Kornit Digital Expands Executive Leadership Team in North America
Pictured above, L to R: Ilan Elad, president of Kornit Digital Americas; Kyle Garner, North American sales director; and Chris Carson, vice president of sales.
Kornit Digital announces the appointment of two senior sales executives for its North American team. The company notes that this is part of its goal to accelerate growth and enhance its focus on driving business success for current and future customers.
Kornit welcomes Chris Carson as its vice president of sales and Kyle Garner as North American sales director. Kornit states that both additions “will empower a broader range of brands, creators, and producers in the Americas to seamlessly transition from screen printing to digital textiles — enabling them to scale production volumes, streamline supply chains, and achieve faster business growth.”
Formerly the North American sales director for HP’s Industrial Print business, Carson brings over 30 years of experience as a senior sales executive. At HP, he managed a $300 million division. Prior to HP, Carson dedicated over two decades to senior sales leadership roles at Xerox Corporation.
Garner brings more than 30 years of experience, most recently leading the Americas Strategic Accounts organization within HP’s Industrial Print business. His expertise includes managing regional and global sales teams and driving operational excellence. Garner has also held executive positions at Xerox Corporation.
The two have followed eerily similar professional paths, that when pointed out, note that they are a “package deal.” “When these two positions became available, and Kyle and I were both approached, it was kind of a package deal, because we’ve known each other for so long, and we’ve worked together for so long,” says Carson. “Kyle managed the strategic accounts organization at HP, and I managed the commercial print organization at HP Industrial and, and so we’ve got a lot of experience, a lot of synergies, and I think we have a formula that works in a go-to-market strategy.”
The two point out that they’ve worked on numerous strategies, procedures, and projects together, all of which have built a cohesive way of thinking.
“The approach to business from a structure, process, discipline, accountability, a playbook — I would say that it works, and there’s a level of implicit trust between Chris and myself that there are no question marks,” explains Garner.
Internal and External Growth
Like many verticals in the printing industry, the apparel decorating community is experiencing growth in digital technologies. Recognizing the transformative impact of integrating digital printing solutions into traditional workflows, Kornit is equipping its team to deliver support to customers that wish to be a part of this shift. Not only that, the company is looking to support its internal team to put its best foot forward.
During the past few months, the company has created several strategic roles focused on business consulting, marketing, and operational excellence. Carson and Garner are a big part of this strategy.
“We’ve been evangelizing the analog/digital transformation since the inception of our career, right back to 1995 when Xerox came out with digital technology that enabled that, and carried over into HP and now here [at Kornit],” says Garner.
He adds that in their roles, the goal is to create a team that talks to their customers, understands their needs, asks the right questions, and then provides the right technology and resources needed, all with the understanding that digital is complementary to screen printing. And that’s where the internal focus comes in.
“That’s something [ed] have already started,” notes Carson. “[We’re] restructuring the whole sales organization to make sure that we not only take care of our customers, but cover the market and evangelize what digital printing does for this industry, and how it complements the current analog process as well.”
According to the company, it’s a process of external and internal goals to continue to address industry change and support decorators. “Kornit has built a solid foundation worldwide — helping brands, retailers, creators, and producers drive new revenue streams and accelerate business growth through our award-winning direct-to-garment and direct-to-fabric technologies,” says Ilan Elad, president of Kornit Digital Americas. “To advance our mission, the time is right to bring on two proven sales leaders like Chris and Kyle. Both will play an integral role in driving our transition to account management, expanding our regional coverage, enhancing our installed base management strategies, and driving demand for digitally produced apparel products.”
