Ken Francis departs Eagle Eye Networks, Dean Drako adds title of president

AUSTIN, Texas—Ken Francis, longtime president of Eagle Eye Networks (EEN), has left the company, with CEO Dean Drako now serving as both CEO and president of the cloud video surveillance provider.

In a statement announcing Francis’ departure, Drako noted that are no immediate plans to appoint a new president. 

Francis joined Eagle Eye Networks in 2016 at a critical juncture for the company. “During his tenure he oversaw Eagle Eye Networks’ growth from a start-up with one location and a handful of employees to where we are today, a global organization with offices and data centers around the world, thousands of channel partners, a vast network of technology partners, and customers in 90 countries,” Drako said.

Francis explained the origins of Eagle Eye Networks in a 2021 interview and how the company became a pioneer in the cloud movement within security.

“Brivo was an existing company that Dean bought in 2015, but Eagle Eye was born in 2012,” he said. “Dean and several of his engineers built the company from scratch in Austin, Texas. The first products rolled off the line in January 2014. I met Dean and his team in the middle of 2015. At the time, there were only nine employees.”  

Francis noted that Drako asked him to move to Austin and help with his business. “I moved to Austin in September 2016 and became the president of Eagle Eye. I was employee No. 17. Today we have more than 300 employees.”

In his statement, Drako thanked Francis “for his leadership and countless contributions to making Eagle Eye Networks the market leader in cloud video surveillance. Ken has delivered an unwavering dedication to the Eagle Eye mission of making businesses more efficient and the world a safer place.

“Ken’s commitment and amazing service has helped position Eagle Eye for our next stage of business growth. I wish him well on his next adventure.”

Eagle Eye Networks also announced that longtime employee Hans Kahler was promoted to chief operating officer, having served as vice president of operations since 2013. “Hans has excelled in all of his roles since joining Eagle Eye as employee number six in 2013,” Drako said.

In addition, Dan Watkins has joined the company as acting chief revenue officer. Watkins served as CEO and founder of DataBased, a Salt Lake City-based provider of software and services products for sales organizations and individuals, since 2020. “Dan is an expert in helping tech companies build their business and reach new stages of growth,” Drako noted.