Hajime Nakai CEO, Buffalo Technology (USA)

Buffalo Technology announced the appointment of Hajime Nakai as chief executive officer of Buffalo Technology (USA), Inc.

 Nakai succeeds Taiji Watanabe, who served as CEO of Buffalo Technology (USA), Inc. from October 2009 and returned in January to Melco Inc., parent holding company, to assume a new executive role in Japan.

Additionally, the leadership team is further expanded to include two senior executives, Tony Aoki and Matt Dargis.

Nakai currently serves as a board director of Buffalo Inc. in Japan and most recently oversaw NAS, wireless network products, and digital home products divisions. He earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Electrical Engineering from Aichi Institute of Technology and has held various management roles within Buffalo for the past 24 years.

In addition to Nakai's appointment, Tony Aoki, who joined Buffalo in 2010 as business advisor to CEO, was appointed deputy president of Buffalo Technology (USA) Inc. He Aoki will play roles in managing the organization and business of Buffalo. Previously, Aoki held numerous managerial and executive roles within Sony Corporation (Japan) and Sony Electronics Inc. (USA) for 31 years, most recently as vice president of technology and strategy. He earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Electrical Engineering from Kyoto University and a Master of Science degree in Electrical Engineering from University of Tokyo.

Matt Dargis has joined Buffalo Technology (USA) Inc. managing the North American Sales team with more than 18 years of technology and channel experience. Before joining Buffalo US, he ran the North American channel sales divisions within Netgear and D-link and has been honored as CRN's Channel Chief on multiple occasions. In his past career, Dargis has helped numerous startup companies develop and execute strategic business models and go-to-market strategies. He attended the University of St. Thomas majoring in Business Management with a minor in Computer Science.

"I thank Mr. Watanabe for his excellent leadership and contribution at Buffalo US and wish him well in his new role in Japan," said Hajime Nakai, chief executive officer, Buffalo Technology (USA) Inc. "Together with Tony, Matt, and other executive team members, I am confident that Buffalo will achieve the next level of business success in US in 2012 and forward."