ASI’s CTO Named Among Nation’s Top Tech Execs

Armughan Rafat named to ExecRank’s latest list of best of the best

TREVOSE, PA – May 6, 2013 – The Advertising Specialty Institute^® (ASI) today announced Executive Vice President and Chief Technology Officer, Armughan Rafat, has been selected by the ranking committee of ExecRank as one of the top technology officers in the nation.

The rankings are the result of two years of research and feedback from evaluation committees and top private company CTOs that yielded an algorithm for how to rank executives based on their performance in 24 key areas. According to Justin Meyer, analyst for the rankings division of ExecRank, “We were extremely impressed with the achievements of Mr. Rafat. His work and reputation are highly regarded in the industry and amongst other CTOs.”

There are over 15,000 private company CTOs in the U.S. Only the very best are awarded the distinction of being a part of ExecRank’s rankings for 2012, Meyer said. The number-one area of focus for the honorees is their role in developing defensible technologies for their companies and leveraging those technologies to strengthen competitiveness. ExecRank also weighed heavily the recommendations provided by the general counsel of finalists, as their role in facilitating IP advantages was strongly considered.

In addition, Meyer said ExecRank saw a significant uptick in the number of CTOs who served on boards of directors and displayed a skill set that is applicable to multiple industries. Rafat ranked 100 on ExecRank’s 2012 list of 225.

“I’m delighted to see Armughan’s efforts publicly recognized among the nation’s leading technology companies,” said Timothy M. Andrews, ASI president and chief executive officer. “He leads a team devoted to designing and developing cutting-edge technology that makes our online, desktop and mobile solutions faster, simpler and more intuitive for our 25,000 clients, and it’s a testament to their efforts that it only appears to happen like magic.”

At ASI, Rafat sets technology strategy and leads all technology initiatives, including applying emerging technologies to further advance ASI’s mission of designing, developing and offering the best products in the industry. He also serves as the chair of ASI’s Technology Council, which promotes best practices across the industry to drive scale in technology infrastructure, promote innovation and use information intelligently.

As a proven thought leader, Rafat has over 18 years of experience managing global technology organizations and building enterprise-wide, real-time, high-performance products for users of various size and sophistication. He has been awarded two patents in the fields of real-time ultra-low latency information exchange and information retrieval of unstructured data using machine learning. Throughout his distinguished career, he has led organizations serving clients ranging from small start-up businesses to large multinational Fortune 100 corporations.

About ASI
The Advertising Specialty Institute (ASI) is the largest media, marketing and education organization serving the promotional products industry, with a network of over 25,000 distributors and suppliers throughout North America. ASI leads the industry in technology solutions, providing cloud-based e-commerce, enterprise resource planning software (ERP) and customer relationship management software (CRM). ESP Web^® is the industry’s leading tool for sourcing hundreds of thousands of products. A family-owned business since 1962, ASI also provides online research, marketing, advertising opportunities, trade shows, education, award-winning magazines, newsletters, custom websites and catalogs to help members sell, market and promote their brands. Visit ASI at www.asicentral.com and on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube and the CEO’s blog.

About ExecRank
ExecRank is the definitive ranking service of leading executives who have achieved the highest level of professional achievement and peer recognition. ExecRank was founded by Jonathan Aspatore, one of the most authoritative figures in business publishing. ExecRank rankings reach over six million readers a year in the U.S. alone given its partnerships with leading publishers, websites, trade shows and more.

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