ASI Promotes Two Senior Execs (1)
Monday August 6, 2012 | Filed under:
I’m a big believer in rewarding employees who prove their value to our company and especially to our members, the kind of employees who provide intelligent solutions – and who, of course, think about members’ success every day.
To that end, I recently announced the promotions of two proven ASI® executives: Rich Fairfield and Armughan Rafat.
Rich, pictured at right, has been promoted to chief revenue officer, responsible for both the distributor and supplier segments of our business. He remains executive vice president and publisher.
Rich has been with ASI for eight years, and in his capacity as executive vice president and publisher of all of ASI’s award-winning magazines has handily navigated our transition from a print-dominated supplier segment to a well-balanced digital and print revenue mix. At the same time, he grew the market share and improved the quality of our magazines, catalogs and marketing. And if that weren’t enough, Rich also created and launched several new products and services to serve suppliers – while flying off on global missions on behalf of ASI to such far-off places as Germany, Hong Kong and China. (To read about Rich’s travel experiences, click here to check out his New York Times “Frequent Flyer” column).
Since late last year, Rich also has been involved in the successful creation of the User Experience group and the well-received design of ESP Websites™. His initial focus will be on simplifying the distributor member experience and testing ways to increase value to members.
Armughan, pictured at right, is relatively new to ASI, joining us nearly a year ago. But I’ve been continually impressed with his creative approach to technology and his ability to put together a forward-thinking team of top-notch tech leaders in a very short amount of time. He not only immediately improved our entire suite of products – he also introduced new innovations to help shift our member companies into technical overdrive.
Armughan is now executive vice president of ASI and chief technology officer of the ASI Family of Companies, responsible for all technology decisions throughout ASI, ASI Show™ and ASI Computer Systems®. By consolidating technology under one leader, we’re further streamlining development as part of an ongoing effort to respond more quickly than ever to member needs and requests.
Armughan, by the way, was quoted in the August 2 Wall Street Journal CIO Report, in a story about the ongoing patent dispute between tech giants Apple and Samsung. With his previous employers, Armughan has filed two patents, and teams he managed have several other patents pending. It’s great to know we have a world-class technology chief at the helm who is relied on by reporters in need of expert advice or viewpoints for the Journal’s global audience of 2 million. Click here to read the story.
I’m sure Rich and Armughan will contribute much in coming months and years to your experience with ASI, as we continue to help the industry be more productive, more efficient and more profitable.