CE Pro November 2021 - 12

Audio+Video
DISPLAYS | COMPONENTS | FURNISHINGS | ENTERTAINMENT | SERVICES
Family Ties Fit to
Propel Autonomic
Forward
Following reacquisition from Snap One
in May 2020, Michael de Nigris Jr. is
taking on more tasks, absorbing industry
lessons from dad, welcoming dealers to
CEDIA Expo booth. By Arlen Schweiger
CEDIA EXPO 2021 marked
the " return, " so to speak, of
Autonomic to the show in
more than just the in-person
vs. virtual way.
Attendees at the Indiana
Convention Center saw
some familiar and familial faces
at the Autonomic booth
during the Sept. 1-3 CEDIA
Expo. Michael de Nigris
returned as CEO with Autonomic
as an independent
entity again following the
multiroom audio specialist's
reacquisition from Snap One
in May 2020.
And Michael de Nigris Jr.
has been taking on a greater
role at the Armonk, N.Y.based
company, and engaged
in dealer discussions on what
Autonomic has been focusing
on since the purchase,
which followed Snap's original
acquisition in 2016.
" Really, just the opportunity
presented itself to
become independent again
and it made sense from a
logistical standpoint, and it's
really great, " says the young12
| CE Pro November 2021
er de Nigris, whose official
role is product engineer at
Autonomic, and chatted with
CE Pro during the Expo.
It also made sense for de
Nigris Jr. to absorb as much
company knowledge from his
father to carry on the Autonomic
legacy. His education
and experience over the past
decade have helped accelerate
his confidence in taking
on more responsibilities.
" I'd say that process is
already under way, " he notes.
" Day to day, I'm in the office,
I'm talking to the development
team, I'm answering
the phone calls and managing
support, finding new
hires for the team and kind
of looking for what direction
the products should go. "
Having been " snuck in "
to his first CEDIA Expo a
decade ago when he was 17,
and working for Autonomic
on and off since, de Nigris
can appreciate Autonomic's
rich heritage in the custom
industry.
" At the time I was working
Autonomic's Michael de Nigris senior and junior shared
booth time at CEDIA Expo 2021 in Indianapolis.
in the warehouse, assembling
product and doing returns
and repairs, I was working
tech support, " he says of
his high school experience,
before heading to the University
of Vermont to study
mechanical engineering.
He's also a big music
fan who enjoys 2-channel
audio, and after earning his
degree de Nigris returned
to the metropolitan New
York City area and dove
into custom integration. He
worked for local companies
as a field technician doing
racks, cutting in architectural
speakers, pulling wire
and more, eventually doing
system designs.
" I couldn't imagine a
better way to position myself
to come into Autonomic and
have an understanding of the
technician, dealer, the business
owner and what it takes
to be a successful integrator
- and what they need from
a product to generate that
success, " de Nigris says.
He cites common integrator
pain points such as
product reliability and serviceability,
which Autonomic
takes into consideration
during product development
and firmware updates that
can improve the experience
for both new and existing
customers.
Earlier this year, Autonomic
announced its new
MMS-OS 6.2 operating system
toward that end, which
had 200+ new features and
improvements for its flagship
eSeries line, according to
the company. " They need a
way to manage their existing
installations - Audio Video
Systems [where he worked]
has over 100 servers out in
the field, and they're able to
update the firmware remotely, "
de Nigris says. " And we've
put out some really key
firmware updates. "
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CE Pro November 2021

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