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Chairman

Arthur Maxwell

Arthur Maxwell is Founder and Chairman of AIS and remains a company advisor. Mr. Maxwell was formerly the managing General Partner of AIS Venture Fund LP, as well as Managing Director of AIS Equity Holdings, LLC a multi-faceted investment vehicle. He currently serves as an active investor, advisor and Board member to a handful of enterprises at different stages of development. He also served as a Trustee of the Culinary Institute of America. Maxwell attended Boston College where he majored in Economics and Political Science. He currently resides Massachusetts with his wife and three daughters.

President & CEO

Nick Haritos

Nick Haritos’ career spans more than 35 years of sales and management experience in the commercial office furniture industry. For the first 15 years of Nick’s career, he worked at the dealer level beginning as a sales rep then quickly taking on leadership roles in progressively larger markets becoming a minority principal overseeing a $200 million dealership.

Nick honed his skills in multiple New England markets learning every aspect of the commercial office furniture industry from dealer operations to manufacturing. He spent 16 years at Haworth where he concluded his tenure as vice president of sales for the eastern region.  

Nick joined AIS in 2018 as executive vice president of sales and distribution overseeing a national sales team serving hundreds of dealers. Under his sales leadership, AIS exceeded its ambitious growth plans by bringing more dealers on board, accelerating sales, and driving brand awareness. As CEO, he has continued to propel the company forward and oversee its industry-leading growth.

A native of New England, Nick earned a bachelor’s degree from Plymouth State University in New Hampshire and a master’s degree from Saint Michael’s College in Vermont. He holds a certificate in mediation from Woodbury College in Vermont and completed post-graduate work in alternative dispute resolution at Nova Southeastern University in Florida. Nick serves as a director on the board of the North Central Chamber of Commerce serving 27 communities in Central Massachusetts.

He was named president of AIS in June 2021 and president and CEO in June 2022.

Chief Operating Officer

Steve Savage

In his role as chief operating officer, Steve Savage is one of the key members of the AIS executive team. Steve joined the company in 1995 and has been the primary driver behind shaping the company’s operational excellence and culture to support consistent AIS growth year over year.

With an extensive background in manufacturing and strategic planning, his aim was to build a factory capable of handling an annual growth rate of more than 40%. He has done that and more. Steve and his team implemented a total reengineering of AIS’ manufacturing process by converting the company from a long lead time, batch, and queue manufacturer into a competitive, world-class company. He has overseen the relocation of AIS’ factory operations to a new site and managed several expansions introducing new equipment, additional product lines, and personnel. Most recently, he spearheaded the installation of new machinery nearly doubling the company’s capacity.

Steve participates in the Shingo Institute where he learned the practices that help shape manufacturing cultures that drive organizational and operational excellence. Steve’s efforts garnered AIS the prestigious Shingo Prize for excellence in manufacturing.

Steve holds a Bachelor of Science degree in mechanical engineering and an MBA from Worcester Polytechnic Institute. He serves on several advisory boards including WPI and Quinsigamond Community College. He utilizes these volunteer positions to support the next generation of manufacturing and engineering professionals and to establish a talent pipeline for AIS.

Chief Financial Officer

Bryan Poist

AIS Chief Financial Officer, Bryan Poist, joined the organization in 2001. Prior to coming onboard AIS, Poist served as CFO for a furniture manufacturer managing all aspects of the financial dealings for the $35M company from 1995-2001. He also was responsible for initiatives to streamline production processes and implemented cost controls throughout the organization. Additionally, Poist has 15 years of experience at the CFO level in real estate and travel management.

Executive Vice President of Design and Innovation

Bill Stewich

With AIS since 1992, Bill Stewich has led the product development and engineering efforts that have built AIS’s reputation for exceptional product quality and innovation. Since 1997, Bill has overseen design and development of such products as Z-panel, Matrix, Divi, Oxygen, Aloft and Calibrate.  Bill also oversees designs for custom product solutions for many AIS clients.  Prior to his engineering role, Bill held management positions at AIS in the Field Services, Marketing, Design and Engineering departments. 

Senior Vice President of Sales - Eastern Region

Ben Maxwell

As Senior VP Sales for the Eastern Region, Ben Maxwell brings 18 years of office furniture industry experience to the position. He joined AIS in 2000 and continues to lead the sales team to excellence with their dealer partners East of the Mississippi. Maxwell has an undergraduate degree from Northwestern University and an MBA Carol School of Management from Boston College. He is a member of IIDA.

Senior Vice President of Sales - Western Region

Doug Bowen

As Senior VP of Sales for the Western Region, Doug Bowen brings 25 years of office furniture industry experience to the position. Joining in 2021, Doug’s focus is on growing the Western Region through leadership of the sales team and strategic partnerships with dealers in the region.  Doug is a graduate of Boston College with a degree in Economics.

Vice President of Operations

Greg Scher

With a solid lean and continuous improvement background, Greg Scher joined the AIS Management team in 2004 as Vice President of Operations. His diverse responsibilities include the Purchasing, Receiving, Warehousing, Inventory Control, and Freight departments of AIS. In his career, Greg has received accreditation from GE’s Manufacturing Management Program and certification in APICS and CPM. He holds a BSEE from Suny, Buffalo, as well as an MBA from Boston University, and currently resides in North Reading, MA.

Vice President of Strategic Resources

Amy Transue

Amy Transue began her career with AIS in of 2005. As AIS Vice President of Strategic Resources, she leads marketing, sustainability, bid opportunities, competitive strategies and forecasting. With her broad experience and holistic contract furniture industry experience, she provides leadership to the sales team with special projects and training. Through her acute market focus and creativity she leads her team to deliver exemplary sales tools positioning AIS Best-In-Class. Transue holds a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration with a concentration in Management from Fitchburg State College.

Vice President of Human Resources

Deanna Zarrella

Deanna joined the AIS HR team as the Senior HR Director in April 2018. Deanna has over 25 years of human resources experience with a specialization in talent management including workforce planning, recruiting, training, performance management, employee development and employee engagement. She also has significant experience managing employee relations, benefits, compensation and compliance issues. Deanna earned her Bachelor of Administration Degree in Accounting from Anna Maria College and her MBA from Nichols College.  Deanna is a  member of Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM), Northeast Human Resources Association (NEHRA) and the Tri-State HRMA.

Director of Product Information

Kevin Raffi

Kevin spent the first two, of his sixteen year career in the contract furniture industry, here at AIS starting as a designer/specifier. In 2011 returning to AIS, he brought with him his vast experience gained as a designer/project manager from a successful furniture dealer. Originally brought on to develop the Project Management department at AIS in 2011, Kevin’s knowledge and understanding of the furniture cycle from sales, design, manufacturing, logistics and installation allowed him to transition into a leadership role.  Kevin oversees our rapidly expanding specials program and streamlines our internal processes and technology to support order entry, project delivery and information management.

Director of Design

Mike Maclean

Mike joined AIS in December 2020 as the Director of Design and brings over 25 years of design and dealer experience with him.  With a background in industrial design, Mike will utilize his experience to propel the AIS design capabilities in support of our dealer partners. Mike holds a Bachelor of Science in Industrial Design from the Wentworth Institute of Technology and is an active member of the Industrial Designers Society of America (IDSA).

Director of Customer Service

Zoey Zarkadas

Zoey comes to AIS with over 20 years of experience in managment and customer service. As Director of Customer Service, Zoey leads the team in identifying and resolving issues, both onsite and in the field.  Zoey looks to maximize efficiencies and understand where systems integrations can streamline processes.  Zoey holds a Bachelor of Sicence degree in business management from Bently Univeristy in Waltham, Massachusetts.

Director of Information Technology

John Waack

John joined AIS in November 2022 as Director of Information Technology and brings over 22 years of hands-on experience delivering technology solutions in the office furniture industry.  He has worked in all facets of Information Technology, ranging from Helpdesk call center to business systems programming to global operations management.  He has led multiple local, regional, and global projects to successful completion.  Now leading AIS’ IT department, he continues his focus on customer service and reliability while building long term strategies for technology, business solutions, and team capabilities.  While never a day goes by without some type of challenge (such is life when dealing with computers), his perspective is always positive, noting, “It’s all solvable!”  John holds a Bachelors of Science degree in Computer Science from Michigan Technological University.