Pro AV Newsmakers: Vizrt Bolsters Security and Sustainability

It was a quiet week in Pro AV with a few holidays and events across the globe. However, that doesn't mean there wasn't people on the move and partnerships made. Take a look at what you may have missed last week.

[Happy One Year to the Vegas Sphere. Here's Everything We Know, So Far]

People News

Vizrt Announces New Senior Appointments

Vizrt new senior appointments which aim to enhance customer security, experience, and its channel business.

Vizrt is maturing its security posture and introducing enhanced customer and partner portals to elevate the customer experience, on-boarding, communication, and support the requirements of its customers. Heading up the IT team is Petra Tesch, Vizrt’s chief information officer, while its newly promoted chief security officer, Elie Feghaly, spearheads the organization’s cybersecurity, which fortifies the security of Vizrt’s on-premises infrastructure, cloud environments, and proprietary software.

Both will report to Vizrt’s chief finance officer, Pierre Milet, who joined Vizrt in January 2024 and brings over 30 years of financial and commercial leadership experience from global technology firms and joins with the mandate to accelerate the company’s investment toward technologies to support profitable growth focusing on a subscription-based model.

The company also welcomed Avinash Kumar as its ESG controller who, with his extensive experience and strategic vision, plays a crucial role. His expertise extends to integrating sustainable practices, addressing ESG-related concerns, and navigating the evolving regulatory landscape, including compliance with the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD).

Two additional senior appointments worth noting are the head of channel sales for APAC, Paul Shutt, and the head of channel sales for America and Canada, Karl Bradford.

Since joining Vizrt in Asia Pacific in 2011 as a system engineer, Shutt has advanced through several key roles, including deputy global head of customer success. He will work to enhance APAC channel partners’ capabilities to unlock new revenue streams and drive market growth.

Bradford joins Vizrt with previous experience building channel development at Apple, working at the technology giant for over a decade. His team of channel account managers within the Americas’ market work directly with Vizrt’s channel partner community to gather feedback on product, market trends, training requirements and commercial opportunities to enable a prosperous channel network.

Troy Hayes Joins NSI Industries as Chief Human Resources Officer

NSI Industries welcomed Troy Hayes as chief human resources officer (CHRO). As a member of NSI’s executive leadership team, Hayes leads the company’s HR function, with responsibilities that include providing end-to-end HR strategy, execution, and delivery of processes and operations to drive business objectives.

Hayes was most recently VP of talent development and corporate HR at AutoNation. Prior to AutoNation, Hayes was a principal consultant at Summit Leadership Partners. Previously, Hayes spent 17 years at Ingersoll Rand in various leadership positions.

Company News

PlexusAV Signs Distribution Agreement with onemedia

PlexusAV signed a distribution agreement with U.K. distributor onemedia.

“We have spent considerable time reviewing the distributor landscape in the U.K. and I am confident that onemedia offers the perfect mix of finance services, technical expertise and sales qualities that are essential not only for a successful launch, but in providing the ongoing support necessary for a brand like PlexusAV,” said Steven Cogels, global director of business development at PlexusAV . “With their highly experienced and talented team, onemedia’s ambitions for the years ahead synchronize perfectly with our own and, with this agreement, we look forward to a long and rewarding partnership.”

Bose Professional Celebrates Global Expansion with Tokyo Office Grand Opening

Bose Professional recently celebrated the grand opening of a new sales office and Experience Center in Tokyo, Japan. Located in the Tamachi neighborhood of Tokyo, the new 270-square-meter office combines sleek, modern business spaces and meeting rooms with a 130-square-meter Experience Center, designed for education and demonstration and featuring Bose Professional’s line-up of loudspeakers, power amplifiers, processors, controllers and software.

The entire Bose Professional Japan team hosted an opening ceremony on May 20, 2024, attended by CEO John Maier, and others. The event featured speeches with Maier serving as guest of honor, a ribbon cutting ceremony, and concluding with a traditional Kagami-Biraki sake toast to commemorate the occasion.

In 2024 Bose Professional has opened new offices and Experience Centers in Singapore; Beijing, Shenzen, and Shanghai, China; Osaka, Japan, and plans to open seven more offices in 2024, in locations including Dubai, UAE, Paris and London. The company also plans to open a new Bose Professional global headquarters and Experience Center early next year in Hopkinton, Massachusetts.