout his career, Sean has held senior leadership positions and worked with organizations ranging from global industrial manufacturers to emerging technology companies. His experience includes leadership roles with PACCAR, Navistar, Siemens PLM Software, Tata Technologies, and other organizations operating at the intersection of engineering, technology, and business strategy.
His work has encompassed customer experience and success, product strategy, enterprise technology adoption, strategic account development, and large-scale transformation initiatives.
Having worked on both the technology-provider and industrial-customer sides of complex business relationships, Sean brings a perspective that bridges commercial strategy, technical capabilities, and operational execution.
This combination of experience helps Highlands clients navigate challenges that rarely fit neatly within a single business function.
Sean's approach reflects a belief that effective executive leadership requires equal parts strategic thinking, relationship building, and disciplined execution.
Experience Across Industries and Technologies
Connecting Business Strategy with Technical Expertise
Highlands Consulting brings cross-industry experience to challenges involving growth, operational improvement, emerging technologies, and organizational transformation.
Industrial Manufacturing & Engineering
Experience with global manufacturing environments, engineering processes, product lifecycle management, and enterprise technology modernization.
Commercial Vehicles & Connected Mobility
Experience spanning commercial vehicle manufacturing, connected products, telematics, data-driven services, and evolving mobility technology ecosystems.
Enterprise Software & Customer Experience
Leadership experience involving enterprise technology providers, strategic customer relationships, customer success organizations, product strategy, and business growth.
Digital Transformation & Emerging Technologies
Expertise across PLM, digital thread, connected systems, AI enablement, and technology strategies designed to deliver practical business outcomes.
Continuous Innovation & Industry Perspective
Technology and business models continue to evolve, creating both opportunities and new challenges for organizations.
Highlands combines decades of industry experience with an ongoing commitment to understanding emerging technologies and their implications for business.
Sean's professional background includes patented technology innovation, advanced executive education in artificial intelligence and organizational leadership, and participation in industry advisory initiatives involving connected products, digital infrastructure, and technology transformation.
This combination of established experience and continued learning helps Highlands bring both perspective and fresh thinking to client engagements.
A Different Kind of Consulting Relationship
Highlands Consulting operates on the belief that effective advisory relationships are built on trust, transparency, collaboration, and a shared commitment to results.
Whether serving as a fractional executive, advising a leadership team, or supporting a focused strategic initiative, our objective is to become a trusted extension of the organizations we serve.
We bring the experience to help define a direction, the flexibility to adapt as circumstances evolve, and the practical mindset needed to move from strategy to execution.
Experienced leadership when you need it. Practical expertise where it matters.
Let's Build What's Next
Every organization reaches moments when a fresh perspective, specialized experience, or additional leadership capacity can make a meaningful difference.
Whether you're pursuing growth, navigating a digital transformation, strengthening customer relationships, or exploring the opportunities of emerging technologies, Highlands Consulting welcomes the conversation.