This morning, Commercial Integrator exclusively learned that Bobby Swartz is joining Advanced Network Devices (ANetD) as its new president. Swartz, the former CEO of Midwich US, starts in his new role today. He, of course, brings a wealth of experience to the position, as well as a longstanding relationship with Brian Donahoe, the CEO of ANetD and the company’s visionary founder. According to Swartz and Donahoe, the appointment signals a new chapter of growth for ANetD, a company that specializes in IP devices and solutions that emphasize safety and enable effective mass communication.
Exclusive Interview with Bobby Swartz and Brian Donahoe of ANetD
During an exclusive interview with CI, Swartz acknowledges that leaving Midwich US was not an easy decision, but he says the opportunity at ANetD proved irresistible. “I honestly thought I was going to retire [there],” Swartz says, reflecting on his long, successful tenure at Midwich US. “But when this opportunity came up, it blended both my passions equally, which [are] being able to literally change the world, at least in some way, and continuing to be able to build things with people, teams and business. So, if you combine those two things, it’s an offer that couldn’t be refused.”
Swartz felt a particular pull toward having a more direct hand in developing products and shaping market direction, particularly in the crucial life-safety sector. “[The product portfolio from ANetD] actually is bringing benefits to overall safety,” he explains. “It’s protecting people, heaven forbid. It’s actually making meaningful changes in people’s lives potentially, on every single conversation.”
For Swartz, joining ANetD presented the rare chance to marry his passion for building teams with the privilege of creating world-changing technology.
Bobby Swartz and ANetD: An Epiphany
Interestingly, Swartz taking on the role of president at ANetD was not the result of a formal executive search; rather, it stemmed from an organic realization. Donahoe, in fact, was looking to fill a sales and marketing role, and he reached out to Swartz to ask for some recommendations.
“I wasn’t looking for a president,” Donahoe says. “It wasn’t that at all. I was just talking to Bobby about filling some sales and marketing needs.” He continues, “And then, at some point, I’m like, ‘Wait a minute…I know who’d be good at this.’ We kept saying, ‘We need somebody like Bobby.’”
Building a Long-Lasting Partnership
That level of respect is built on a long, shared history. In fact, Swartz first encountered ANetD about 15 years ago, back when he was working for Jim Starin as a telesales and customer service representative. Then known as Starin, the distributor was heavily focused on audio. Seeing the opportunity, Swartz advocated for expansion into the IP speaker category.
“So, I went to InfoComm, and I met ANetD there,” Swartz recalls. “And they had something called an IP speaker, as well as an IP clock.” Six months later, Starin dropped a binder on his desk and put him in charge of the product line. “And I was like, ‘Well, all right, here we go,’” Swartz chuckles. “I saw a need for [that] in the industry and saw where the industry would go.” He adds, “A little luck, a few conversations later, [it] was the start of a really long-term, mutually beneficial relationship.”
Donahoe agrees, testifying not only to the fruitful partnership with Starin but also to Swartz’s centrality to it the entire time. As he explains, “Bobby was the conduit that made all this happen. I mean, he basically was the boots on the ground talking to the customers, and he really got involved in this product line.” Donahoe continues, “And for not being an engineer, we were amazed at how interested he was in every little last feature. He just saw merit to everything we were doing.”
ANetD: A History of Innovation
Swartz’s level of enthusiasm and engagement shouldn’t be surprising, though. A true spirit of innovation runs through ANetD, and that’s core to the company’s identity. Underlining the point, Donahoe harks back to the inception of its IP speaker offering.
Back in 2004, Cisco was getting into the IP phone business. The company had made inquiries about the possibility of Power-over-Ethernet (PoE) audio solutions for mass notification — uncharted territory back then.
“There was a lot of buzz in the industry at the time, wondering whether it could even be done,” Donahoe recalls. “We were literally the first one to do an IP speaker in a classroom or in any kind of mass notification setting. Every speaker before that in this kind of context was not IP.”
Around 2005, then-Cisco CEO John Chambers showed the first prototype on stage as part of a trade show keynote in which he demonstrated interoperability with Cisco phones and networks. ANetD began production of its first 1,000 IP speakers right after that high-profile debut.
Interestingly, ANetD decided to add many of the features that now define its multi-function devices — like clocks, scrolling text bars and microphones —against the advice of partners who favored a cheaper, more basic product. “We just added all different types of features,” Donahoe says. “And it turned out that, in all cases, they ended up liking those things.”
ANetD: Engineering-Led, Ingenuity-Centered
That perfectly illustrates the engineering-led, ingenuity-centered vision that differentiates ANetD. “More than half the company is [composed of] engineers,” Donahoe states. “We have a really large engineering department. And I’d be surprised if any competitor, or anybody who does anything like this, has that many engineers working on things. We’re very engineering heavy.”
All that brainpower — combined with U.S.-based manufacturing and development — gives ANetD tight control over quality. Moreover, it positions the company advantageously to tackle tomorrow’s challenges, such as aggression detection and gunshot detection.
ANetD’s fiscal independence is another core strength. “We don’t have outside investment telling us, ‘You must do this because this is going to make more money,’” Donahoe adds. “We do what we want to do, and what we want to do is have a rock-solid product that’s very innovative and useful.”
Bobby Swartz and ANetD: Vision for the Future
With Donahoe as CEO and Swartz as president, ANetD is poised to leverage its engineering prowess to achieve — and build on — its mission. “We really do own the K-12 space,” Swartz says. “The products have fit in perfectly.” But ANetD’s eyes are set on a broader vision. As he explains it, “Really, we are here to make public spaces safer, period. And that means A to Z, covering the entire ecosystem around there in a way that I don’t honestly think any company currently does or [has] the capability to.”
Invigorated by his new role at ANetD, Swartz is eager to take on the industry’s toughest problems, and he asks his vast network of industry contacts to come to him with their most vexing challenges. “What all-encompassing safety problem, tying technology together or working throughout a facility, does nothing exist for yet?” he asks. “I want to hear those challenges so we can bring them back to the team here and see how they’re solved.”
ANetD: Deep Technical Capability, Ambitious Market Strategy
The potent combination of deep technical capability and ambitious market strategy makes the partnership between Donahoe and Swartz compelling, and it augurs an exciting future for ANetD.
For Swartz, guiding an innovative engineering house is a marketer’s dream and a marketer’s nightmare rolled into one. But he relishes every moment.
“Now, I get to solve channel problems and figure out how to go to market and make everyone happy, while also trying to help steer the technology,” Swartz declares. “So again, it’s both passions kind of brought together. And [that] might be a little stressful for some, but that’s the type of challenge I like.”
