Mike Watts Email and Phone Number

As the Head of Industry Marketing (Go-To-Market Lead) for Semiconductor and Electronics, I'm responsible for driving the market adoption of NI’s solutions within the semiconductor and electronics industries. This strategic role requires orchestrating a comprehensive, cross-functional GTM plan that spans thought leadership, technical solution and product marketing, industry events, digital presence (web and social media), opportunity pipeline tracking, and sales enablement. Internally, I work across the business development, sales, technical marketing, and R&D to ensure a unified and impactful approach to engaging customers and meeting business objectives.Key focus areas include:- Developing and executing go-to-market (GTM) strategies that resonate with the semiconductor and electronics market.- Collaborating across internal teams to shape a cohesive and differentiated value proposition.- Delivering integrated campaigns and initiatives that highlight NI’s technical leadership and industry relevance.- Driving pipeline growth by equipping sales teams with compelling enablement resources and customer insights.- Monitoring performance metrics to refine strategies and maintain alignment with business goals.This role combines strategic vision with hands-on execution to accelerate adoption, expand market presence, and drive business growth for NI’s semiconductor and electronics solutions.

- Guide tens of millions of dollars of annual R&D investment for a high-growth product line delivering 27% compound annual growth rate, consistently higher than NI’s growth (10-15%) and industry growth (5-15%), indicating strong market share growth in a “red ocean” industry- Develop and pitch dozens of internal business cases to GMs and C-level executives to secure additional funding for my product line, including an additional $10M in 2023 for products with high-confidence forecasts of $120M of revenue over the next 3 years- Primary focus on semiconductor validation, inline fab test, and post-fab production test- Research business cases and product requirements for testing of mixed-signal semiconductor ICs, optoelectronics devices, EV battery cell technology, autonomous/assisted driving sensors, biomedical sensors, and cutting-edge semiconductor wafer processes- Manage new products, features, bugs, and customer escalations in Azure Dev Ops- Develop close customer and partner relationships with engineers, mid-level managers, and executives of the world’s largest semiconductor foundries and IC manufacturing companies- Foster strong internal excitement for my product lines by sharing product roadmaps, business results, and success stories, as well as analyzing lessons learned from tough losses- Drive long-term innovation research efforts to derisk technology candidates and accelerate future high-risk, high-complexity product development efforts by 2X (3+ years to 1.5 years)- Collaborate across four major BUs and Product R&D to improve processes and best practices for writing business cases, defining technical requirements, and guiding development efforts

- Created marketing resources such as product demonstrations, customer presentations, competitive analyses, battlecards, and sales training material to highlight unique value - Planned and executed webinars and customer roadshows, consistently exceeding the average attendance and follow-up rates by 30% or more, leading to a strong opportunity pipeline- Manage marketing projects (web, video, photography, etc) in JIRA- Assisted in formation of a semiconductor test business unit that achieved double-digit compound annual growth rate within competitive semiconductor test vertical market- Developed and manage relationships with key customers and strategic partners- Monitored global market trends, competitive landscapes, supply chains, mergers and acquisitions, and underlying semiconductor ecosystem

- Developed and championed business cases for differentiated hardware and software products- Managed risk and generated opportunistic revenue through proactive life cycle management- Created sales tools such as technical demos, product collateral, customer presentations, and sales training material that highlight products’ unique value proposition- Awarded regional and global “Technical Evangelism” awards in 2017 and 2018- Awarded marketing department “Rookie of the Year” award in 2015

As a part of the Engineering Leadership Program, I promoted customer success and enabled sales, while I deepened my technical experience and developed my leadership skills.- Leveraged knowledge of electrical engineering, computer engineering, and National Instruments products to spread awareness of NI's automated test and measurement systems.- Provided application advice (hardware and software) for customers via email, phone, and/or personal visits- Delivered customer training (in person and online) for various NI software and hardware products, including programming advice and electrical engineering principals- Provided technical guidance to a global sales force that is responsible for selling all of the company's products- Created and demonstrate proof of concepts (POCs) illustrating product capabilities- Designed marketing materials for engineering students who are using NI products for the first time- Built entertaining and educational product demonstrations for tradeshows- Revamped technical content for internal training coursesTeam Leader - High Precision Applications Engineering Team- Led team of 10 applications engineers- Monitored team metrics to gauge health and performance of team- Provided career guidance for new employees- Actively managed areas of low performance- Coordinated scheduling and sick leave- Wrote and delivered biannual performance reviews

- Improved quality and efficiency of trade compliance systems by recommending changes to legacy document generation process- Altered trade compliance strategy after gathering and analyzing invoicing processes from Dell business partners in Malaysia, Ireland, Brazil, and India

- Boosted remote capabilities of Desktop Infrastructure Management team by developing a tool capable of scanning network computers for installed software packages- Enhanced accuracy of Hardware Provisioning team by improving a utility that checks data center asset management operations- Developed better understanding of data center power requirements by automating power usage report capabilities

- Promoted superior patient care by providing comprehensive technical support to Hospice administrators, doctors and nurses- Upgraded records management capabilities by teaching 20+ Hospice administrators and nurses how to use a digital patient care system