Burlington, MA – February 5, 2016 – Nuance Communications, Inc. (NASDAQ: NUAN) today announced that it has appointed Bob Schassler as its Executive Vice President and General Manager of the Mobile division, effective immediately. Bob joins Nuance as Mike Thompson, the division’s veteran executive vice president and general manager, has decided to pursue interests outside of the Company.
Bob comes to Nuance from Motorola where as Executive Vice President and General Manager, he led the company’s $2 billion software, solutions and services division. In this role, Bob was appointed to lead Motorola’s transformation from a hardware-centric business to a software and services business – one of the most significant initiatives in the Company’s history. His experience and expertise to drive growth within an organization during rapid market evolution and transformation will serve as an important foundation for the Mobile division’s continued path to growth across automotive, consumer electronics and mobile operator services globally.
“With our own transformation underway at Nuance, I believe Bob is ideally suited to lead the Mobile organization into the next decade of the mobile and consumer electronics evolution, while also expanding the depth of industry experience among our team,” said Paul Ricci, chairman and chief executive officer, Nuance Communications.
“The opportunity for voice-enabled experiences within the automotive, consumer electronics and global operator markets is at an inflection point – fueled by rapid innovation in natural language understanding, content and cloud technologies,” said Bob Schassler, executive vice president and general manager, Nuance Mobile. “I am excited to work with this incredibly talented team and to help lead Nuance Mobile’s next chapter for delivering value to each of our stakeholders.”
Prior to his most recent role at Motorola, Bob held a variety of executive and leadership positions at Motorola, including senior vice president and general manager of the Government and Commercial Markets division, as well as corporate vice president and general manager of the North America division. He graduated from the State University of New York at Binghamton with a degree in Electrical Engineering, and received his MBA from San Diego State University.
As noted, the Company announced that Mike Thompson, previously general manager of the Mobile division, will be leaving the company to pursue other opportunities. “We wish Mike Thompson well in his future endeavors after an impressive Nuance career and his leadership of and many contributions to our mobile business,” added Paul Ricci.
About Nuance Communications, Inc.
Nuance Communications, Inc. is a leading provider of voice and language solutions for businesses and consumers around the world. Its technologies, applications and services make the user experience more compelling by transforming the way people interact with devices and systems. Every day, millions of users and thousands of businesses experience Nuance’s proven applications. For more information, please visit www.nuance.com.
Nuance and the Nuance logo are trademarks or registered trademarks of Nuance Communications, Inc. or its subsidiaries in the United States of America and/or other countries. All other company names or product names may be the trademarks of their respective owners.
Media Contact:
Rebecca Paquette
Nuance Communications
rebecca.paquette@nuance.com
781-565-5264