Search For Poly CEO Is On As Joe Burton Steps Down, Former Polycom Leader Named Interim CEO

Joe Burton, Poly's president and CEO, has stepped down. Robert Hagerty, chairman of Poly's board of directors and former CEO of Polycom, is serving as Poly's leader while the company searches for its permanent replacement.

Poly announced a leadership transition Monday as Joe Burton (pictured), the company's president and CEO for more than three years, stepped down.

While Santa Cruz, Calif.-based Poly searches for Burton's replacement, Robert Hagerty, chairman of Poly's board of directors and former CEO of Polycom, will serve in his stead as interim CEO, Poly said.

Under Burton's leadership, Plantronics and Polycom last March said they would be rebranding themselves as Poly after headset maker Plantronics bought enterprise unified communications and videoconferencing provider Polycom in 2018 in a $2 billion blockbuster acquisition.

[Related: Plantronics, Polycom Rebrand As Poly; Unified Channel Program, Partner Tools Soon To Come]

The company said that Burton's decision to step down as Poly's leader came by way of mutual agreement with the board, and that Burton will work with Hagerty to transition responsibilities. Hagerty will continue to serve as chairman of the board and Marv Tseu, vice chairman of the board, will become the company's lead independent director while Hagerty serves in the interim CEO role, Poly said in a statement.

Burton became CEO of Plantronics in 2016 after working in a variety of roles for the company for nearly a decade, including CTO and chief commercial officer. Right before his tenure with Plantronics and then, Poly, Burton had a stint at Polycom where he served as the company's chief strategy and technology officer. Prior to that, Burton worked at Cisco Systems for 13 years as director of engineering,and on the leadership team for the tech giant's UC and collaboration software divisions.

"[Burton] has been a strong advocate for the company's strategy and had the vision to create a comprehensive unified communications solutions provider across all headset, phone and video endpoints. He orchestrated and executed the Plantronics and Polycom merger, creating a leading global company with a substantial footprint, relentless focus on innovation and refreshed product portfolio. While the Board remains committed to this strategy and vision, ultimately, [Burton] and the Board mutually agreed that now is the right time to identify a new CEO to accelerate the execution of our vision and growth strategy," said Hagerty in a statement.

Hagerty served as CEO of Polycom for 13 years until 2010. After that, the industry veteran served as CEO of Icontrol Networks, a connected home platform maker that was sold to Comcast in 2017. Hagerty also served as interium CEO of Motiv, a consumer electronics firm.