**Editor’s Note: Click here to see which channel people were on the move in June.**

Master agent Telarus has chosen Justin Chugg, an 11-year veteran of the company, to lead its research and development efforts. His team will be tasked with creating technology that helps to recruit VARs and increase demand among end users.

Chugg, 31, returns to Sandy, Utah-based Telarus after a two-year stint as vice president of business development at Vocal IP Networx in New York. He has been appointed chief innovation officer.

“We are excited to welcome Justin Chugg back to our team,” said Adam Edwards, Telarus’ co-founder and CEO. “His technological abilities and understanding of social media will be a huge help in attracting new customers and referral partners to our most loyal agents.”

Co-founder Patrick Oborn was the previous chief innovation officer.

During his previous stint at Telarus, Chugg worked his way up to director of marketing.

As chief innovation officer, one of Chugg’s main initiatives is the Telarus Automated Marketing Intelligence system (TAMI). It will be built in the cloud using virtual computing technology provided by NewCloud Networks.

TAMI will sort through mountains of data available across the Internet to identify companies in the buying cycle.

In a Q&A with Channel Partners, Chugg shared his thoughts on returning “home” and his goals as CIO.

Channel Partners: What made you want to return to Telarus?

Chugg: My decision to return to Telarus was highly influenced by the fact that Telarus is the only distributor that is truly prepared for the future. I believe our channel depends on Telarus’ leadership and vision to successfully navigate the tumultuous changes taking place.

CP: How will your previous experiences with the company and the channel come into play in this new role?

Chugg: After spending several years in both the supplier and distributor worlds, I realize that partners, distributors and suppliers would be much more successful if they …

… worked more as a team rather than partners. Every sales partner and supplier has strategic relationships, verticals and products that need to be better aligned. We cannot continue to function in silos and expect to survive the future changes of our industry.

CP: What challenges are you most looking forward to as the new chief innovation officer?

Chugg: The challenge I look forward to the most is the ability to help partners sell more with less effort. Many partners today have found that prospects are immune to traditional marketing. With the help of big data, predictive analytics and TAMI, partners can accelerate and scale the growth of their businesses.

CP: Is TAMI a one-of-a-kind initiative? Can you give an example of how it will help Telarus and its partners?

Chugg: TAMI is a proprietary Telarus tool, enabling machines to think and execute tasks like a real human being. Among the many tasks TAMI will be commissioned will be demand generation. A classic example is a company that will be moving offices. Rather than sitting outside a high-rise waiting for a moving truck, Telarus partners can be introduced to new clients before they even start packing.