As the Commercial Integrator #AVLivingLegends series roll on, we celebrate Kelly Bousman, senior vice president, ESG and sustainability, AVI-SPL, as our 81st inductee!
An experienced industry veteran, Bousman joined AVI-SPL in 1997 and has held various positions related to new business and market offerings. In 2024, Bousman shifted from directing AVI-SPL’s global marketing strategy to leading the company’s global Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) strategy and operationalization.
In this interview, Bousman reflects on how each challenge and opportunity opened the doors to further growth, leadership and impact. She also emphasizes the importance of ESG as a value creation strategy for long-term business success rather than just a corporate initiative.
Read on to learn more about Kelly Bousman, our latest inductee in the #AVLivingLegends series! You can also check out our hub page for past honorees.
Interview with Kelly Bousman of AVI-SPL
Commercial Integrator: What motivated you to join the commercial AV industry?
Kelly Bousman: In 1996, while completing my master’s degree in art history at the University of South Florida and working as a curatorial assistant at the Contemporary Art Museum, I met Marty Schaffel, the founder of Audio Visual Innovations (AVI). The museum was planning an installation with a group of video artists from Scotland and needed projectors to show their work. I reached out to AVI, one of the few local companies that had them, and Marty agreed to support the project. He later joined the museum board, giving us more opportunities to connect.
Through those conversations, I became increasingly interested in AVI and in the possibilities emerging through the internet. I was fascinated by how digital technology could transform communication, business and customer engagement. While academia was rewarding, I was drawn to a faster pace and closer proximity to innovation. Marty and I began discussing whether there might be a place for me at AVI.
Joining AVI
I joined the company in July 1997. My first major initiative was building a creative services offering for customers who had new projection technology but lacked the ability to create content for it. Drawing on my experience in coding interactive kiosks and websites, I applied that thinking to business presentations and visual communications. The service grew quickly, and I eventually hired another museum alumna to lead the department.
Soon after, I returned to the opportunity that most excited me: the internet’s potential to transform business. In the fall of 1998, I proposed that AVI launch an e-commerce site to sell projectors online. Despite some skepticism, Marty gave me the freedom and support to build it. On January 5, 1999, we launched ProjectorPeople.com. It was an immediate success and remained an important part of the business until it was folded into AVI-SPL’s online store last year.
For me, joining AV was never just about the technology. It was about technology’s power to communicate, connect and create entirely new ways of working.
CI: What has kept you motivated and engaged in the decades that followed?
Bousman: The constant opportunity to explore, learn and grow has kept me motivated and engaged. When I joined AVI, our industry was on the verge of major expansion as video projectors were becoming everyday business tools. I had been a student ambassador to SIGGRAPH (Special Interest Group on Computer Graphics and Interactive Techniques) the year Mosaic, one of the first graphical web browsers, was introduced. So, I already had a sense then that digital technology was about to reshape how people communicated and worked. Being part of that kind of transformation was incredibly energizing to me.
The AV industry has never stood still. It continually brings new technologies, new applications and new ways of thinking about how people see, share and experience information. That pace of change has kept the work interesting from the start.
With ProjectorPeople.com, we were early to market, and that became a major differentiator. We were beta testers for Google search, owned the keyword “projector” for years, and in 2000 were named to the Interactive Week Internet 100, which ranked e-commerce sites by revenue. Just as importantly, we applied what we learned there to AVI more broadly. After AVI and SPL merged in 2008, we brought internet marketing and market communications together into one team, which opened the door to new challenges and new opportunities.
Over time, that meant helping develop go-to-market strategies in new geographies, targeting new buyer personas, introducing new services and adding new marketing channels like social media. Each stage brought another chance to build something new.
Leading the ESG Initiatives at AVI-SPL
More recently, I was motivated by something different but equally important. I began noticing how often our customers were asking about ESG and sustainability practices. I started tracking those requests and engaging directly with customers to better understand what was driving them. That listening led me to build our ESG practice, which I began leading full-time in November 2024.
So, across the years, what has kept me engaged is a combination of curiosity and relevance — the chance to keep evolving, to help the business evolve, and to stay close to what customers need next.
CI: Reflect on your role as both a mentee early in your career and as a mentor later in your career. Who helped shape the trajectory of your professional life? How have you tried to help shape others’ careers?
Bousman: I’ve been fortunate to build my career in an environment that has been open to fresh ideas and willing to test them when the business case is strong. That culture has had a profound impact on the trajectory of my professional life, and it is one of the things I most often highlight when I talk with others about joining or growing their careers at AVI-SPL.
Early in my career, Marty coached me on how to think about risk, build a case for investment and pursue ideas with discipline as well as enthusiasm. I also benefited from the guidance of many others across the company and the industry who helped me navigate important decisions along the way.
Dale Bottcher, AVI-SPL’s CRO, has also been an important mentor. He’s shown me that even in a large organization, it’s possible to remain agile, strategic and deeply human as a leader. I’ve learned a great deal from the way he pairs clear vision with empathy and resolve.
Kelly Bousman on Mentorship
As a mentor, I try to help others identify what truly motivates them and then think through the practical steps that can help them grow. Whether that means taking on a stretch assignment, preparing for a promotion or testing an idea with real potential, I want people to see more clearly what they’re capable of. It has been incredibly rewarding to watch others develop, shine and build careers that are meaningful to them.
It’s been especially meaningful to come full circle with Marty. Now that he teaches entrepreneurship at the University of Florida, I’ve had the opportunity to guest speak to his students, connect some with AVI-SPL and mentor others as they begin to find their path.
CI: What’s the most memorable story/anecdote of your career in commercial AV?
Bousman: After 28 years, it’s hard to choose just one story. So many moments stand out: attending CES for the first time, projector orders through ProjectorPeople.com from celebrities, “build a boat” competitions at early AVI summit meetings, adventurous sales trips, stage fright before global sales summits, annual InfoComm reunions, seeing our team’s extraordinary work during a visit to the Museum of the Future in Dubai, and meeting and working with many of the AV Living Legends honored here.
What makes these moments memorable is not just the novelty or thrill. They reflect the relationships, creativity and pride that come from seeing ideas brought to life through a career in the AV industry.
CI: What has been your greatest professional accomplishment to date?
Bousman: Honestly, my greatest professional accomplishment has been the opportunity to learn, grow and evolve with a forward-thinking industry leader over so many years. When I joined the company fresh out of graduate school, I never imagined I would build such a long career here. But each new challenge created new opportunities, and each opportunity opened the door to further growth, leadership and impact.
That journey has allowed me to build a career that has continually evolved alongside the business. AVI-SPL has truly been a place where I can grow, stretch, and contribute in meaningful ways.
Today, I’m especially honored to lead our sustainability strategy because it gives me the opportunity to help shape the company’s future. ESG is not only important from a values perspective. It’s a value creation strategy that helps strengthen the resilience and long-term sustainability of the business.
CI: What has been your biggest professional regret to date?
Bousman: I wouldn’t describe it as a regret, but in 2013, I took a nearly two-year break from AVI-SPL to join a local startup that was pioneering distributed low-voltage infrastructure for lighting in retail applications. I’ve long been interested in how technology can help shrink — rather than expand — our environmental footprint, so the opportunity aligned with something I cared deeply about.
Although the startup did not succeed, the experience was incredibly valuable. When I returned to AVI-SPL in 2015, I came back with an even stronger appreciation for the role company culture plays in creating an environment where people can thrive and grow. I also came back with a renewed belief that startup energy doesn’t have to disappear in a large organization. Here, we call that intrapreneurship!
CI: What’s the best advice or pearl of wisdom you either received during your career or came to realize on your own?
Bousman: Be open. Be open to new ideas, to other people’s perspectives and to whatever changes, losses and gains that life brings. Openness helps you meet what comes next with curiosity instead of fear. Often, that’s where growth begins. It’s certainly what has kept me learning, adapting and going throughout my career.
Would you like to nominate a peer or colleague — or perhaps yourself — to be part of this #AVLivingLegends series? If so, just email Dan Ferrisi!
