Alan Masarek, President & CEO of Avaya, has announced that he will retire at the end of the calendar year.
He will relinquish the CEO role even sooner, with Patrick Dennis set to take the mantle from September 1.
Masarek – who also enjoyed a successful stint as Vonage CEO – joined Avaya in July 2022 and has presided over a significant restructuring of the company.
Yet, after a tumultuous couple of years – which included a bankruptcy - Masarek believes the Avaya ship is pointing in the right direction. Now, it’s full steam ahead for Dennis & co.
That will likely involve driving further engagement from Avaya’s existing enterprise base – which includes approximately 90 of the Fortune 100 - with its "innovation without disruption" vision.
Indeed, that aligns with Dennis’s experience in both on-premise contact centers and CCaaS as the former CEO of Aspect Software (now Alvaria).
Since then, he has held the CEO spot at Venafi and ExtraHop, which are prominent names in the cybersecurity space.
Given the rising threat from fraudsters, such experiences will allow him to bring some much-needed security nouse into the communication space.
Moreover, Dennis became Chairman of the Avaya Board in April 2023, shortly after the company emerged from bankruptcy. In that role, he has embraced Masarek’s vision.
Now, he’s confident that Avaya will achieve "long-term" success. "I am honored and thrilled to lead Avaya on the next phase of its journey, building on the solid foundation laid by Alan and the leadership team," he said.
Avaya is now operating from a position of financial strength and industry leadership, and our strategy is resonating with customers around the world who can be confident in Avaya’s consistency in strategic direction and commitment to deliver for their long-term success.
"I look forward to working with the team to accelerate Avaya’s market momentum."
Such momentum seemed almost unthinkable when Masarek stepped into the role.
Indeed, the outgoing CEO took over Avaya shortly after it announced a 20+ percent year-over-year (YoY) revenue slump and found itself spiraling into a second bankruptcy in five years.
Add to that an ugly lawsuit against former CEO Jim Chirico, and the role seemed unenviable at best.
Job Done! How Masarek Rejuvenated Avaya
Unfortunately, Masarek couldn’t prevent Avaya from entering a second bankruptcy in five years, with its debts reaching $3.4BN.
While that miffed shareholders – many of whom were Avaya employees – the prepackaged bankruptcy gave him the means to take the company private, cut its debts by 75+ percent, install a new C-suite, and breathe new life into its innovation cycle.
Yet, perhaps most crucially, he created that "innovation without disruption" vision for the company.