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Strategic Leadership Boost: ITEXPO Keynoter Avaya Expands C-Suite for Accelerated Global Innovation and CX Excellence

By Greg Tavarez November 20, 2023

Let’s talk Avaya.

Avaya is a globally recognized technology company that specializes in communication and collaboration solutions tailored for businesses. After becoming an independent entity in 2000, Avaya has provided innovative solutions in the realm of enterprise communication. The company's extensive product and service offerings span unified communications, contact center solutions, and networking.

At the core of Avaya's portfolio is its UC suite, which integrates voice, video, messaging and collaboration tools to enhance organizational communication. Avaya is also renowned for its contact center technology, in which Avaya delivers solutions encompassing interactive voice response, automatic call distribution and workforce optimization. The company is also a major player in the IP telephony and VoIP market, facilitating the transition from traditional telephone systems to more modern, efficient IP-based communication.

Adapting to industry trends, Avaya ventured into cloud services that provide businesses with flexible and scalable communication and collaboration solutions. The company's strategic partnerships and acquisitions have further bolstered its capabilities, allowing it to stay competitive in the dynamic communication technology landscape as it serves a diverse clientele across various sectors, including finance, healthcare, government and education.

Learn more from Avaya during a keynote presentation featuring Alan Masarek, president and CEO, Avaya, during ITEXPO on Febuary 14, 2024, in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.

All that said, Avaya further strengthened its executive leadership team and related plans to accelerate its innovation strategy and growth. Soren Abildgaard joined the company on November 1 as its Chief Technology Officer, and Marylou “ML” Maco, will join on December 1 as its Chief Revenue and Customer Experience Officer.

Abildgaard, with a history of driving large-scale transformations, previously led engineering at Zendesk, expanding product portfolios and contributing to rapid revenue growth surpassing a billion dollars. Before Avaya, he served as executive vice president of engineering at Contentful.

Abildgaard will lead Avaya's efforts to refine its technology vision, shape its innovation strategy and make strategic investments to keep the company at the forefront of emerging technologies. With over two decades of experience in global, customer-focused software development, particularly in high-growth SaaS companies, he aims to ensure Avaya's sustained provision of high-value solutions.

Maco has nearly 30 years of leadership experience in enterprise software, cloud services and network computing. She's excelled in building billion-dollar global businesses, driving consistent revenue growth, expanding market share, and fostering loyalty across diverse areas like sales, marketing, channel, services and customer success. Maco held executive roles at Genesys and leadership positions at Cisco, Oracle, Hewlett Packard Enterprise and Anaplan.

In her role at Avaya, Maco is tasked with driving a unified revenue engine, aligning people, processes, and technology to enhance customer success and foster growth. In addition, she will continue her role on the Avaya Board of Directors.

“These appointments are another milestone in Avaya’s transformation as we continue to build upon our leadership in customer experience,” said Masarek. “In a sector where innovation is crucial for staying ahead, Soren will bring his cloud and software expertise, while ML possesses an exceptional track record of driving market share and revenue growth.”

Their decision to join Avaya serves as validation that the company is on a path that resonates with not just the market but also with industry leaders.

To hear more from Alan Masarek, president and CEO, Avaya, join him for his keynote presentation at ITEXPO 2024, taking place February 13-15, 2024, in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, as part of the #TECHSUPERSHOW. Since 1999, ITEXPO has combined educational conference programming with a robust exhibit hall, networking events, and other activities, bringing together buyers and providers of business technology products and services that drive business success.




Edited by Alex Passett
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