Congratulations on your new appointment. What do you see yourself bringing to the role?
Thank you! One of the biggest assets I believe I bring to the executive vice president role is a different perspective. AtlasIED is part of the foundation of the commercial audio industry. Having been with a few companies in engineering, strategic business development and management, and executive leadership roles, I think I can help position AtlasIED for future growth and innovation. My career path allows me to bring different viewpoints to the leadership of the company; I believe that diverse backgrounds and experiences lead to a much stronger strategic process.
What’s your background and what are your strengths?
I started in this industry working for an integrator and paid my way through college doing that. After graduating with an electrical engineering degree, I went to work for manufacturers on the product development side, in engineering and product management roles. Then became more involved with the management side with VP roles in engineering and business development, then onto executive roles EVP, COO and CEO.
I have a unique perspective having been with both integration and manufacturing organisations, which helps to inform my comprehensive understanding of product development and what it takes to bring a product to the market. I know the challenges integrators face and I have a passion for developing products and services that address those challenges and help fuel our integrators’ success.
What plans do you and your colleagues have for AtlasIED for this year and beyond?
Always a priority for me, we have plans to continue to strengthen our ties with our integrator partners and put processes in place that will allow for additional flexibility in the product development process so we can include our partners earlier on and, therefore, create better solutions for them. Clearly, the current global circumstances affected all facets of the industry from supply chain to project commissioning and everywhere in between. I am proud of the way our team has adjusted to the new working environment, which allows us to move forward at a steady pace. We are going to be launching new products, updates and enhancements to our product lines, new types of outreach and engagement with our integrators and distributors, and continued training and education for the industry, as a whole. You’ll want to keep an eye on us!
What are your thoughts on how Covid-19 has affected the commercial audio market?
The commercial audio industry was not immune to the effects of the pandemic. Some markets have used this time to upgrade or move projects ahead (eg, transportation) and some have been forced to pause or have taken a wait and see approach (eg, hospitality). As we all know, the live sound segment has just stopped, which is not good for any of us in the industry or outside of it. That being said, different regions are recovering quicker than others and with that, AV projects are moving forward.
Additionally, as a manufacturer the pandemic allowed us to take a step back with some of our product development and identify new challenges that these markets may face as they begin their recovery. We have added features and capabilities that aid in messaging, health, and safety. Necessity is the mother of all invention and I am looking forward to continuing to see the innovative ways our commercial audio industry will react to overcome the pandemic’s effects on business, economy, healthcare, and entertainment.
What do you see as the main technologies as we move into 2021 and beyond, and the dominant verticals?
Certainly, one of the trends that is gaining momentum is sanitary or touchless system control. This has forced our industry to develop software, apps, and other solutions that allow for credentialed or qualified control via a personal device. As far as dominant verticals, we believe that education will continue to be a strong vertical, as well as those involved in infrastructure like mass transit. Corporate spaces will see an interesting shift in design and space usage which will require a special focus on technology to appeal to comfortable workplaces, and we believe that retail and hospitality will focus more on providing memorable guest experiences to ensure increased and repeat business. We hope that live events come back soon too, as a conduit to pull people together.
