Change at the Top: New, Changing Roles for Leaders at Pia, Focus Group

New year, new job. 2025 has already seen two channel leaders depart their roles — one for a new post, and another returning to his original job.

Pia CEO Gerwai Todd had been juggling CEO roles at both Pia and TimeZest, which produces automated meeting and service ticket scheduling for MSPs. Todd has now stepped down to make room for a leader that can dedicated more time to the role.

“Leading two companies is the hardest thing I’ve ever done in my career. Imagine having two families, in different houses and different countries. I can’t count the number of days where I worked from morning to midnight,” Todd wrote in a LinkedIn post.

The MSP helpdesk software firm said that with both companies “experiencing significant growth,” they had agreed Pia should pursue a dedicated full-time CEO to better meet the needs of its growing customer base. Todd will remain CEO of TimeZest.

“I always knew that completely transitioning out of TimeZest would be necessary,” wrote Todd. “Unfortunately, removing myself from a company I was part of founding was a more complicated and longer journey than I anticipated. That isn’t fair to Christian [Pacheco, Pia’s founding CEO] and my Pia work family. They deserve a 100% dedicated leader now, not later.

“We did a lot of great work in 2024 and I’m confident the team is setup for more success in 2025," he added. "The Pia team is reinventing how an MSP will operate a service desk in the future.”

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For its part, Pia said Todd “played a pivotal role in driving growth, and operational excellence during his time at the company.”

Pia said it will continue to operate under its CEO Executive Group, while establishing a Growth Advisory Committee  as it conducts a comprehensive, global search for its next leader.

Veteran Computacenter Channel Leader Leaves Role

Elsewhere, Computacenter North America president Neil Hall has left the channel giant after 23 years.

Hall has taken up the post of CEO back in the UK at VAR Focus Group. His appointment, said the company, signals Focus Group’s ambition to accelerate its expansion and enhance its service offerings.

Hall said: “I’m excited to join Focus Group at this pivotal moment in its evolution. The company has built an impressive foundation in business technology solutions and I see tremendous opportunities to accelerate our growth while deepening the value we deliver to customers. With our strengthened board and talented team, we are well-positioned to become the partner of choice for organisations navigating their digital journeys.”

In a LinkedIn post, Hall paid tribute to Computacenter’s “incomparable” CEO Mike Norris. Hall said Norris had “been instrumental in shaping my journey, offering me incredible opportunities — such as living and working in Germany and North America — that have helped me grow both personally and professionally. He has also been a pillar of support during challenging times.”