Editor’s Note: As Commercial Integrator learns more about the Diversified restructure that took place earlier this month, we will update this post.
Commercial Integrator learned that Diversified, the Plano, Texas-based global technology solutions provider, underwent an organizational restructure earlier this month. Posts on LinkedIn over the last several days have suggested that the restructure affected a substantial number of employee positions.
Several comments pertaining to the restructuring exhibited similar sentiments, with industry colleagues expressing empathy for those affected, touting their skills and urging the pro AV community to help them find their next professional home.
Diversified Restructure: Exclusive Paul Lidsky Q&A
Commercial Integrator’s editors reached out to Diversified to request comment, asking for information about the scope and scale of the company restructure.
We also asked for the specific number or percentage of employees affected, as well as how Diversified would respond to any client concerns about potential disruptions to ongoing projects.
In addition, we asked about the organization’s plans to preserve and bolster team member morale.
Diversified CEO Paul Lidsky agreed to an email-based Q&A with Commercial Integrator. We present it in full here:
Commercial Integrator: Can you walk us through the specific market dynamics or internal operational challenges that necessitated the Diversified restructure / reduction in force?
Paul Lidsky: These changes were driven by evolving client expectations rather than internal operational factors.
Client expectations are growing and changing faster than traditional industry models can support. Enterprises aren’t just buying AV anymore; they’re investing in broadcast-grade environments, immersive and digital experiences, enterprise collaboration platforms, and long-term services that have to work reliably at a global scale.
To meet that demand, we intentionally redirected investment toward the priorities, teams, and operating model that matter most to our clients. This wasn’t about fixing a problem; it was about ensuring we are structured to lead where the market is headed and deliver the outcomes our clients expect today and into the future.
Commercial Integrator: Can you confirm the specific number or percentage of employees affected by the Diversified restructure? Were these reductions concentrated within specific divisions or broad-based?
Paul Lidsky: These changes affected less than 2% of our total employee population, and the vast majority of impacted roles were non-client-facing positions. [Editor’s Note: According to the most recent SCN Top 50, published on Dec. 1, Diversified had 2,615 employees at the time of publishing.]
This was a targeted organizational realignment designed to support our growth strategy while ensuring that more of our financial resources are directed toward delivery, engineering, services, and client support.
Decisions like these are never made lightly. We are committed to supporting impacted associates with care, respect, and professionalism, and our broader commitment to investing in our people remains unchanged.
Diversified remains a global organization with deep technical expertise, strong delivery teams, and the scale required to support complex client environments.
Commercial Integrator: How is leadership working to preserve morale and reinforce a people-first culture?
Paul Lidsky: High-performing organizations evolve, but what defines our culture hasn’t changed: our people and our clients.
We’ve been clear with our global workforce about where we’re going and why. This strategy creates momentum, not uncertainty, because it gives people clarity about priorities, investment, and opportunity. Our associates understand where the company is headed, how their work connects to client outcomes, and what that means for them as we build the future of our organization together. That transparency has driven strong engagement and positive feedback across the organization as we laid out our plan for 2026 and beyond.
We’re also reinforcing that this strategy creates opportunity: for growth, for development, and for meaningful work on some of the largest, most complex projects in our industry. Maintaining trust and respect is essential, especially during moments of change, and these principles continue to guide how we lead, how we support our teams, and how we serve our clients.
Commercial Integrator: How are you ensuring clients won’t see disruptions to projects, engineering support, or SLAs?
Paul Lidsky: Our project delivery, engineering, and service teams remain fully staffed and supported. In fact, these changes only strengthen our execution and empower our teams to best serve our clients’ needs.
From a client perspective, nothing slows down. If anything, this positions us to move faster, deliver more consistently, and scale more effectively.
Commercial Integrator: How will Diversified retain top talent and provide confidence in career advancement within the new structure?
Paul Lidsky: Our top talent wants to work on complex problems, develop cutting-edge environments, and build long-term client partnerships. We will continue investing in training, development, and skills that align with our clients’ greatest needs across broadcast AV, experiential and digital environments, enterprise delivery, and services. We are also creating clearer, more compelling career paths for our associates in the fastest-growing areas.
Commercial Integrator: Should the industry view changes from the Diversified restructure as company-specific, or a sign of softening demand or broader market shifts?
Paul Lidsky: This is in response to evolving client expectations, not declining demand throughout the industry.
Our clients expect broadcast-level performance, immersive and experiential collaboration and global consistency and support. Meeting those expectations requires focus, investment, and scale.
These changes reflect our continued commitment to being an industry leader and providing our clients with the solutions they value.
Commercial Integrator: What is the strategic vision for Diversified over the next 12 to 24 months?
Paul Lidsky: Over the next 12 to 24 months, our focus is disciplined execution against a clear strategy.
That means continuing to strengthen our leadership in broadcast AV and experiential AV, expanding our ability to deliver consistently across global environments, and growing our services and lifecycle support capabilities.
This growth strategy builds on our core capabilities; it doesn’t replace them. It extends our capabilities so we can better meet the evolving needs of our clients. Diversified is a company purpose-built to deliver complex, media-rich environments that perform reliably, scale globally, and evolve over time.
Prior to Diversified Restructure
Back on Oct. 30, Commercial Integrator reported that Diversified had appointed Paul Lidsky as the company’s new CEO. Lidsky has also served as chairman of the Board of Directors since 2023.
On Dec. 4, Commercial Integrator published an exclusive interview with Lidsky in which he reflected on his vision for the company.
During the interview, he said, “I would emphasize that Diversified is leaning into the areas where we have a true right to win. When environments require broadcast-grade engineering, precise coordination and large-scale delivery, we are often the integrator that clients call upon.”
He added, “That reputation has been earned by the talent across our organization and the consistency of our delivery under pressure.”
Talent-Related Challenges in Pro AV
In Commercial Integrator’s recent State of the Industry webinar — the full report appears in the January/February issue — our presenters cited talent-related issues as some of the most vexing in the pro AV market.
Indeed, when Commercial Integrator and NSCA asked respondents to our State of the Industry survey which challenges their businesses might face heading into 2026, 77.8% of integrators expressed concern about finding, onboarding and retaining key employees.
More on Diversified
According to the most recent SCN Top 50, Diversified had 2024 revenue of $907 million and projected 2025 revenue of $940 million, stemming from about 8,500 installations.
Tailwind Capital, a private equity firm, owns a majority stake in Diversified.
