iRobot announced the successor to its longtime CEO Colin Angle on Tuesday. Gary Cohen, who previously served as chief executive at Timex and Qualitor Automotive, will lead the company, marking a major change from his predecessor, Angle, the company’s co-founder who served in the role from 1997 until January of This year.
Cohen joins iRobot at a tumultuous time. In early 2024, after regulators canceled Amazon’s proposed acquisition, the Roomba maker laid off nearly a third of its workforce.
In 2002, iRobot effectively gave birth to the robot vacuum cleaner, launching what is, to date, the only mainstream category of home robot. However, in the two decades since, the company has struggled to diversify its portfolio beyond Roomba – but certainly not for lack of effort. In the meantime, competition has become much tougher, with many players offering lower-priced alternatives, with iRobot continuing to focus on the high-end sector.
iRobot Chairman Andrew Miller says the company has already made “significant progress” in its ongoing post-Amazon restructuring.
“Gary’s leadership qualities and areas of expertise, including business growth, product innovation, brand building, global distribution and operational efficiencies, are ideally suited to seize the opportunities ahead. to iRobot,” Miller notes in a statement. “His proven track record of successfully leading global consumer businesses through challenging times gives us even greater confidence that he is the right person to lead the company on its path back to profitable growth.” »
Cohen himself represents a change in direction for the company. Angle and co-founders Helen Greiner and Rodney Brooks are all roboticists by training and met at the MIT Artificial Intelligence Lab. Cohen’s experience is much more rooted in the boardroom. It’s likely the new CEO will have to make tougher decisions as the company works to turn around its fortunes.
“I look forward to working with the Board of Directors, the management team,” Cohen said, “and our employees across the company to reinvigorate the category, create value, bring new products to market and continue to build the future of consumer robotics”.
Interim CEO Glen Weinstein will stay on for two more months as iRobot transitions to new management.
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