David Adams
David Adams has over 17 years of senior executive P&L experience in major, global corporations and has held significant CEO, COO, CIO and SVP roles.
Known for his business acumen and change management expertise, Adams is a customer advocate who blends companies’ needs with leading-edge technology solutions. A diverse group of firms have relied on him to replace underperformers and increase bottom-line margins and profits.
Adams is SVP of Services at Axway, a $300 million global software provider. He is presently growing revenue by an average of 19 percent for such firms as Chase Bank, Wells Fargo, Sony, Kraft, Humana and AstraZeneca.
Adams is a change agent and a leader among executives spearheading the design and implementation of global cloud offerings. In locations in dozens of countries, he has been responsible for staffs ranging into the thousands and income in the hundreds of millions of dollars. Working with budgets in excess of $75 million, Adams has both cut and controlled costs while increasing margins and profits. His judgment has earned him the respect and trust of many presidents and CEOs.
From 2002 to 2009, Adams helped lead Sterling Commerce, a $600 million e-commerce and security solutions firm. He was continually promoted to positions of increased responsibility and authority, culminating with his appointment as SVP of Operations & Support. Entrusted with 70 percent of the revenue and 40 percent of the staff (1,100 in 17 countries), Adams improved margins by 10 percent across the board, with some reaching as high as 81 percent. Customer satisfaction grew under his handling of acquisition activities, driving professional services revenue from $22 million to $120 million.
Previously, from 2000 to 2001, Adams was COO of SCA Technologies, a start-up delivering consulting solutions for ERP implementations.
Adams led Fujitsu ICL’s IT team as VP from 1994 to 2000. In addition to the traditional CIO role, he also managed application support and oversaw an internal help desk that provided outsourced assistance functions for ICL customers and partners. While there, Adams started an outsourcing unit that offered e-procurement solutions to the high-tech industry.
In 1993, Adams became President of Checktronic, a North Texas–based check authorization firm, with a mandate to position the long-term loss leader for sale. Under his guidance the company turned a profit in 90 days, resulting in a successful divestiture.
Prior to Checktronic, from 1990 to 1992 Adams led start-up Viata’s IT, development and delivery teams in developing and deploying early frequent-shopper programs for the retail sector. From 1985 through 1989, he was in charge of all technology operations for Hall-Mark Electronics, where he directed the electronics distributor’s data center.
In 1982, Adams joined what is now Unisys as a systems engineer. He began his career in 1981 in direct sales of computer-related supplies for Wallace Business Forms of Dallas.
Adams holds a BBA in Marketing from the University of Texas at Arlington.
