Rob Aarnes, CEO of ADI Global Distribution talks leadership, taking his company public
On August 4, 2026, Rob Aarnes stood on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange and rang the opening bell as ADI Global Distribution, the world’s largest distributor of low-voltage security, fire and life-safety, and AV products, began trading as an independent public company. It capped more than a decade of Aarnes leading the business inside larger corporate parents, first Honeywell, then Resideo.
In this episode of Distributors Deliver, NAW CEO Eric Hoplin talks with Aarnes about what it actually took to pull off that separation in about a year: standing up new systems, building an independent board and executive team, and preparing a 30-year-old distribution business for life under quarterly public scrutiny. Aarnes also shares his path to the corner office, an unconventional route running from the Naval Academy through big-box retail, private equity turnarounds, and a scrappy startup, and the leadership principles he says have carried him the whole way.
The conversation closes on a broader note: why Aarnes believes distribution, an $8 trillion piece of the U.S. economy, is finally getting the attention it deserves, and his advice for any company still deciding whether to get involved with NAW.
🎧 Also available to stream on Spotify and Apple Podcasts.
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