Executive Team

Gary Niederpruem leads Forgent, spearheading the company’s growth and performance across data centers, grid and renewables and manufacturing markets. He brings more than 25 years of experience in operations, strategy, and M&A, including senior leadership roles at Vertiv, where he helped lead the carve-out from Emerson Network Power and the company’s transition to a publicly listed business.

Prior to joining Forgent, Gary served as COO of Sasser Family Companies and as CEO of Cenergistic, guiding both organizations through periods of transformation and scale. Earlier in his career, he held leadership positions at Vertiv as Chief Strategy and Marketing Officer, Emerson Network Power as Vice President of Global Marketing and General Manager of Integrated Solutions, and at Danaher as Director of Global Product Management, Engineering, and Sales. Gary holds an MBA from the University of Notre Dame and undergraduate degrees in Marketing and Logistics from John Carroll University.

Ryan Fiedler leads financial services, investor relations, corporate development, treasury and tax at Forgent. Prior to joining Forgent, he served as Chief Financial Officer of Caterpillar’s Resource Industries business. During his 14 year tenure at Caterpillar, Ryan led teams across finance, accounting, investor relations, strategy and corporate development, helping position the company for profitable growth.

Earlier in his career, Ryan spent more than 10 years with J.P. Morgan in Corporate and Investment Banking, advising diversified companies on capital raising and M&A transactions. Ryan holds a bachelor’s degree in Business Administration, Finance and Entrepreneurship from Baylor University

Bobby Rogers is Chief Commercial Officer at Forgent, responsible for driving the company’s commercial strategy and leading its sales organization across the data center, grid, and energy-intensive industrial markets. With more than 20 years of industry experience, he is recognized for building scalable go-to-market organizations, expanding share in competitive markets, and delivering profitable growth through customer-focused strategies.

Prior to joining Forgent, Bobby spent over a decade at Schneider Electric, where he most recently served as Vice President of Strategic Account Sales – Secure Power for North America. In that role, he built trusted relationships with hyperscale and enterprise customers and led commercial strategy for one of the fastest-growing verticals in the power sector. He has also held senior leadership positions at APC by Schneider Electric, Oki Data Americas, and ProxyMed. Bobby holds a bachelor’s degree in Business Administration and Management from Indiana University Southeast and has completed executive education at The Wharton School and the University of Chicago Booth School of Business.

Doug Banty leads Forgent’s MGM/Vantran transformers, a market leader in medium and low voltage transformer solutions with a stronghold in key segments. He has expanded their product and customer base, strengthened operational capabilities, and positioned the business as a benchmark for performance in the power distribution industry. Doug's leadership has translated technical expertise, commercial discipline, and operational precision into sustained market share growth and exceptional people culture.

Before joining Forgent, Doug was a consultant at Bain & Company, where he led engagement teams to solve critical enterprise level challenges across different markets. He holds an MBA from Harvard Business School and a B.S. in Chemical Engineering from Villanova University.

Organizational design and transformation executive with over 20 years of C-suite experience building leadership, culture, and talent systems in global organizations. Andrew previously served as Chief Organizational Development and HR Officer at Vertiv, where he shaped organizational architecture and workforce capabilities across a 20,000-employee, multi-site industrial business. Prior to Vertiv, Andrew held senior human resources roles at Lumeris, GGM, A123 Systems and APC/Schneider Electric further strengthening his experience in guiding organizations through periods of significant growth and evolution.

At Forgent, Andrew focuses on developing the structures, culture, and leadership capabilities that support a cohesive, high-performance organization.

Andrew is co-author of “Executing Your Business Transformation”, Jossey-Bass, 2010; and author of “How to Survive Your Business Transformation”, Forbes Council Post, February 2020. He holds a Bachelor of Arts and Master of Science in management from Regis University.

Seasoned operations executive with over three decades of experience leading global manufacturing and supply chain organizations, including architecting and executing large scale capacity expansion plans. Jason previously served as CEO of SVP Worldwide and held senior leadership roles at Vertiv including Chief Operations Officer and EVP of Infrastructure & Solutions, overseeing global plants, supply chain and major product lines. Prior to SVP and Vertiv, Jason held operations roles at A123 Systems, Bosch, and Lear.

At Forgent, Jason is responsible for scaling manufacturing, driving consistent operational performance across all of the Company’s sites and ensuring lead time and quality commitments to customers are met.

Tyson Hottinger leads Forgent’s legal, compliance, and governance functions. He brings extensive experience as Chief Legal Officer in both public and private industrial companies, including MGM Transformers and Array Technologies, where he designed and executed legal strategies spanning capital market readiness, global regulatory affairs, integrated risk management, complex commercial contracting, and legal operations during IPO and growth phases. Prior to that, Tyson served as Deputy General Counsel and Managing Shareholder at Maschoff Brennan, representing technology and manufacturing clients while serving on the firm’s executive management committee. He earned his J.D. with honors and Finance degree from the University of Utah.

Paul Johnson heads Forgent’s enterprise technology stack, cybersecurity, and digital transformation agenda. He brings more than 25 years of experience modernizing IT systems in global industrial environments, including his prior role as Chief Information Officer at Digital Realty, where he led infrastructure, ERP, and customer platform modernization across a multibillion-dollar global footprint.

Paul’s expertise lies in integrating business systems with scalable digital infrastructure—critical to Forgent’s production pace and operational complexity. He holds degrees in Finance and Information Systems from California State University.

Tess Knightbrook leads strategy, M&A, marketing, and AI transformation at Forgent. As Chief Strategy Officer, she shapes the company's long-term direction, drives enterprise-wide initiatives, and connects market intelligence and customer insight to execution.

Prior to Forgent, Tess served as Chief Commercial Officer of MGM Transformers, where she led the commercial team through a period of rapid growth. She brings nearly 15 years of experience at Bain & Company, where she advised clients on growth strategy and digital transformation across industrial and technology sectors. Tess holds a B.A. from UC Berkeley and an MBA from Harvard Business School.

Juan Macias is President, Solutions & Services at Forgent, leading product management, engineering, operations, manufacturing and project execution across the company’s switchgear and Powertrain Solutions offerings. He brings more than 30 years of global leadership experience across energy, digital infrastructure and engineered solutions.

Prior to joining Forgent, Juan founded and served as Chief Executive Officer of AlphaStruxure, a joint venture between Schneider Electric and Carlyle, where he built and scaled a leading Energy-as-a-Service business. Earlier in his career, he held senior P&L leadership roles at GE Energy Management and Schneider Electric. Juan holds an MBA from the Crummer Graduate School of Business at Rollins College and a bachelor’s degree in Industrial Engineering from New Mexico State University.

Wyatt Shallbetter drives product and engineering innovation for Forgent as leader of Engineering and Project Management organizations within the business. As a fourth-generation leader of States Manufacturing, he helped transform the company’s systems and processes throughout engineering, fabrication, controls, and software capabilities, aligning technical execution with customer-driven applications in power and automation.

He brings hands-on expertise in custom equipment, process design, and vertical integration, core to Forgent’s key offerings. Wyatt holds a Bachelor of Science Degree in Mechanical Engineering from the University of North Dakota.