Stem Hires CEO to Accelerate Clean Energy Software, Services Revenues

Stem Inc., a developer of clean energy software and services, has hired Arun Narayanan as CEO, effective January 27, 2025. He succeeds interim CEO David Buzby, who remains chair of the board.

Stem's flagship product, called Athena, allows customers to "deploy and unlock value from clean energy assets at scale, the company asserts. Key capabilities include asset performance management; energy storage procurement; energy storage monitoring and optimization; market optimization; solar monitoring and various energy services, the company asserts.

Stem Business Transition, Executive Moves

Arun Narayanan joins Stem at a key time. The company is striving to aggressively shift from hardware toward clean energy software and services revenues. But the transition won't be easy. Indeed, the company's financial results for Q3 of 2024 included:

• $29.3 million in revenue, down sharply from $133.7 million in Q3 of 2023.
• A net loss of $148.3 million, compared to a $77.1 million net loss in Q3 of 2023.

Amid the financial challenges, Stem's stock has fallen about 72% from January 2024 through January 15, 2025, according to SeekingAlpha.

While navigating the financial challenges, Stem has made multiple executive moves in recent months. Examples include:

• Executive VP of Technology Albert Hofeldt rose to chief technology officer (CTO) in October 2024.
• Stem hired Ameresco veteran Doran Hole to succeed Bill Bush as CFO in September 2024.
• Chief Strategy Officer Prakesh Patel exited the business in August 2024 and was not replaced.
• Former CEO John Carrington stepped down in August 2024.

While emphasizing software and services, Stem is adjusting its energy storage hardware strategy. Indeed, the company plans to "advise our customers on hardware selection rather than directly purchasing battery hardware on their behalf," CFO Doran Hole told Wall Street analysts during the company's earnings call on October 30, 2024. "For some customers who want a full-service solution, we will continue to resell battery hardware, but only when the opportunity satisfies strict terms, including profitability metrics and cash flow thresholds. That said, we will honor our commitments to our existing customers with the projects in our backlog."

Stem Hires New CEO for Clean Energy Software Push: Executive Perspectives

New CEO Arun Narayanan has extensive experience in the renewable energy and technology markets. He previously was CEO of RES Digital Solutions, a renewable energy company. Earlier, Narayanan held key posts at Anglo American and SLB. Much of his career involved running data, analytics and cloud initiatives at SLB's Schlumberger.

In a prepared statement, Narayanan said: “I thank the Board for entrusting me to build upon Stem’s rich history of best-in-class execution and to advance the Company’s strategy. I have always seen software as the catalyst in accelerating the clean energy transition and the key contributor to meeting our planet's climate goals. I look forward to working alongside the talented team at Stem to accelerate progress on our go-to-market strategy, drive growth and innovation, and deliver exceptional software-driven value to our customers, partners, and investors, helping promote safe, sustainable, and resilient energy systems.”

Added Stem Chair of the Board David Buzby: “On behalf of the Board and the Stem leadership team, I am thrilled to welcome Arun to Stem. Throughout our search for a new CEO, we prioritized finding a leader with deep software expertise and a track record of transformative leadership to advance Stem’s software and services strategy forward and to drive scalable growth and enhance long-term profitability. Arun's expertise in building and managing software driven enterprises rounds out an experienced management team that includes Doran Hole who recently joined as Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer bringing 25 years of relevant industry experience and financial discipline. Collectively, we now have a full team capable of taking advantage of the opportunity to build the leading AI powered energy software company.”

We'll check out Stem's business transition progress during the company's next earnings call. Stay tuned.