Acuity Brands Appoints Three New Executives
Acuity Brands President and CEO, Neil Ashe, has been announcing the addition of three key new executives through various outlets this week. Here is the summary:
Vijay Raghavendra
Vijay Raghavendra is the newly appointed Chief Technology Officer. According to Ashe, Raghavendra "will be responsible for all aspects of our software development strategy."
As you probably know, Ashe previously led Walmart's global e-commerce team to many years of exponential growth. Raghavendra was formerly a Senior Vice President with Walmart Labs, the software arm for the behemoth retailer. In recent years we have heard Ashe's predecessor (and current Executive Chairman) Vern Nagel discuss Acuity Brands' transformation from a lighting company into a technology company. This new software-focused CTO appointment seems to support that continuing mission.
Gary Trott
Gary Trott is the new VP of Technology Commercialization. Ashe stated that Trott "will be a huge asset to help develop and lead our UV disinfection strategy." Acuity Brands announced a UV technology partnership with USHIO in June. We believe their business partnership has exclusivity stipulations, which will give Acuity Brands sole access to what is regarded as "very good" UV-C technology by some smart UV folks with whom we chatted.
Gary Trott started his lighting career with Acuity Brands and is now making a triumphant return after a 14-year sabbatical. Trott most recently started a 3D-printing based lighting company, Interplay Lighting, that was reportedly sold to Acuity Brands concurrent with Trott's return to the company.
Laura O'Shaughnessy
Laura O'Shaughnessy has joined the Acuity Brands Board of Directors. Ashe is "looking forward to accessing her digital knowledge and expertise as we continue to transform our business."
This was announced during Acuity Brands' June earnings call, but it still intrigues us greatly, mainly due to O'Shaughnessy's background. She is Co-Founder and CEO of SocialCode, a firm that provides companies with data and analytics platforms to drive increased customer engagement. We believe that digital marketing is more important than ever, especially in these pandemic times. Acuity Brands' decision to add an additional Board of Directors seat for a modern, non-lighting marketeer will be a nice complement to the other talented individuals on Acuity Brands' board.
Next?
We expect Acuity Brands to announce a key sales leadership addition in the coming weeks or months. Stay tuned…
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