Who is Tom Conrad? All about the new Sonos CEO as Patrick Spence steps down over botched app revamp

Patrick Spence has recently stepped down as the CEO of Sonos, with Tom Conrad chosen to serve temporarily in the same position. The news was confirmed in a press release shared by the audio equipment manufacturing company on January 13, 2025.

Notably, Tom Conrad has been a part of Sonos for around eight years where he worked as a Board Director and the Chairman of the Comp Committee, as per his LinkedIn profile. He completed his higher studies at the University of Michigan, obtaining his BSE in Computer Engineering.

As per the press release from Sonos, they have started looking for a new CEO who will help the company witness "profitable growth" in the upcoming years. They clarified that the current change is not associated with their fiscal first-quarter results.

Chairman of the Board of Directors Julius Genachowski expressed gratitude to Patrick for being associated with the company for a long time, adding that he contributed to the popularity of their wireless home audio products and the introduction of "premium audio for home theater, portables, and headphones."

Julius then referred to Tom Conrad by saying that he would work to improve the "core experience" for all the customers along with the business so it could lead to more innovation and financial benefits. He further stated:

"With his deep product expertise and long-term relationship with Sonos, Tom is uniquely suited to guide the company forward during the transition and the Board looks forward to partnering with him closely. We are excited about the opportunity ahead."

Tom's post on X (Image via X/tconrad)

The news of Patrick's exit comes almost eight months after the Sonos app received a new update in May 2024. According to The Verge, the latest version was supposed to bring new features in the future but things took a turn for the worse after customers started facing problems, including the degraded performance of the speaker system.

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Tom Conrad had a long list of experience in different companies over the years

The New York City native's selection as the interim CEO of Sonos has created headlines. While he has been involved with Sonos for a long time, he has additionally served in different positions in other companies for many years. His LinkedIn bio says that he has developed consumer and enterprise applications for all devices.

Tom Conrad is also known as the CTO and co-creator of the music platform Pandora where he contributed to the product design, software engineering, and technical operations for almost ten years.

Tom's career started in 1991 when he joined Apple Computer as a Senior Engineer. He continued working in companies like Berkeley Systems, Documentum/Relevance, Pets.com, and Kenamea, serving different positions until 2004.

According to Tom Conrad's LinkedIn profile, he has been a VP of Product for Snapchat for two years following which he joined ScholarMatch as a Board Member. Furthermore, he came to Quibi as the Chief Product Officer in 2018 and joined Zero Longevity Service as a CEO in November 2021.

Apart from being a part of Sonos since 2017, he has continued contributing his services to Zero Longevity Service at the same time. The latest press release from Sonos revealed that Tom addressed his happiness to serve as the interim CEO in a statement, saying that he was "deeply honored." He continued:

"Nearly two decades ago, when I led the earliest initiative to integrate Pandora and Sonos, I got my first glimpse of the magic that Sonos could bring to millions of lives every day. I am excited to work with our team to restore the reliability and user experience that have defined Sonos, while bringing innovative new products to market."

Tom Conrad mentioned that he would work on bringing "extraordinary experiences" for the customers and better results for the shareholders.

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Further updates on the company's search for a permanent CEO are currently awaited.