President and Chief Executive Officer, Adi Global Distribution
Search every verified Robert Aarnes interview, podcast appearance, and on-the-record quote — each transcript cross-checked by AI and human review to confirm speaker identity. Robert Aarnes, President and CEO of ADI Global Distribution, spoke about his career and leadership approach at a September 18, 2026, fireside chat hosted by San Diego State University's Fowler College of Business. He discussed his path from the U.S. Naval Academy and five and a half years of Navy service in San Diego to an MBA and later roles in private equity and consumer electronics. Aarnes described leadership as focused on the people being led rather than oneself, and advocated a "go slow to go fast" approach to team coordination. He also recounted instances of pushing back against superiors when he believed it was the right course, even at potential risk to his job. On August 4, 2026, Aarnes rang the opening bell at the New York Stock Exchange as ADI Global Distribution began trading as an independent public company under the ticker ADIG, following more than a decade leading the business within two manufacturing parent companies. In a podcast interview with the National Association of Wholesaler-Distributors, he noted that ADI had previously operated under manufacturing-centric boards, KPIs, and values, which created challenges for a distribution business competing for capital. He also discussed efforts to improve data management, citing that the company had 75 ways of classifying the United States and describing a year-and-a-half project to harmonize and centralize that data, which he said was a prerequisite for future AI initiatives.
Entrepreneurship and Building a Sustainable Career: Growth, Reinvention & What's Next. A fireside chat with Rob Aarnes, MBA alumnus and President & CEO of ADI Global Friday, September 18th 2026 11:30am-1pm SDSU Fowler College of Business, Page Pavilion
On August 4, 2026, CEO Rob Aarnes rang the opening bell at the New York Stock Exchange as ADI Global Distribution (NYSE: ADIG) began trading as an independent public company, after more than a decade leading the business inside two different manufacturing parents companies. In this episode of Distributors Deliver, NAW CEO Eric Hoplin sits down with Aarnes to talk about that day, the unconventional path that took him from the Naval Academy to a struggling eyewear startup to the CEO of one of the largest low-voltage distributors in the world, and what it took, behind the scenes, to separate a d…
ADI Global CEO Rob Aarnes joins Ashley Mastronardi on NYSE Live to discuss their companys gameplan.
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