Starkey President and CEO Brandon Sawalich and CTO Achin Bhowmik Recognized for Leadership Excellence

EDEN PRAIRIE, MINN– Starkey is proud to announce two executives have been named Gold Award winners in the 2023 Globee Awards for Leadership. Brandon Sawalich, President and CEO at Starkey, won Gold in the Executive Excellence of the Year in Manufacturing category, and Achin Bhowmik, PhD, Chief Technology Officer and Executive Vice President of Engineering at Starkey, was named the Most Innovative Person of the Year in the Healthcare, Pharmaceuticals, Biotech, Health Products and Services category. This global award program recognizes the year's most innovative initiatives and outstanding leadership.

“Five years ago, we set out to make the impossible possible when we began to imagine our next-level product offering,” said Sawalich. “Receiving this honor is a tribute to the amount of research and development we devoted to producing our all-new hearing technology, Genesis AI. Thanks to unprecedented sound quality, more first-fit success and satisfaction, and a patient experience that goes far beyond better hearing, we have pushed the limits of technology to deliver a product the industry and its patients deserve.”

At the age of 19, Sawalich started working at Starkey in the company’s hearing aid repair department. Over the years, he worked in nearly every corner of the business, learning everything he could about Starkey and the hearing health industry. Named President of Starkey in 2017 and Chief Executive Officer in 2020, Sawalich now leads a global team of over 5,000 people who are challenging the limits of technology.  

“With a relentless focus on innovation and quality, we have transformed hearing aids into multifunctional health and communication devices with embedded sensors and artificial intelligence,” said Dr. Bhowmik. “I want to offer my thanks to the dedicated Starkey team who worked tirelessly to revolutionize hearing healthcare with Genesis AI. Together, we have reimagined and rearchitected the hearing aid, with a result worthy of this recognition.” 

Dr. Bhowmik is responsible for Starkey's technology strategy, global research, product development and engineering organizations. Together, Sawalich and Bhowmik are committed to making Starkey better every day with cutting-edge products that help people live better lives, by delivering award-winning customer service, and by employing the brightest minds in the business who know that it all starts with caring. 

For more details, please visit the Starkey website.