Arrow Electronics is taking its time to find a permanent chief executive, with interim CEO William “Bill” Austen stressing the search is deliberate and not a rushed process.
Austen says the decision is critical for the distributor’s future
Sean Kerins stepped down from the top role at the IT distribution giant nearly a year ago. Austen took over in mid-September of last year, yet Arrow has not named a replacement. The delay comes despite the fact that the company is a major player in its industry segments with a tremendous legacy.
“[Arrow has] a tremendous legacy,” Austen told CRN. “It’s got a tremendous amount of respect within the industry segments that it plays in. Trying to find somebody that gets all that, that has the right value set, that has the scale of ability—not that I have a whole bunch of ability—we’re not looking for a step-up candidate. We’re looking for somebody that can operate at that scale already.”
Austen noted that Arrow is a complex organization full of sales and marketing wizards. The interim leader said the board is specifically looking for someone operationally focused rather than just another high-profile sales leader.
The process is slow because the company is too big to rush
Executive search firms have informed Arrow that CEO searches typically take nine to 13 months. Austen said he would have expected to name a successor by now, but the scale of the decision makes it harder.
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“This isn’t a willy-nilly replacement. We’re trying to find the right person that has the right skill set, the right value set, and who understands how the company works,” Austen explained. “So it’s a little longer process.”
He added that the question of when a full-time chief will be hired comes up frequently in meetings with employees and investors. The search committee has reviewed a tremendous amount of people but remains in the narrowing down phase.
For solution providers working with Arrow, the timing of the transition matters less than the direction the new leader takes the company. Dave Van Hoy, president and founder of the Emeryville, Calif.-based Advanced Systems Group, believes the next CEO will define how Arrow engages with the channel.
Arrow needs to decide what it wants to be, and I know that, at least from the point of view of people like us, we’re looking to distribution for a lot more than just carrying the paper and placing an order,” Van Hoy said. “We want distributors to bring more services, more value. Where I think Arrow could do better is helping us with enablement for my sales teams.”
