Dirac recently announced the appointment of a new Chief Executive Officer, succeeding Peter Friedrichsen, who joined Dirac as Chief Executive Officer in January 2021, following the decision by Mathias Johansson to focus exclusively on new technologies and product development as Chief Product Officer.
In his personal message on LinkedIn, Mathias Johansson shares: “A new exciting chapter begins for me today. Having devoted more than 23 years to the company I co-founded in 2001, I have decided to make my next move and spread my wings outside of Dirac. I am excited to share that on September 16, I will begin leading Harman International’s Signal Processing & Applied Intelligence Lab.
“Founding a company is like having a baby. It's a 24/7 commitment that’s always on your mind, day and night. I am proud of everything Dirac has achieved over the last 23 years, and I remain as optimistic and confident about Dirac’s future today as ever before. All the arrows are now pointing in the right direction for the company. To me, this means it is time to let this baby fly without me. Children grow up, and at some point they need to tackle the world on their own, even if it’s painful to let go. To this end, I will remain an advisor to Dirac’s CEO for some time.
“My belief is that in a world of commoditization, a company can only create a sustainable edge by relentlessly pursuing state-of-the-art science and technology. Amazing products result from exceptional technology rooted in real customer needs – and that’s what I hope to develop together with the great team at Harman.
“I look forward to joining an incredibly talented team at Harman, while knowing that Dirac’s best and brightest days remain ahead. Upwards and onwards!”
In direct reaction to the surprising message, Armin Prommersberger, Chief Technology Officer at Harman International (based in Munich, Germany), confirms the appointment, signaling an ambitious vision to create “Intelligent, context aware devices” across all of Harman’s product portfolios in Consumer Electronics, Professional and Automotive.” And he adds: “Cutting edge signal processing techniques are the underlying principle to build on. To that end, I am thrilled to announce that Dr. Mathias Johansson will join our team of technologists as the new Vice President of Digital Signal Processing and Applied Intelligence Lab at Harman International, effective 16th of September.
Armin Prommersberger also reveals his admiration for Mathias Johansson who previously appointed him to become Dirac’s Chief Technology Officer in January 2019, where he remained for more than a year, until returning once again to Harman.
“Mathias' extensive experience and visionary leadership in digital signal processing and human machine interaction are ideally suited to our future technology direction, representing the essence of the tech culture we are building: an entrepreneurial mindset combined with extraordinary technical skills and a strong focus on collaboration.”
“Best of times when welcoming a friend who I admire since we met almost 20 years ago,” he adds in that same post.
Harman International is embarking on an ambitious program to reshape its technology strategy. Only 3 months ago, Armin Prommersberger appointed Dr. Klaus Hartung to the role of Vice President Intelligent Audio Lab. Hartung previously worked as Sr. Director of Embedded Hardware and Software Development for Sonos during more than 10 years. Armin Prommersberger commented of Hartung: “(he) has demonstrated a profound understanding of audio eco-systems, and has accumulated deep knowledge of audio technology implementation across Consumer Electronics, Professional, Automotive and Unified Communication industries, aligning perfectly with Harman’s strategic vision.
In 2001, Mathias founded Dirac together with two professors and three PhD students from Uppsala University, in Sweden. As CEO he managed the development of the company’s core technologies and products that served as the bedrock of its growth since company inception. In 2021, Mathias Johansson decided to focus exclusively on new technologies and product development as Chief Product Officer. During his leadership, Dirac grew to become a pioneer and leader in digital sound technology within automotive, home audio, headphones and mobile audio. Hundreds of millions of audio devices are now equipped with Dirac sound optimization. As a pioneer in the field, Mathias has a rich experience in everything related to digital sound, in particular sound field control and immersive audio. He holds a PhD in signal processing from Uppsala University.
www.harman.com
