After 2.5 years as CTO, Søren E. Nielsen takes over for co-founder and CEO Thomas Visti at the world leader in autonomous mobile robots; Visti requests change as he pursues new career

HOLBROOK, New York—July 7, 2020—Mobile Industrial Robots (MiR), the world leader in autonomous mobile robots (AMRs), today announced the appointment of Søren E. Nielsen as the new president of the Denmark-based company. Effective August 1, Nielsen, who has served as MiR's chief technology officer since January 2018, will take over the responsibilities of MiR co-founder and CEO Thomas Visti. Teradyne, which acquired MiR in 2019, made the change at Visti's request as he pursues a new career.

According to Teradyne CTO Mark Jagiela, Nielsen's in-depth knowledge of MiR and his rare balance of being able to solve immediate real-life customer needs and create a roadmap for long-term innovation and leadership made him the right candidate for the job.

"Søren is an excellent leader who will ensure continuity of our strategy and continued business momentum," Jagiela said. "MiR is a still a young company, with tremendous opportunity for transforming the way the world works by optimizing logistics at thousands of companies worldwide. As president of MiR, Søren will carry on the passion, innovation and vision that brought MiR to this point."

Nielsen sees continued growth during the coronavirus crisis
Nielsen brought his background in mechanical engineering to his role at MiR, along with the experience gained from more than 25 years of managerial positions with major international corporations such as Danfoss and Siemens. He welcomes the challenges associated with taking on this new role during a time of extensive global unpredictability.

"Despite the current situation, MiR continues to grow in 2020," Nielsen said. "We have not put on the brakes, which makes us relatively stronger than other industry operators. Our flexible robots help global industries such as health care, manufacturing and logistics make up for lost revenue by increasing productivity and efficiency. We also improve work environments at customer companies by relieving staff from manual transportation tasks." Nielsen added, "MiR is a stronger-than-ever company."

Visti turns over the reins of company he grew to market-leading position
Since launching the company with two partners in 2014, Visti has grown MiR into a global frontrunner with 220 employees and a leading market share within autonomous mobile robots. The growth of the company has enabled MiR to consolidate its organization and optimize production processes to meet customer demand.

Visti is confident that Nielsen is the right leader to keep the company strong well into the future. "When Søren was brought on board, we needed a leader with international industry experience," Visti said. "He has made a significant contribution to the optimization of processes and procedures and I am happy to hand over the reins to him."

Visti expects to elaborate on his future plans after he leaves MiR at the end of July.
Press photos of Søren E. Nielsen, President of Mobile Industrial Robots from August 1st, 2020
Press photos from the internal employee meeting where the message was passed on to the employees.

About Mobile Industrial Robots:
Mobile Industrial Robots (MiR) develops and markets the industry's most advanced line of collaborative and safe autonomous mobile robots (AMRs) that quickly, easily and cost-effectively manage internal logistics, freeing employees for higher-value activities. Hundreds of mid-sized through large multinational manufacturers and logistics centers, along with several hospitals around the world, have already installed MiR's innovative robots. MiR has quickly established a global distribution network in more than 50 countries, with regional offices in New York, San Diego, Singapore, Frankfurt, Barcelona and Shanghai. MiR has grown quickly since its founding in 2013, with sales rising by 500% from 2015 to 2016, and 300% from 2016 to 2017 and 160% from 2017 to 2018. Founded and run by experienced Danish robotics industry professionals, MiR is headquartered in Odense, Denmark, and in 2018, was acquired by Teradyne, the leading supplier of automated test equipment. For more information, visit www.mobile-industrial-robots.com.