Avaya‘s C-Suite shakeup has continued with the appointment of Kamilah Thomas as its new Senior Vice President and Chief People Officer.
Starting her new role today, Wednesday, June 3, Thomas showcases over two decades of global human resources leadership and organisational transformation expertise. She will spearhead Avaya’s worldwide human resources and culture transformation initiatives.
Avaya stresses these efforts are pivotal to its mission to foster a high-performance culture and to progress its “Destination Place to Work” journey. In her multifaceted role, Thomas also oversees the company’s Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging (DEI&B) endeavours, including steering Avaya United employee resource group communities. Avaya explained that her leadership is instrumental in cultivating an equitable and inclusive workplace culture.
Alan Masarek, CEO of Avaya, said:
Kamilah’s extensive experience in transforming organisations and building inclusive cultures is the right fit for Avaya. Her leadership will be instrumental in advancing Avaya’s efforts as we accelerate the evolution of our workplace into a more dynamic environment where every employee can thrive.”
Before her role at Avaya, Thomas served as the Senior Vice President of People and Workplace Experience at Roku. Avaya says she played a pivotal role in scaling the organisation by increasing the workforce by 56 percent and contributing to its profitable growth.
Prior to her tenure at Roku, Thomas was the Chief People Officer at Dow Jones & Company. There, she was integral to the enterprise’s digital transformation, supporting over 7,000 employees across 50 markets. At A+E Networks, as the Co-head of the People & Culture department, she facilitated a CEO transition and led the HR transformation for more than 2,000 employees.
Thomas is a member of the Board of Directors for MasterCraft Boat Holdings, Inc., where they contribute to the Compensation & Corporate Governance and Nominating committees. Avaya emphasises that this role is part of her extensive experience in human resources leadership and organisational transformation.
Thomas will be based in Avaya’s corporate HQ in Morristown, New Jersey, and will report directly to Masarek.
Avaya’s 13 Months Of C-Suite Change
Thomas’s appointment is the latest addition to Avaya’s executive team in a significant shakeup that began in June 2023.
Ahead of last year’s Avaya Engage, Avaya announced three critical C-Suite hires — Amy O’Keefe as its new Chief Financial Officer, Omar Javaid as its new Chief Product Officer, and Josh Mueller as its new Chief Marketing Officer.
Perhaps Avaya’s most essential hire was CFO O’Keefe, who brought 30 years of financial expertise and a proven track record to the company. Before joining Avaya, O’Keefe served as CFO of WW International (formerly Weight Watchers International), where she played a key role in the company’s rationalization and realignment strategy.
Meanwhile, in November, Avaya confirmed Soren Abildgaard as its new Chief Technology Officer and Marylou “ML” Maco as its new Chief Revenue and Customer Experience Officer.
What Were The Big Announcements At This Year’s Avaya Engage?
At this year’s Avaya Engage, in May, Avaya and RingCentral announced they will offer Avaya customers a range of new tools and solutions, including a new hybrid offering.
The hybrid solution will integrate RingCentral’s AI-powered cloud business communications capabilities with Avaya’s Aura platform. This integration promises seamless collaboration between users of both Avaya Aura and Avaya Cloud Office (ACO). Additionally, it allows Avaya enterprise customers to utilise either Aura or ACO for call control functionality.
The companies highlighted the enhanced value of the hybrid solution by showcasing the ability to combine existing Avaya solutions with RingCentral’s video calling, messaging, and RingSense AI features.
Also announced during Avaya Engage was Avaya’s acquisition of Edify, which the company says will feed UC, CX and AI technologies into its Avaya Experience Platform (AXP).
Avaya will also acquire a UC platform that transforms agents into “ambassadors” by integrating them on a single platform with one-click voice, chat, and video collaboration. Significant enhancements to the open CCaaS Avaya Experience Platform include Edify’s AI-driven customer journey orchestration and workflow capabilities. Additionally, Avaya plans to onboard new engineering talent to strengthen its organisation further.
