An unexpected new wrinkle has arisen for Pro Tools, with a sudden CEO change for parent company Avid.

Louis Hernandez, Jr., who had headed AVID since 2013, was unexpectedly announced on February 26^th to have been terminated from his position. The company’s Board of Directors appointed Jeff Rosica as Chief Executive Officer of Avid.

Jeff Rosica is the new CEO of Avid, and therefore of Pro Tools.

This followed the Company’s Board terminating the employment of Hernandez, Avid’s now former Chief Executive Officer, due to “violations of Company policies related to workplace conduct.” Hernandez also resigned from his position on the Avid Board of Directors and Nancy Hawthorne has been elected Chairman of the Board.

Rosica joined Avid in early 2013, an industry veteran with more than 30 years’ experience in broadcast, media and entertainment. Prior to his role as President, he served as Senior Vice President, Chief Sales and Marketing Officer for Avid.

Avid employees were reportedly taken completely by surprise by the developments. In a release to the media, Avid stated that with the assistance of independent external legal counsel, a Special Committee comprising independent members of the Board of Directors conducted a thorough investigation into allegations of improper non-financially related workplace conduct by Hernandez. After reviewing the findings of the Special Committee’s investigation, the Board of Directors unanimously concluded that the findings warranted immediate termination of Mr. Hernandez’s employment.

Prior to becoming CEO of Avid in February, 2013, Hernandez had been a board member since 2008. In this interview with SonicScoop soon after taking on the CEO position, Hernandez acknowledged the PR problems Avid had built up with Pro Tools users over the years, and expressed confidence in his DAW and that it would continue to set the standard for audio users. “I have no question the only product or service you’d want to use anywhere in the world, in any language, is the Avid suite,” he said. “This should mark a new phase for Avid. One focused on growth and building a strong community.”

Hernandez’ tenure saw the launch of several ambitious initiatives at Avid, such as Avid Everywhere and the MediaCentral platform, both of which sought to leverage cloud collaboration and Avid’s clout spanning audio and video production. Pro Tools saw myriad version updates and feature additions during his five years, incorporating not just technical evolution but an overall movement for the DAW towards a subscription model, further focused by its recent release as Pro Tools 2018.

What will be Rosica’s approach as he takes over the reins? Will Avid’s new CEO keep Hernandez’ plan on track, or take the company — and Pro Tools — in new directions? The audio world is about to find out.

• David Weiss

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