Sonos Fortifies Board with Titans from Meta, Pandora for Next Growth Phase

SANTA BARBARA, Calif. – January 12, 2026 – Sonos, Inc. (Nasdaq: SONO) today announced a significant strategic enhancement to its leadership, appointing three seasoned executives—Carmine Arabia, Mandy Fields, and Joe Kennedy—to its Board of Directors. The move signals a deliberate effort to infuse the audio company with deep expertise in global hardware operations, consumer brand finance, and digital platform development as it navigates a competitive market and pursues its next chapter of growth.

These appointments come as Sonos sharpens its focus on a platform-driven strategy, aiming to solidify its position not just as a maker of premium speakers, but as the central sound platform for the modern home. The company, which boasts a presence in over 17 million households worldwide, is betting on this expanded leadership to guide its long-term strategy and execution.

A Board Built for the Future

The selection of Arabia, Fields, and Kennedy appears to be a calculated move to assemble a board with a diverse and highly complementary skillset tailored to Sonos’s specific ambitions. The company aims to leverage their collective experience to enhance its ecosystem, which already includes more than 53 million connected devices.

“These three leaders bring impressive and highly complementary experience, as Sonos focuses on delighting customers and building durable, long-term value for shareholders,” said Julius Genachowski, Chair of the Sonos Board of Directors, in a statement. “Carmine has unmatched experience scaling complex global hardware platforms. Mandy adds rigorous financial leadership shaped by helping build a culturally resonant consumer brand. Joe contributes the perspective of a seasoned public company CEO who has grown and operated a category-defining technology business.”

Genachowski emphasized the strategic value of their combined knowledge, stating, “Together they add depth across hardware, finance, and consumer technology as the Board supports Sonos’ long-term strategy and execution.” This focus underscores the company's commitment to integrating its hardware, software, and go-to-market efforts more cohesively.

The Power Players and Their Pedigrees

The new directors bring with them impressive track records from some of the most influential companies in technology and consumer goods.

Carmine Arabia, currently the Vice President of Devices at Meta, is a veteran of scaling complex global hardware operations. At Meta, he leads teams responsible for bringing virtual reality and AI-powered devices to market. His background, which also includes senior roles overseeing product operations for Amazon's consumer electronics and global supply chains at Blackberry, is directly relevant to Sonos. As Sonos expands its product portfolio—which recently grew to include the Sonos Ace headphones—and explores deeper AI integration, Arabia’s expertise in managing intricate supply chains and large-scale manufacturing will be invaluable.

Mandy Fields serves as the Chief Financial Officer of e.l.f. Beauty, a brand celebrated for its rapid growth and strong connection with consumers. Since joining in 2019, she has guided the company through a period of sustained expansion and operational discipline. Her more than two decades in finance, including CFO roles at BevMo! and senior positions at Albertsons, provide Sonos with seasoned leadership in financial strategy for a consumer-facing brand. This aligns perfectly with Sonos's recent internal efforts to become a leaner, more focused organization with sharper financial discipline, balancing growth ambitions with profitability.

Joe Kennedy is a recognized pioneer in the digital media landscape. As a key member of the team that created Pandora, he served as its CEO and President, steering the service from its inception to its growth as a publicly traded company that helped define the modern streaming category. His deep understanding of building and scaling a consumer technology platform, fostering user engagement, and navigating the digital content world provides Sonos with critical insight as it doubles down on its own platform-centric model.

Sharpening the Platform-Driven Strategy

The appointments are intrinsically linked to Sonos's core strategic priority: transforming from a hardware company into a comprehensive sound platform. This strategy centers on the “Sonos System” as the core advantage, aiming to deepen engagement within its existing user base and attract new households into its ecosystem.

The goal is to increase the average number of devices per household, which currently stands at 3.13, and convert more of its single-product households into multi-product ones. The company sees a substantial revenue opportunity in this expansion. The expertise of the new board members directly addresses the pillars of this strategy. Kennedy’s experience at Pandora can help refine the user experience and content integration on the Sonos platform. Arabia’s hardware background supports the development and rollout of new, innovative products that seamlessly join the ecosystem. Meanwhile, Fields’ financial acumen ensures that this growth is managed sustainably and profitably.

This strategic push follows a transitional period for the company. Fiscal year 2025 saw Sonos recover from a challenging app rollout in May 2024 that impacted sales. The company has since reported that software reliability has been restored and customer sentiment has improved, underscoring the critical importance of a robust software experience for its platform ambitions.

Navigating a Competitive Soundscape

Sonos operates in a fiercely competitive market, facing pressure not only from traditional audio rivals like Bose and Sennheiser but also from tech giants Apple, Google, and Amazon, whose smart speakers often serve as gateways to their own broader ecosystems. Recent product launches from competitors like LG and Samsung at CES 2026 further highlight the intense battle for the connected home.

However, the market also presents immense opportunity. The global smart home market is projected to see significant growth, driven by the proliferation of IoT devices and advancements in artificial intelligence. Sonos has identified AI as a “new frontier,” envisioning its platform as the primary interface for controlling and discovering sound throughout the home.

The strategic appointments to the board can be seen as a direct response to this dynamic environment. By bringing in leaders who have successfully scaled hardware for Meta, managed finances for a disruptive consumer brand like e.l.f. Beauty, and built a category-defining digital platform like Pandora, Sonos is arming itself with the leadership and vision required to not only compete but to lead in the evolving landscape of home audio and smart technology for fiscal 2026 and beyond.