Ryan Gray, M.Ed., CTS, is Director of Technology Engagement and Strategy at Yavapai College based in Northern Arizona. He holds Bachelor's Degrees in Political Science and Media Arts from Arizona State University and a Master of Education in Educational Technology from Northern Arizona University. Ryan is passionate about creating high quality technology driven experiences for students, faculty and staff.  He drives attention towards a focus on user experience, the constant incubation of new ideas and the creation of genuine community. He is proud to serve on the Board of Directors of the Higher Education Technology Managers Alliance (HETMA.org) and is host of the AV/IT Amplifier Podcast at Higher Ed AV Media (HigherEdAV.com).

Talks about #biamp, #triathlon, #audiovisual, #mountainbiking, #sci-fi, #technology #wine, #tacos, and #highereducation

I came into marketing through technical and sales roles, so I’ve never looked at it like a support function. To me, it’s part of how a company grows, earns trust, and stays relevant. Today I lead global marketing at CTI across Pro AV, broadcast, and mission critical markets. My work sits across growth, positioning, sales alignment, and market strategy in environments where the sales cycles are real, the stakes are high, and credibility matters. I lead a distributed global team and work across markets where strategy cannot just sound smart. It has to hold up in the real world. That means connecting the work to market reality, supporting growth across regions, and making sure execution actually matches the story. I do my best work in complex B2B environments where trust is earned slowly, buyers are skeptical, and activity is easy to confuse with progress. It usually is not. I care a lot about the gap between what a company says, how it operates, and how it grows. That gap tells you whether the strategy is real.