Sustainable IT Service Provider CXtec Hires Ingram Micro Veteran, ITAD Expert Todd Zegers as CEO

CXtec, a sustainable IT service provider focused on IT asset disposition (ITAD) and IT lifecycle solutions, has hired Ingram Micro veteran and seasoned entrepreneur Todd Zegers to succeed Peter Belyea as CEO.

Zegers joins CXtec at a key time. Demand for circular economy and ITAD services appears strong. Indeed, annual spending on ITAD is expected to reach $34 billion by 2030, up from $16.8 billion in 2022, according to Research and Markets. That's a 9.2% compound annual growth rate (CAGR), the researcher said.

Related: See interview with Zegers further below in this article.

What Are CXtec Sustainable IT Services?

CXtec, founded in 1978, is based in Syracuse, New York with another technology certification and distribution center near Atlanta, Georgia. The company, backed by private equity firm H.I.G. Capital, specializes in IT lifecycle management solutions for enterprise customers -- including 89 Fortune 100 companies.

CXtec services allow clientele to "build, support, decommission, and upgrade their IT infrastructure hardware" in "ethical, sustainable, and profitable" ways, the company said. The services have "prevented more than 23 million pounds of carbon emissions through its sustainable refurbishment and sale of high-quality technology hardware," the business asserts.

CXtec has roughly 250 employees, including 60 full-time IT consultants. Key hires in recent months include Chief Revenue Officer Brent Barry (October 2024) and CFO Paul Hatty (April 2024). Previous CEO Peter Belyea retired as planned at the end of 2024.    

Who Is ITAD Expert Todd Zegers?

Zegers is well-known across the ITAD, IT services and IT distribution markets. He most recently was founder and CEO of Circular Integrity, an ITAD and reverse logistics consulting firm.

Earlier, Zegers in 2003 launched GreenAssetDisposal. CloudBlue Technologies acquired that company, and the resulting business was purchased by Ingram Micro in 2013. From there, Zegers served global VP at Ingram Micro until 2023. 

In a prepared statement about hiring Zegers, H.I.G. Capital Managing Director Matt Kever said: “We are thrilled to welcome Todd to CXtec. He is a proven leader with deep expertise within our business, customers, and industry. We look forward to supporting him and his strategic vision for the Company. We’re incredibly grateful for Pete Belyea’s stewardship and contributions to CXtec over the years.”

Added former CXtec CEO Peter Belyea: "Todd was chosen to be CXtec’s new CEO because he represents the perfect balance of strategic vision and cultural alignment that the Company needs to continue to thrive. Our selection process was intentional, ensuring we found a leader who not only understands our business but also values the unique culture that has defined CXtec for decades. Todd embodies our commitment to innovation, teamwork, and customer focus, and I am confident he will build on our legacy while driving the Company to new heights."

Interview: CXtec CEO Todd Zegers

Zegers offered additional perspectives in an email interview with Sustainable Tech Partner. Here's a recap of the conversation:

STP: How did you learn about the CXtec CEO opportunity?

Zegers: I was approached by a recruiter working with CXtec’s search committee.

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STP: What inspired you to pursue and accept the opportunity?

Zegers: CXtec’s reputation, size, capabilities, people, and sheer number of customers they serve was the ideal foundation for an accelerated growth strategy. After meeting with H.I.G. and understanding that our visions on where and how we can drive growth were aligned, I felt strongly about wanting to return back to leading and continuing to scale an IT lifecycle company. One of the biggest reasons for joining is CXtec’s core abilities to process and resell data center hardware, services, and even cabling. With nearly 10,000 customers, we’re positioned to continue to take marketshare in the data center sector, which is the hardest component of IT lifecycle and ITAD-type services.  

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STP: What are your priorities for the first 100 days or so?

Zegers: Educating myself about the entire business, staff, and capabilities to start for the first 30 days. There will be some immediate strategic moves made to enhance and expand our capabilities to attract new clients while expanding our share of customer wallet. I also plan to meet with top clients and partners likely during this timeframe as well, but more focus on this effort in the middle of the first 100, all while developing and refining the strategic model we intend to execute. As we near the 100 day mark we’ll likely have a crystalized strategy to pursue at rapid pace.  We’ll not only be looking at ways to expand our capabilities, but also doubling down on existing strengths to ensure we continue to expand on what made CXtec great in the first place.

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STP: Tell me a bit about CXtec’s partner ecosystem? Are you working closely with any particular hardware or tech companies? 

Zegers: CXtec has various relationships with the larger Tier 1 OEM’s to sell both new and used IT products, supported by adjacent services needs. Services are performed by a combination of CXtec associates and various key partners around the world.  The majority of our products and services are focused in enterprise hardware, more specifically the data center.  We’ll be adding and developing a partner ecosystem, as well as organic investments internally, to expand into adjacent products and services that cover the full range of IT hardware and service solution needs.  This will enable us to serve OEM’s, resellers, mid-large corporates, education, and government sector clients alike across their enterprise.

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STP: Do you have a channel partner program that involves VARs, MSPs, distributors, etc? Are there any particular opportunities for expansion with those types of partners?

Zegers: We currently partner with a small group of VARs, GSI’s, and other channel players and will absolutely be planning to expand our capabilities in those sectors, as we see a huge need for our capabilities from the channel as this is typically a large gap in VAR/MSP offerings and capabilities.  One of our core offerings is we’re an OEM essentially of fiber optic cabling, patch panels, and the like, we see a huge opportunity to serve both direct and channel customers with our CableExpress offering.  As datacenters continue to go up at rapid pace, we have a high quality offering at an extremely competitive price that allows us to sell through a one or even two tier distribution model.

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STP: Sustainable IT is still an emerging/evolving discussion in the United States. Do you see any progress/momentum for the sustainable IT discussion in the U.S., or is this still a very challenging topic to push forward?

Zegers: I think it’s making progress but there’s a long way to go. If you watch what’s happening in Europe, they are the north star for truly circular and sustainable IT products and services.  We believe the USA will follow along but at our own pace and timing, so we’re hyper focused on developing all the right capabilities from hardware, services, and reporting to meet the needs of all the clients we serve in our ecosystem.

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STP: Where else will you focus your efforts?

Zegers: We’ll be hiring soon for seasoned experts in the data center sector, likely across all functions. Also want to stress how important CXtec’s people and culture are to our success. That’s something that has been integral to the company’s growth to this point and will remain a defining feature of who we are going forward.