NASHVILLE, Tenn., Dec. 17, 2025 /PRNewswire/ — EdisonReport is thrilled to name Neil Ashe, Chairman, President, and CEO of Acuity (AYI) as our 2025 Person of the Year. Neil has led an extraordinary transformation. He turned a solid lighting leader into a powerhouse industrial technology company. And at the heart of it all? Strategic clarity – the guiding force behind every move.
In a candid exclusive interview with your humble editor, Neil opened up about his journey. He shared vivid stories and specific examples, that reveal how he brought his vision to life.
Strategic Clarity at Acuity: A CEO’s White Paper Becomes Reality
Neil Ashe stepped into the CEO role in January 2020. From day one, he followed a “white paper” he wrote before joining. This document outlined his bold plan. And remarkably, with unwavering strategic clarity, everything in it has come to pass.
“I didn’t see a lighting company,” Neil told me, “I don’t mean it as disrespect for lighting. I saw a vision of what it is now – an industrial technology company that could shape other industries.”
The results speak volumes. Acuity’s market cap has soared from about $4.4 billion to $11.4 billion. Meanwhile, the stock has delivered 227% returns over five years. That’s compared to the S&P 500’s 88%. And this year alone? Acuity is up 28% versus the index’s 17%.
An Unexpected Origin Story
Neil’s path to Acuity started over dinner in San Francisco. He met with board members, including former CEO Vern Nagel, to discuss a proposed direction called Atrius 2.0. But Neil was blunt. “This isn’t going to work,” he said.
Driving home, Neil thought it would be his last conversation with Vern. Instead, Vern called back. “I think you should be CEO.”
Neil spent the next nine months studying the company before committing to the move to Atlanta. He had already earned a reputation as a change agent—first at CNET and later at Walmart—making Acuity a familiar kind of challenge.
On a personal level, Neil wanted to bring together everything he’d lived before. He saw Acuity as an industry leader in need of transformation. “I knew how to do that,” he said. “I thought it would be fascinating.”
His vision? Transform the lighting business through a consistent strategy of product vitality, high service levels, technology, and productivity. Then, build an intelligent spaces platform all while being effective capital allocators.
All done – with strategic clarity from that original white paper.
Platforms Built on Values and Frameworks
The shift in company culture began with values and working better, smarter, and faster. Many companies publish values; fewer truly live by them. At Acuity, those values are visible, literally displayed along the hallways, but more importantly they are used every day. With 14,000 people making decisions constantly, leadership wanted absolute clarity around what matters most so that decisions, large and small, are aligned with shared principles.
That clarity extends to how the company creates value. Acuity invested heavily in defining and communicating value creation across all levels, then layered in the expectation to work smarter and faster. This is not a revival of the former Acuity Business System. Instead, the company now operates with six flexible frameworks that anyone can apply to any topic to make a decision. These frameworks make up the operating system, Better.Smarter.Faster, which is unique to Acuity.
The frameworks are designed to create strategic clarity, organizational alignment, and individual agency, ensuring employees understand not only what they are doing, but why it matters and how their role fits into the larger system. The result is empowerment at scale, where people work better, smarter, and faster.
To support alignment across this complexity, the company relies on simple but powerful frameworks. One asks three questions in a specific order: why, what, and how. Starting with “why” creates alignment before execution begins and gives teams shared strategic clarity. Another framework focuses on what leadership calls “the art of the possible.” Start with what’s possible for end users, not process constraints. “We try to identify the art of the possible, but we don’t have to have a ‘moonshot’ every time,” Neil noted.
“We moved away from rigid systems and instead gave our people frameworks they can use on any problem,“ Neil explained. “When employees understand the why, they gain the agency to move faster, make better decisions, and stay aligned.“
Data, Controls, and the Atrius Cloud: The Foundation of the Built Environment
Within that foundation, data and controls emerged as deliberate strategic decisions. On the lighting side, Acuity made the decision to in-source drivers, which created enormous flexibility and allowed the company to innovate faster than others in the industry. The organization continues to excel at luminaires and electronics, with controls being essential.
Today, lighting controls—and platforms such as QSC and Distech—are as essential to operations as a smartphone is to daily life. Modern spaces simply cannot function without them.
Data is the core source of value. Controls do more than enable action; they generate real-time insight into how spaces are used and how they perform. Acuity brought these capabilities together through a unified cloud platform—powered by Atrius DataLab —integrating building management systems, audio, video, and lighting into a single environment.
That work extends far beyond traditional buildings. Acuity’s technologies operate across amusement parks, airports, campuses, healthcare facilities, schools, offices, and retail environments—many of which are not buildings in the conventional sense. For that reason, Neil prefers the term built spaces, a broader concept that reflects how these systems influence entire places, not just enclosed structures. By unifying HVAC, audio/video, and lighting in the Atrius Data Cloud, Acuity is creating outcomes that transform how people experience the spaces where they live, work, and gather.
Strategic Clarity at Acuity: Shifting from Cost-Plus to Value Creation
Neil explained that when he joined Acuity, both the company and much of the industry were still operating under a cost-plus pricing mindset. Since then, the shift has been deliberate and intentional. Acuity moved toward pricing based on the value its products and services deliver, supported by clear portfolio segmentation that brings sharper strategic focus across the organization.
As a result, price rarely becomes the central issue in customer conversations. Instead, discussions focus on growth and productivity—for Acuity and for its partners. Neil does not view the market as a zero-sum game. When Acuity helps its partners operate more efficiently and profitably, everyone benefits.
Early in his tenure, Neil challenged large electrical distributors to rethink how their businesses function. A distributor branch, he noted, operates much like a retail store. Those that still rely on branch managers to independently buy and hold inventory often carry unnecessary risk. The greater opportunity lies in reducing operational complexity and shrinking balance sheets.
Strengthening Distributor Economics Through Operational Discipline
Neil pointed out that distributors fundamentally provide two services: logistics and financing. If Acuity can be a lower-cost partner from a logistics standpoint—and help distributors reduce inventory tied up on their balance sheets—those distributors become stronger businesses. Acuity’s operations are designed to be predictable, efficient, and low cost, which naturally makes its products the preferred choice. The result is strong loyalty, with distributors far less likely to shift their business over minor price differences.
One clear example is Acuity’s Contractor Select program, which Neil likens to Kirkland at Costco. The objective is not the lowest price, but compelling value—high-vitality products paired with high service levels. For electrical distributors, the program significantly lowers the cost of doing business from an operational perspective. By simplifying logistics and enabling distributors to carry less inventory, Acuity helps improve the distributor margins and cash flow.
Neil offered a simple but telling example: a distributor that consolidates from 50 suppliers down to 10 can unlock meaningful savings. Unsold inventory consumes capital and shelf space, eroding profitability. Acuity’s approach helps distributors avoid those traps—creating a model where both parties grow stronger together.
A Disciplined Growth Algorithm for Outperforming a Flat Market
Neil pointed to a disciplined growth algorithm that guides how Acuity performs, even when market conditions are flat. The strategy is straightforward: expand into new verticals, actively take share where opportunities exist, and grow alongside the market where Acuity already holds a strong position. Together, those three levers allow the company to consistently outgrow the industry, even during softer cycles.
Profitability, he explained, follows the same logic. Acuity focuses on product vitality, service levels, technology, and productivity, then reinvests those gains into the portfolio. The goal is to deliver more value to customers while improving margins. Rather than relying solely on price increases, the company emphasizes smarter design and engineering choices that reduce cost and complexity.
Neil offered a simple example. Acuity can deliver the same lumen output from a 2×2 lay-in fixture instead of a 2×4. That change uses less material, requires less labor, reduces shipping, and lowers overall cost while meeting performance expectations. The result is higher value for customers and stronger economics for Acuity. In Neil’s view, this combination of disciplined growth and continuous reinvestment enables the company to outperform, even in a flat market.
QSC: The Disruptive Perfect Fit
Neil explained that the acquisition of QSC strengthened Acuity’s Intelligent Spaces strategy by accelerating its ability to unify data across the built space. This includes not just individual buildings, but entire places such as amusement parks, campuses, and mixed-use destinations. The opportunity lies in consolidating three critical types of data: how a space operates, how it is experienced, and who is occupying it.
Operational data includes systems such as HVAC and lighting. Experience data captures what happens within the space, including audio, video, meetings, and events. The third layer focuses on occupancy and movement, offering insight into how people actually use an environment. When combined, these data streams create a more complete picture and enable smarter outcomes.
Neil noted that QSC brings disruptive technology to audio and video, much as Distech has done for building controls. By integrating QSC into Acuity’s cloud-based platform, the company is unifying building systems and experiential technologies in one environment.
Neil emphasized that no other organization has the same overlap of lighting, building controls, and AV technologies operating together in a single cloud. In his view, this intersection—where operations, experiences, and data converge—is what makes the acquisition strategically powerful and difficult to replicate.
The Role of AI
AI, he explained, is an important catalyst—but not in the simplistic way many companies describe it. “Every company will get some benefit from AI and declare victory,” Neil said. “The real advantage will come from the small number of companies that build their own AI stack.” That capability, he believes, will unlock disproportionate gains over time.
Neil also cautioned against thinking of AI agents as stand-ins for people. There will not be an “Art the Acuity AI Agent” that the industry interacts with directly. Instead, Acuity’s approach is to embed intelligence throughout the experience, empowering customers in ways that feel natural and seamless—whether or not they realize an AI agent is involved. In Neil’s view, the companies that win will be those that combine human judgment with AI capabilities in a deeply integrated way.
Rebuilding Investor Confidence Through Execution
Neil acknowledged that investor confidence took time to build early in his tenure. When Acuity announced his appointment as CEO on 8 January 2020, the company’s market capitalization was roughly $4.4 billion. Today, it stands at approximately $11.4 billion, nearly tripling in less than six years.
Over that same period, Acuity significantly outperformed the broader market. Year to date, the stock is up 28 percent, compared with 17 percent for the S&P 500. Over five years, Acuity delivered a 227 percent return, versus 88 percent for the S&P.
Neil attributed this shift to strategic clarity, consistent execution, and credibility. “We get paid to do, not paid to say,” he explained, stressing that results—not rhetoric—drive investor confidence. Just as important, he added, was following through on commitments and executing the strategy with discipline. Capital allocation also played a central role. Acuity repurchased approximately 25 percent of its outstanding shares at an average price of around $150. Neil described that decision as an accelerant for long-term value creation.
Together, strategic clarity, strong performance, and disciplined capital deployment formed what he called a virtuous cycle. Each element reinforced the others and strengthened investor trust over time.
Earning Trust in Phases
Neil described the evolution of investor perception in distinct phases. At first, the market adopted a “wait and see” posture, shaped by skepticism tied to the company’s past. That phase gave way to disbelief, as some investors questioned whether Acuity’s progress could last.
Today, he said, the company has entered a third phase. The investment community now views Acuity as a strong operator with margins approaching 18 percent and a proven ability to execute. Neil emphasized that Acuity’s performance does not hinge on a single breakthrough technology. Instead, it rests on fundamentals. “You can’t find a space that doesn’t have light,” he said, underscoring the resilience of the lighting market.
As investors grew more comfortable with the industry, Acuity’s Intelligent Spaces business further strengthened confidence. The segment now generates roughly $1 billion in revenue, grows at a mid-teens rate, and continues to expand margins—reinforcing the company’s long-term trajectory.
A Long View: Building for Impact, Not Just Growth
“We don’t sell lights,” Neil often reminds his team. “We educate children, make offices more productive, and help patients in hospitals get better.” It is a simple statement, but it captures the philosophy that runs through Acuity today: focus on end-user outcomes, not products. When that lens is applied consistently, customers win, partners win, and the company grows with purpose.
After walking through the mechanics of strategy and execution, Neil wanted to return to something more fundamental—durability. He described Acuity as a compounder, intent on getting better every year rather than chasing short-term gains. The leadership team makes decisions designed to stand the test of time. Acuity does not operate at the redline. It does not push at full speed simply because it can. Instead, the company emphasizes repeatable execution—doing the right things, the right way, year after year. For Neil, real success is building something that continues to perform long after his tenure ends.
As our conversation wrapped up, Neil gave me a brief tour of the “built space.” As we approached the company’s values—literally written on the wall—he shared a small but telling story. During a recent holiday gathering at his home, his son, back from college, came downstairs in his socks and quietly observed the group. “Dad,” he said, “people at your company seem to like each other a lot.” Culture, it turns out, is hard to hide.
“We still have miles to travel,” Neil said as we concluded. Yet Acuity today is clearly moving with intention—innovators, positive disruptors, and builders guided by strategic clarity.
Congratulations to Neil Ashe, EdisonReport’s 2025 Person of the Year. His leadership, discipline, and long-view thinking continue to shape not just a company, but an industry.
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SOURCE Edison Report
