HARMAN Appoints Henry Tirri as Chief Technology Officer

(Photo: Business Wire)

STAMFORD, Conn.--()--HARMAN International Industries, Incorporated (NYSE:HAR), the premier connected technologies company for automotive, consumer and enterprise markets, today announced that Henry Tirri will join the company as Executive Vice President and Chief Technology Officer, effective June 1, 2016. Tirri will join the HARMAN Executive Committee and report to Dinesh C. Paliwal, Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer of HARMAN.

Tirri will lead HARMAN's technology strategy, with responsibility for all R&D activities and advanced research projects, to bring innovative high-impact technical solutions to HARMAN’s portfolio of products and services. Based in Stamford, he will oversee directly more than 60 engineers and technologists in HARMAN’s Corporate Technology and indirectly approximately 12,000 engineers throughout the world.

“Henry is a world-class leader in technology strategy, with deep expertise in the disciplines that touch our businesses, particularly centered around the Connected Car, mobility, analytics and IoT. His vision extends far beyond our current universe into technologies that will define the future of the connected lifestyle,” said Paliwal. Henry has been living in Silicon Valley for more than a decade and has built an excellent network with leading corporate and academic innovation hubs globally. “Henry’s tech network in California and his global view, his mastery of complex technology development and delivery and his background in technology transfer and commercialization will be a significant advantage to our internal technology teams, customers and partners around the world, and we are thrilled he is joining HARMAN.”

With a unique background as an academic, corporate technologist, executive and entrepreneur, Tirri has extensive experience leading and converting cutting edge technology development, product management and intellectual property into high growth business opportunities on a global scale. From 2004 to 2015, Tirri held technology leadership roles of increasing responsibility at Nokia, helping usher the transformation of the company from a mobile device manufacturer to one of today’s leaders in communication infrastructure and technology licensing. As Executive Vice President and CTO, and member of the Nokia Leadership Team, he was responsible for setting Nokia’s technology agenda, owned all forward-looking R&D and drove Nokia’s core innovation.

Prior to joining Nokia, Tirri was a tenured Professor of Computer Science, Head of the Graduate School and the Intelligent Systems Laboratory at the University of Helsinki, leading a world-class research group in probabilistic modeling. He has held various academic positions including Visiting Scholar at the University of Texas at Austin; Research Scientist at Microelectronics and Computer Technology Corporation (MCC); Member of Technical Staff at AT&T Bell Laboratories; and Visiting Scientist at NASA AMES, Visiting Professor at Stanford University and an Adjunct Professor of Civil Engineering at University of California at Berkeley. He is the author and co-author of numerous academic papers in various fields of computer science, social sciences and statistics and holds many patents in information technology.

Tirri holds Bachelors, Masters and Ph.D. degrees in Computer Science from the University of Helsinki, Finland and an Honorary Doctorate from University of Tampere. His personal research interests span from Artificial Intelligence, machine learning, information theory and analytics to the programmable world/Internet of Things.

ABOUT HARMAN

HARMAN (harman.com) designs and engineers connected products and solutions for automakers, consumers, and enterprises worldwide, including connected car systems, audio and visual products, enterprise automation solutions; and connected services. With leading brands including AKG®, Harman Kardon®, Infinity®, JBL®, Lexicon®, Mark Levinson® and Revel®, HARMAN is admired by audiophiles, musicians and the entertainment venues where they perform around the world. More than 25 million automobiles on the road today are equipped with HARMAN audio and connected car systems. The Company’s software services power billions of mobile devices and systems that are connected, integrated and secure across all platforms, from work and home to car and mobile. HARMAN has a workforce of approximately 29,000 people across the Americas, Europe, and Asia and reported sales of $6.7 billion during the 12 months ended March 31, 2016. The Company’s shares are traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol NYSE:HAR.

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© 2016 HARMAN International Industries, Incorporated. All rights reserved. Harman Kardon, Infinity, JBL, Lexicon and Mark Levinson are trademarks of HARMAN International Industries, Incorporated, registered in the United States and/or other countries. AKG is a trademark of AKG Acoustics GmbH, registered in the United States and/or other countries. Features, specifications and appearance are subject to change without notice.

Contacts

Darrin Shewchuk, +1 203-328-3500
Senior Director, Corporate Communications
darrin.shewchuk@harman.com

Contacts

Darrin Shewchuk, +1 203-328-3500
Senior Director, Corporate Communications
darrin.shewchuk@harman.com