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Nihon Kohden Expands Executive Leadership to Support Continued Growth and Customer Experience

Business Wire

Zac Ballard Promoted to Executive Vice President, Commercial Operations—Uniting Sales, Marketing, Operations and Service; CEO Roy Sakai Takes on Chief Executive Role at Affiliate Ad-Tech Medical Instrument Corporation

IRVINE, Calif., August 25, 2026--Nihon Kohden, a leading provider of patient monitoring, neurology, ventilation and digital health solutions, today announced an expanded executive leadership structure designed to increase organizational capacity and strengthen alignment across the customer experience. Effective August 3, Zac Ballard was promoted to executive vice president, commercial operations, taking on leadership of sales and marketing across all four of the company's business units — Patient Monitoring, Neurology, Ventilation and Digital Health Solutions — along with marketing strategy and innovation, operations and service. Concurrently, chief executive officer Roy Sakai assumed the role of CEO of Nihon Kohden affiliate Ad-Tech Medical Instrument Corporation (Ad-Tech), while continuing to lead Nihon Kohden America.

Delivering One Unified Customer Experience

Uniting commercial, operational and service functions under one leader gives these teams a shared set of priorities focused on growth, operational excellence and exceptional customer experience. For the organization, this means stronger cross-functional coordination, faster decision-making and clearer accountability across every function that touches the customer. For hospitals and health systems, this means one accountable partner across every stage of the relationship — from evaluation and implementation through ongoing service and support.

"Zac has shown throughout his career that he can bring teams together around a clear strategy, driving results through strong cross-functional work," said Sakai. "His leadership, business acumen and commitment to our employees, customers and partners have earned him the confidence of this organization, and he has consistently delivered results. We have great trust in his ability to lead our company's continued growth."

From Operations to the Full Customer Experience

Ballard joined Nihon Kohden nearly four years ago as vice president of operations, bringing more than 30 years of international operations and commercial leadership across the medical device and diagnostics industries in the U.S. and Europe. He previously led global operations for the clinical diagnostics division of Thermo Fisher Scientific and spent five years at Ortho Clinical Diagnostics spearheading global service and operations, where he also directed a company-wide customer excellence program before taking responsibility for three of the company's six commercial regions. Earlier in his career, he held operations and program management roles of increasing scope at Siemens in Europe and Hewlett-Packard in Barcelona. Ballard holds a master's degree in manufacturing systems engineering from Stanford University and a bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering from the University of California, San Diego.

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