Jim Chirico is President and Chief Executive Officer of Avaya, Inc., which enables the mission critical, real-time communication applications of the world’s most important operations. He assumed his new role on October 1, 2017, after previously serving as Chief Operating Officer and Global Sales Leader.

Jim brings depth of experience and consistent results as a business and operational leader in the technology industry, successfully leading teams in sales, worldwide operations, manufacturing and development. Since joining Avaya in 2008, he has been instrumental in the development of the company’s industry-leading business model, including record EBITDA performance, gross margin expansion and best-in-class Net Promoter Score.

In his previous role as COO, Jim was responsible for Global Sales, Global Operations, Human Resources and Quality. Jim optimized Avaya’s global business processes, stabilized sales and has led the company’s effort for Chapter 11 Emergence. In addition, he drove cross-functional alignment of key initiatives, including integration of all acquisitions and enterprise restructuring efforts.

Jim joined Avaya in January 2008 from Seagate Technology, where he was Executive Vice President, Global Operations, Development and Manufacturing. At Seagate, he led a team of more than 50,000 employees located in 14 facilities worldwide, successfully driving step-function change in the operational effectiveness of the organization.

Jim began his career at IBM in 1980, progressing through line leadership and corporate assignment positions to become a Site General Manager and WW Manufacturing Leader. He received a B.S. in Marketing from Providence College in Rhode Island.

Simon Harrison is Senior Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer, leading the global marketing function to engage new and existing customers and partners, drive adoption of the company’s software solutions and support Avaya as the leading player in a dynamic digital communications market.

Simon joined Avaya in 2020 from leading research and advisory firm, Gartner, where he was research director and lead analyst for the Unified Communications and Contact Center market. In a career spanning over 25 years he has been a thought leader, product strategist, marketer and consultant in the communications solutions industry. Prior to Gartner, he held leadership roles in Marketing, Sales, Product Marketing and Product Management for companies like Cirrus, Vocalcom, Siebel Systems and others.

Anthony Bartolo is Executive Vice President and Chief Product Officer. He is responsible for driving Avaya’s leadership through its product portfolio, which includes oversight of product development, product management, emerging technologies and corporate strategy across the company’s premise and cloud-based Unified Communications, Contact Center and Collaboration solutions.

Anthony returned to Avaya as an accomplished, proven communications industry and product leader with a career spanning nearly three decades. Previously, he served as Executive Vice President and Chief Product Officer at Tata Communications Limited and in senior executive roles previously at Avaya and Nortel.

Anthony received his Bachelor of Engineering degree with Honours from the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology in Melbourne, Australia.

Senior Vice President of U.S. Sales and Delivery where he is responsible for sales and delivery of product and professional services across all customer segments, both direct and partner-led.

Frank joined Avaya in 2019 with more than 25 years of sales and engineering experience. Prior to joining Avaya Frank led the Advanced Solutions unit at Verizon Enterprise Solutions, a group inclusive of Verizon's global Collaboration, Customer Experience and Security practices. In his 16 years at Verizon and several years at ATT, Frank held various VP roles in strategy, business development and operations in the Enterprise space.

Frank holds a Bachelor of Electrical Engineering from Manhattan College and a Masters of Business Administration from Hofstra University.

Stephen Spears is Executive Vice President and Chief Revenue Officer, delivering new levels of client success for customers and partners by overseeing the strategy, performance, and alignment of revenue operations for Avaya. Stephen has full ownership of the company’s revenue generating organizations, and customer lifecycle and go-to-client functions, including global sales and marketing, partner management and all channel related activities to help to accelerate execution on the company’s overall growth strategy, directly benefitting Avaya’s customers.

Stephen’s management career spans nearly three decades and includes extensive go-to-market experience as well as deep expertise in the SaaS and Cloud arena. He joined Avaya in 2020, and spent the previous 17 years in a variety of key senior leadership roles at SAP, most recently serving as Chief Revenue Officer of SAP SuccessFactors.

Stephen holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from Brigham Young University.

Todd Zerbe is Senior Vice President, Engineering. Todd leads the company’s engineering functions, teams and programs globally, helping Avaya to innovate the best platform and applications meeting the needs of customers across multiple vertical markets and geographies. He brings more than twenty-five years of software development experience to Avaya. Most recently he served as Senior Vice President of Product Development at Blackboard, Inc., an educational technology company. Prior to that, he held senior-level positions with contact center solution providers including Genesys and Interactive Intelligence Group. At Genesys, Zerbe was Senior Vice President of Product Development for their CCaaS product. Throughout his career, he has successfully managed large teams and deployments of multiple product lines with a strong focus on contact center technologies.

Todd holds a Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering/Computer Engineering from Purdue University.

Oscar Moncada is the Director of Global IT Operations at Tesla. Oscar and his organization are responsible for Tesla's internal customer facing support and the overall face of IT. Oscar’s organization includes Desktop Support, Help Desk, Manufacturing Support, AV & Events, IT Field Services, Store & Service Support, Unified Communications, Large Site Builds, M&A’s and Access Control. These teams support different business functions which include Corporate, Manufacturing, Engineering, Retail (Stores & Service Centers), Design Center, and Tesla Energy.

In 2012, Oscar and his team laid the foundation and quickly evolved and matured IT processes during the company’s critical growth and extremely high ramp-up phase. In this process, Tesla on boarded an average of 160+ new hires weekly, built several new assembly lines, expanded to 450+ remote sites and delivered several groundbreaking company announcements.

Before joining Tesla, Oscar was the Manager, Global IT Support at Volcano Corporation which manufactures intravascular imaging medical devices (now Philips Healthcare). In that capacity, Oscar led all customer facing support as revenue increased 30% year over year. Prior to his time at Volcano, Oscar held a variety of support roles in the financial industry.

Colleen Jamieson is Executive Director of the International Avaya User Group (IAUG). Prior to assuming this position, Colleen has supported IAUG in various capacities over the past several years, including being responsible for membership, events and program planning and execution, operations management and annual strategic planning.

She has worked with technology associations and user groups for over ten years.

At Avaya ENGAGE, you’ll get inspired by stories and case studies from visionary keynotes. Acquire knowledge from industry experts and thought leaders that will help you achieve maximum value from your Avaya solutions. Address today’s critical business challenges through roundtable discussions, hands-on workshops and one-on-one Avaya support. Enrich your career by deciding how technology transforms your organization and learn from your peers in the Professional Development breakout track. You will have access to the entire Avaya ecosystem: executives, solutions experts, partners, IAUG members, and Avaya customers.

And of course, have some fun! Network and enjoy dinner and drinks at our welcome appreciation party, visit the solutions expo for Avaya and technical partner solutions as well as many fun activities, and experience excellent entertainment at our closing party.

Networking with your peers is valuable to your professional growth. We ensure it’s done in a safe environment. We’ve taken the steps to limit onsite attendance and follow local health and safety guidelines. Our first live event in a year might be the best experience ever. Don’t miss Avaya ENGAGE 2021.