Kastle Systems International appoints new CEO

FALLS CHURCH, Va.—Kastle Systems International, an integration company that specializes in managed security solutions and services based here, recently announced the appointment of Haniel Lynn as chief executive officer, effective immediately.

Lynn will assume the new role of CEO across KSI's family of five security companies, including Kastle Systems, Mutual Security, Stat Land Security, Urban Alarm and CheckVideo. Former CEO Piyush Sodha will continue to be actively involved in the business, serving as co-chairman and co-owner, alongside chairman and majority owner, Mark Ein.

“I can think of no one better than Haniel to lead Kastle in our next stage of growth and advancement,” Ein said in the announcement. “We've selected a very strong leader at a time when Kastle is in a very strong position. Today's pace of change is exponential and Kastle's role in the transformation of the security industry has never been more important. Haniel is unique in his ability to translate vision and strategy into world-class execution, bringing together teams and partners to drive results while inspiring a culture of teamwork. His extensive experience combined with his strong core values makes him the perfect choice to lead Kastle as we embark on this important next phase of our journey.”

Sodha added, “Beyond his experience serving as a global operating executive at one of the world's most respected B2B companies, Haniel embodies a set of values that aligns with our culture of innovation, service, and teamwork. Mark and I are excited to work with Haniel as we continue to make significant investments to grow the business and deliver the highest quality security services to the market.”

Lynn, a 16-year veteran of CEB, now Gartner, has more than 25 years of global operating and executive management experience growing and scaling enterprises from startup to $1 billion. He most recently served as group president of CEB, now Gartner's Best Practices & Decision Support business, and as member of the company's executive leadership team and has previously held roles at GE Information Services, McKinsey & Company, and LYTE, a technology startup. Lynn graduated from the University of Pennsylvania and holds an MBA from the Wharton School.

Lynn told Security Systems News that he is excited to be joining Kastle at an important time in the company's history, and during a time when the industry is evolving so rapidly.

“The opportunity to lead this business at just an interesting juncture, with such a strong foundation, was really exciting to me and just such a privilege,” Lynn told SSN, noting that he was attracted to Kastle for three key reasons. “I was attracted to the record of innovation and market leading products that the company has. Second, I loved the way the company talks about and focuses on the customer and serving the customer. Finally, I was drawn to the culture and the emphasis on people inside the company. On this last one especially, I believe with great people and great culture, you can do amazing things.”

He continued, “From a business perspective against that backdrop, I think security is an industry going through enormous change, be it in the development or evolution of technology or the shifting needs and expectations of the market, or in how customers are looking to buy and engage with partners in the space. In and through all that change is huge opportunity to me.”

Looking to 2019 and beyond, Lynn said, “I'd love to understand opportunities for us to accelerate growth, whether that be continuing to build in geographies, or product capabilities, or end markets. We have plans already underway to expand into Miami, Atlanta, and Denver in the near-term and that will be a great way to support a bigger base of clients in those markets. We've also recently made inroads into the K-12 market, and I'd explore how we could accelerate that or other end markets.”

Lynn pointed out that with the market facing an explosion of new technology, from cloud, to video, to analytics, to mobile, to Internet of Things, “that will really enable a different level of service and support for clients than was ever conceived of before,” he said. “And with all of these technologies arriving on the scene and coming together, I believe systems integrators are really instrumental to help their clients keep abreast of these technology changes and to help put them together to achieve their goals.”