NorthWind Partners Recruits CEO for DMI
May 23, 2023 – Reston, VA-headquartered executive search firm NorthWind Partners has assisted in the recruitment of Rocky Thurston as the new CEO of DMI, a global digital transformation solutions company. Partner Hunter Murray led the assignment. He succeeds Sunny Bajaj, the company’s founder, who served as CEO since 2002 and will remain on DMI’s board of directors. “It has been a privilege to build and lead DMI since its founding 21 years ago,” said Mr. Bajaj. “Since OceanSound’s investment, we have substantially transformed the company and positioned DMI for even greater success. We are fortunate to have had Rocky as our COO, an exceptional partner, who has proven his leadership abilities and now I am delighted to pass the baton to him as DMI’s new CEO. Rocky’s strategic vision, operational acumen, and deep understanding of our company’s values make him the ideal candidate to take DMI to the next level. I look forward to supporting Rocky and the rest of the management team in my new role.”
“It is wonderful to see the succession plan architected by Joe and Sunny being realized successfully,” said Mark HuYoung, managing partner of NorthWind Partners. “Rocky has leveraged years of experience demonstrating strong, capable leadership during his tenure as COO, which makes this transition seamless. It will be exciting to watch the company’s continued growth trajectory with him at the helm.”
“The market for digital transformation solutions, especially the companies leveraging commercial technology to disrupt the government end market, has long been a priority investment area for OceanSound,” said Joe Benavides, managing partner at OceanSound. “Since our investment in October 2021, DMI has increased its technology differentiation, substantially improved its business development maturity and surpassed our growth expectations while materially enhancing its operational discipline. We are confident Rocky’s leadership will further accelerate the efforts initiated under Sunny’s leadership and are grateful for Sunny’s desire to continue supporting the company from his role on the company’s board of directors.”
Mr. Thurston joined DMI as COO in January 2022 and has worked closely with Mr. Bajaj to oversee the strategic development, operations, and growth initiatives of the company since that time. Prior to joining DMI, he held leadership positions at Peraton, Accenture, and Lockheed Martin, among others, where he gained experience in general management, business development, and merger and acquisition activities across government and commercial sectors.
“It is an honor to step into the CEO role at DMI,” said Mr. Thurston. “I am deeply grateful to Sunny for his invaluable contributions in establishing this remarkable organization. As we move forward, we will build upon our strong foundation and deep talent pool to help our clients continue to improve customer experience, business workflows and decrease operating costs. Together, we will continue to innovate, drive value for our clients, and shape the future of our industry.”
Related: NorthWind Partners Recruits Chief Growth Officer for Oceus Networks
DMI is a global provider of digital services working at the intersection of public and private sectors. With broad capabilities across IT managed services, cybersecurity, cloud migration and application development, DMI provides on-site and remote support to clients within governments, healthcare, financial services, transportation, manufacturing, and other critical infrastructure sectors. The company is headquartered in Bethesda, MD.
Experienced Search Consultants
NorthWind Partners is a global, strategic executive search advisory firm. Its work is primarily focused on business and professional services, systems, solutions, and product companies spanning the aviation, aerospace and defense, healthcare, industrial, and technology sectors. The firm also has deep experience and relationships in the government contracting arena. NorthWind Partners’ success rate on engaged assignments is about 96 percent with 99 percent of executives placed maintaining a minimum tenure of one year.
Over the past two decades, Mr. Murray has had deep interest in all facets of technology. He has broad experience in both commercial and public sectors and is often called upon by clients and industry associations to bridge the gap between these two markets. Mr. Murray has completed searches at the board, C-suite and all tiers of vice presidents for SaaS, data analytics, cloud, and cybersecurity companies.
Mr. Murray also recently led the search that resulted in the placement of David Zolet as the new CEO for Oasis Technology & Engineering in Burlington, MA. Tom Colatosti is retiring after 12 years as years in the company’s top spot. Partner Hunter Murray led the assignment. “On behalf of the board of directors, management team, and thousands of Oasis T&E employees across the country, we want to thank Tom for his integrity, leadership, and commitment to the company’s mission,” said Mike Singer, partner at Brightstar Capital Partners, majority owner of Oasis T&E. “Tom played an integral role in transforming Oasis Systems into one of the nation’s fastest-growing government contractors, building trusted relationships internally and with customers, and successfully integrating ERC and Oasis Systems after the two companies joined forces in 2022.”
“Dave impressed the board with his experience, expertise, and vision,” said Mr. Singer. “We believe that Dave, alongside the accomplished and experienced Oasis T&E leadership and management team, will continue to excel at delivering growth and highly-rated performance across the government services and technology sector.”
Related: NorthWind Partners Recruits Chief Growth Officer for NT Concepts
Contributed by Scott A. Scanlon, Editor-in-Chief; Dale M. Zupsansky, Managing Editor; and Stephen Sawicki, Managing Editor – Hunt Scanlon Media
