Husain appointed ABB’s CTO

ABB, the leading power and automation technology group, has appointed Bazmi Husain as Chief Technology Officer (CTO), effective January 1, 2016. Husain, an expert in power and automation who has been with ABB for more than 30 years, will report to CEO Ulrich Spiesshofer.

Husain is currently Managing Director of ABB India Ltd. In his new role, he will be based in Bangalore, India, with an office in Switzerland. His successor will be announced in due course.

As Chief Technology Officer, Husain will be responsible for overseeing all aspects of ABB’s global R&D, which serves the entire company, its scientists and engineers, and for the R&D activities within ABB’s divisions. Reporting to him will be the heads of R&D at Group and division level as well as ABB’s venture capital arm, ABB Technology Ventures. With locations in seven countries, ABB’s corporate research centers bring together an international team of highly skilled scientists across a variety of disciplines. ABB spends $1.5 billion annually on R&D and employs some 8,500 technologists.

“Bazmi Husain’s unrivalled know-how will drive technological innovation across multiple disciplines to support our profitable growth ambitions and the paradigm shifts in power and automation,” said CEO Spiesshofer. “Innovation is a key element of our Next Level strategy and Husain brings a unique combination of skills and experience to the role of CTO.He has an in-depth understanding of power and automation technologies, and a solid understanding of marketplace dynamics and customer needs. Under his leadership we will continue to apply and develop the ‘Internet of Things, Services and People’, as well as functional hardware, electronics, software and services to give our customers the full potential of power and automation.”

Husain, an Indian citizen, joined ABB in 1981, and managed a variety of local business units and divisions in India and Singapore before taking responsibility for ABB’s Corporate Research Center (CRC) in India in 2002. From 2005 through 2009 he was director of ABB’s CRC in Västerås, Sweden, and also led ABB’s global automation technology research.

From 2009 to 2011 Husain was head of ABB’s Smart Grid industry segment initiative. In this role, he was instrumental in pioneering agreements with partners such as General Motors and Deutsche Telekom, which have helped make ABB a leading name in smart grid solutions.