Back in April, video wall specialist Datapath appointed former Christie EMEA head David Griffiths as its new VP of global sales. With more than 25 years experience working in Datapth’s core market areas, Griffiths has also worked for fellow AV company Christie in a variety of management roles.
In his new role, Griffiths will take charge of Datapath’s international sales teams, which have their own regional managers and operations in the Americas, EMEA and APAC.
Having been trained by the UK military as an electronics engineer, Griffiths possesses a wealth of expertise in both hardware and software design. For several years, he has worked to develop control room and video wall display systems markets throughout the EMEA region. In his most recent role he headed up Christie’s Enterprise sales and technical groups.
Installation editor, Daniel Gumble, caught up with the man himself to find out more about his global vision for Datapath…
Congratulations on your new role. What attracted you to the position?
A major attraction towards joining Datapath is that their company values closely mirror my own. I have been a customer of Datapath for a number of years and have seen for myself that this is not rhetoric, it is fact. Datapath continues to assess their relevance to the market and are heavily investing in expanding their product and service offering as well as upskilling their staff. This ambition, drive, and technical expertise means that it’s a great time to be a part of the Datapath story.
What will your top priorities be in this new role and what will you be able to bring to Datapath?
I will be looking to deepen and expand connections with existing and new customers, so that we can better understand and react to their requirements – strengthening the partnerships that we have. I will be drawing upon over two decades of experience gained within the pro AV market and working with customers in market segments including control rooms and digital signage. Datapath is already positioned globally, and I will be prioritising initiatives to expand sales and service programmes supporting growth across all the regions.
How does it feel to be starting a new role at such a strange time – how will the current lockdown affect the way you approach the job?
The global lockdown certainly has affected my day-to-day work, as it has for most people around the world. Fortunately, Datapath is well positioned to take advantage of remote working tools for online meetings and video conferencing. Face-to-face meetings are not currently possible, of course, so I am using all the tools at hand to communicate with colleagues and customers alike. Digital communication tools have never been so important. That said, I am very much looking forward to when we can recommence meetings in person.
What are the biggest opportunities in the market for you?
Datapath already has a great range of products and services; I will be working with the team to position our wider collection of integrated solutions into existing and new market spaces. Datapath has always enjoyed close relationships with display manufacturers and we have excellent insight for identifying new trends and opportunities. We recently added 17 staff to our software development department, which gives you an insight to how committed we are to driving that area of the business. Integrated multi-point video is here to stay and Datapath will continue to be at the forefront of technical innovation, both in hardware and software.
And what are the biggest challenges in the market?
I will face similar challenges to any new employee within a company. Getting up to speed as quickly as possible so that we can seize new opportunities and further strengthen both Datapath’s and our customer’s businesses. One plus side of the current lockdown is that it does allow me to join various webinars from home – which has been a fantastic experience.
