New appointments at Vertiv amid a focus on R&D

Vertiv has announced the appointment of Stephen Liang to the newly created role of chief technology officer (CTO). Liang will be focused broadly on innovation across the organisation by aligning and prioritising technology strategies with the market trends and customers’ needs. He has been with the organisation since 1994, most recently serving as president for Asia Pacific.

As part of Vertiv’s planned increase in research and development (R&D) over the next several years, Liang will play a key coordination role, working with the company’s line of business leaders to fuel long-term growth across products and services.

“This is a critical moment for Vertiv and our industry. Innovation, agility and the ability to deliver smart, sustainable solutions around the globe are the keys to our success,” CEO Rob Johnson said.

“With Stephen’s deep experience in evaluating market trends and driving product innovation as well as his proven leadership across our organisation, I can’t imagine anyone being more prepared to help us navigate the opportunities ahead.”

The company also announced that Robert Zhu, President for Vertiv North Asia, and Anand Sanghi, President for Vertiv Australia, New Zealand, Southeast Asia and India (ASI), have been appointed to their respective new positions, reporting directly to Johnson as members of the executive leadership team.

Sanghi and Zhu will be responsible for driving customer intimacy and accelerating growth in their respective regions. Zhu was most recently president of Vertiv for Greater China and Sanghi was president of Vertiv’s Asia market.

“Both Robert and Anand are experienced leaders and have demonstrated exceptional customer focus and a belief in our culture during their time with Vertiv,” Johnson said.

“Both regions possess the ability to grow the top and bottom line, and additional focus on these two areas will allow us to respond to our customers faster — a key tenet in these moves.”

Image caption: Stephen Liang moves to the newly created CTO role.