SCOTTSDALE, Ariz., Sept. 24, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Axon (Nasdaq:
AAXN), the global leader in connected public safety technologies,
today announced the addition of Jeff
Kunins as Chief Product Officer (CPO) and Executive Vice
President (EVP) of Software, effective September 23, 2019.
Mr. Kunins is an expert in cloud-based voice assistants and
speech technology. He is joining Axon's leadership team from
Amazon, where he most recently served as Vice President (VP) of
Alexa Entertainment and led Alexa's global experience, developer
platform, and strategic partnerships for music, video, and podcasts
across over 100 million Alexa-enabled devices. Mr. Kunins also
spent 8 years at voice services pioneer Tellme Networks (acquired
by Microsoft in 2007), where he served as VP of Product. Tellme was
one of the most direct ancestors of today's generation of voice
assistants, and its enterprise SaaS platform powered billions of
phone calls for Fortune 100 customers including AT&T, Verizon,
American Express, UPS and Merrill Lynch.
For over 25 years, Mr. Kunins has helped invent and deliver
services used by hundreds of millions of customers around the
world, serving in diverse roles including VP of Kindle's global
reading experience at Amazon, General Manager (GM) of Product and
Design at Skype and GM of Windows Live Messenger at Microsoft. Jeff
is an alumnus of Carnegie Mellon
University and lives in Seattle with his wife and three children. Jeff
will lead the continued growth of Axon's global software hub in
Seattle.
"Public safety officials and the communities they serve deserve
products designed by top tech talent. Jeff's appointment as CPO
puts us in a great position to keep inventing on behalf of the
public safety market and delivering disruptive, world-changing
technology that supports our mission to protect life," says Axon
CEO and founder, Rick Smith. "We're
excited to welcome Jeff as we continue to make SaaS the backbone of
the Axon Network and further accelerate the next phase of our
growth."
"At this moment in history, Axon's unrelenting mission to
obsolete the bullet and uplift social justice in the world couldn't
be more relevant or more vitally important," says Mr. Kunins. "I
believe in the power of technology to radically improve
transparency, accountability, and safety for both law enforcement
and the citizens they protect. It's an honor to be joining the Axon
team to be a part of making it happen."
An equity inducement award of 470,400 restricted stock units
(RSUs) was granted to Mr. Kunins in connection with the
commencement of his employment. Of the RSUs comprising Mr. Kunins'
inducement award, 14,400 RSUs will vest two-thirds on the first
anniversary and one-third on the second anniversary of the grant
date. An additional 9,000 RSUs will vest on February 14, 2020. This portion of the award will
accelerate in the event of a termination without cause or a
resignation for good reason following a change in control. 9,600
RSUs will vest in equal annual amounts on the first, second, and
third anniversaries of the grant date, subject to continued service
through each vesting date. 5,400 RSUs will vest on February 14, 2020, subject to continued service
through the vesting date. Additionally, Mr. Kunins received 432,000
eXponential Stock Units (XSUs), which are grants of RSUs, each with
a term of approximately eight and a half years, that vest in 12
equal tranches. Each of the 12 tranches will vest upon the
achievement of both a market capitalization goal and an internal
operational goal based on revenue or adjusted EBITDA. For more
information about Axon's eXponential Stock Unit plan visit
https://www.axon.com/xspp-faq.
About Axon
Axon is a global network of devices, apps, training and people
that helps public safety personnel become smarter and safer. With a
mission of protecting life, our technologies give customers the
confidence, focus and time they need to protect their communities.
Our products impact every aspect of a public safety officer's
day-to-day experience.
We work hard for those who put themselves in harm's way for all
of us. To date, there are more than 397,800 software seats booked
on the Axon network around the world and more than 221,000 lives
have been saved with the Axon network of devices, apps, training
and people. Learn more at www.axon.com or by calling (800)
978-2737.
Amazon, Alexa and Kindle are trademarks of Amazon, American
Express is a trademark of American Express Marketing &
Development Corp., AT&T is a trademark of AT&T Intellectual
Property, Facebook is a trademark of Facebook, Inc., Merrill Lynch
is a trademark of Bank of America Corporation, Microsoft, Skype and
Windows are trademarks of Microsoft Corporation, Twitter is a
trademark of Twitter, Inc. and Verizon is a trademark of Verizon
Trademark Services, LLC. Axon and the Delta Logo are trademarks of
Axon Enterprise, Inc., some of which are registered in the US and
other countries. For more information, visit www.axon.com/legal.
All rights reserved.
Follow Axon here:
- Axon on Twitter: https://twitter.com/axon_us
- Axon on Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/Axon.ProtectLife/
Note to Investors
Please visit http://investor.axon.com,
https://www.axon.com/press, www.twitter.com/axon_us and
https://www.facebook.com/Axon.ProtectLife/ where Axon discloses
information about the company, its financial information and its
business.
CONTACT:
Carley Partridge
PR and Communications Manager
Press@axon.com
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