Avaya Holdings Corp. (NYSE: AVYA) today announced that Alan Masarek has been appointed as its President and CEO and as a member of Avaya’s Board of Directors, effective August 1, 2022. Mr. Masarek will succeed Jim Chirico, who will be removed from his positions as President and CEO of Avaya, effective August 1, 2022, and is resigning as a member of Avaya’s Board. Mr. Chirico will remain employed with Avaya through August 16, 2022, and will work with Mr. Masarek to ensure a smooth transition for all stakeholders.
Mr. Masarek is an industry innovator with deep domain expertise in Enterprise Communications and transformational operational experience bringing together UCaaS, CCaaS, and CPaaS capabilities, which are key elements of the Avaya OneCloud™ Experience platform. He most recently served as CEO of Vonage Holdings Corp., where he led the company through an era of transformation from a VoIP-based residential phone provider into a global enterprise cloud communications company. Prior to his time at Vonage, Mr. Masarek was Director, Chrome & Apps at Google, Inc., following Google’s acquisition of his prior company, Quickoffice, Inc., where he served as Co-founder and CEO.
Bill Watkins, Chairman of Avaya’s Board, said, “We are thrilled to welcome Alan as President and CEO. Alan is a proven transformational leader, and after a rigorous search process, the Board is confident that Alan is the ideal choice to lead the company into the future. We look forward to benefiting from his decades of industry expertise as we take the next steps to position the company for long-term success.”
Mr. Masarek commented, “Avaya benefits from an industry-leading brand, world-class customer base, global reach, rich history of innovation, and a strong partner ecosystem. I look forward to leveraging my background and years of cloud communications experience to propel Avaya to renewed growth and profitability as we build on the company’s strong fundamentals. At the same time, I intend to undertake a comprehensive strategic and operating review of all facets of the business with the goal of delivering industry-leading solutions to our global customers and enhancing value for all stakeholders.”
Mr. Watkins continued, “The Board and I thank Jim for his nearly 15 years of service to Avaya and wish him all the best in his future endeavors.”
