OUR TEAM
Fred Lutz, CEO
Fred Lutz brings 30 years of telecom, content and digital experience to BAI Connect. Fred began his career in the Tele-Communications, Inc. “TCI” management training program, and ascended through operational leadership positions with AT&T and Charter Communications. Fred managed operations for Charter in the State of West Virginia, Tennessee, southern California, and ultimately Denver, where he led the West Division with approximately 1 million customers in 5 western states. After leaving Charter, Fred led a content asset owned by Mark Cuban called AXT TV and later was the COO of Digital Globes Services, Inc. “DGS” traded publicly in the UK, helped large brands acquire customers through efficient digital technology. Most recently, Fred ran the Washington assets of Wave Broadband (now Astound) for Patriot Media and their private equity partner TPG. Initially joining BAI Connect as a board member, Fred has served as CEO since January 2022.
John Debus, CFO
John Debus has over 30 years of experience, covering the complete business lifecycle, including startup, growth, maturity, and decline. He has held senior-level officer positions in both public and private companies ranging in value from several million to over $3 billion. During his career, he has held various financial positions with progressive responsibility for all financial and administrative aspects of the companies managed including; Accounting, Finance, Treasury, SEC Reporting, Risk Management, Legal, Supply Chain and Logistics, Business Operations, Bids and Proposals, Human Resources and Information Technology. Prior to joining BAI Connect, Mr. Debus served as chief financial officer for Goodman Solutions, a privately held EF&I and Field Services Company supporting large nationwide customers, including AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile, DIRECTV, Amazon, LG and others.
Rafa Domingo Diaz, CIO
Rafa Diaz brings over 20 years’ experience in the telecom BSS/OSS world to BAI Connect. He is an Operations, Compliance and Technology leader with expertise in financial solutions, program management and systems integration projects. Rafa has a hands-on approach and is a data-driven professional who sees data management systems as a key resource for helping the organization make better decisions. His work ensures predictable, consistent, and successful program delivery, and the coordination of effort across all teams. Rafa also brings a multinational and multicultural background to BAI Connect, having worked in five countries where he held different technical and operational roles.
Diego Salas, CTO
As Chief Technology Officer, Diego Salas is a seasoned IT executive with 20 years of experience, with particular strength in Engineering, IT Management, Infrastructure and Operations. Diego combines leadership and project management skills with hands-on technical expertise, allowing him to simultaneously architect, lead and implement mission-critical projects while lowering costs, improving efficiencies and introducing innovative technologies. He has a strong understanding with multiple compliance and regulatory agencies and is driven by a desire to align technology with a company’s mission, vision and culture.
Bill Bartlow, VP Operations
Bill Bartlow has over 20 years of telecom operations experience having held senior positions at companies in various growth stages including startups and mature national service providers. Bill co-founded Spectrum Networks and CondoInternet, the first ISP to offer gigabit services to residences in the Pacific Northwest. After Spectrum/CondoInternet was successfully acquired by Wave Broadband (now Astound) in 2013, Bill continued with Wave supporting several operations teams including the Network Operations Center, Commercial Field Techs, Critical Infrastructure teams, and Workforce Management/ Dispatch. Most recently, Bill led the national Implementation and Project Management teams at Astound, supporting contract to billing implementation processes for commercial fiber services.
Erik Spring, VP Sales
Erik Spring brings 15 years of sales leadership experience to BAI Connect, with 10 years specifically serving the multifamily market in telecom, including regional and national REITs. Building teams, sales process improvement and strategic alignment for sales success are all part of what Erik brings to the team. At BAI Connect, Erik leads inside sales, commercial sales and the MDU business development.
Amy Thompson, VP Customer Experience
Amy Thompson brings 25 years of marketing and product experience to BAI Connect with success leading cross-functional teams, launching products, and problem solving to improve processes and service delivery. In particular, she led initiatives to deliver faster speeds, launch new WiFi solutions, introduce Security & Smart Home, and evaluate other connected devices. In her current role as Vice President of Customer Experience, Amy works across the organization to improve customer communication and support.
Shane Williams, VP Human Resources
Shane Williams joined BAI Connect with over fifteen years of leadership and Human Resource experience. After six years in Aerospace, as a leader in HR with Virgin Galactic, Shane chose to join our team where he brought his passion of culture, diversity and inclusion and building a People first organization with him. As Vice President of Human Resources, Shane works daily to ensure our team feels empowered, equipped and energized.