In this episode of the Mr. Beacon Podcast, we welcome Kirsten Newquist, the CEO of Identiv, a company at the forefront of the IoT revolution. With nearly two decades of experience at Avery Dennison and a deep background in building businesses, Kirsten brings a refreshing blend of strategic focus, technical acumen, and values-based leadership to her role.
I worked closely with Identiv right from my early days at Wiliot and appreciated their appetite to build new products at the cutting edge of IoT.
Identiv is known for its expertise in specialized IoT tags, labels, and inlays, helping bridge the physical and digital worlds through RFID and Bluetooth technologies. Under Kirsten’s leadership, the company has sharpened its strategy with a "Perform, Accelerate, Transform" framework, enabling them to focus on core strengths, drive innovation in high-growth markets like healthcare, while also being able to quickly adapt in these trying times.
Kirsten shares insights into Identiv’s differentiated engineering capabilities, their recent manufacturing expansion into Thailand, and how the company is tackling complex challenges in sectors like pharmaceutical cold chain management, smart medical devices, and home healthcare. She also discusses Identiv’s partnerships with leaders in the Bluetooth and RFID ecosystems, giving customers a flexible suite of next-generation IoT solutions.
Beyond strategy and technology, Kirsten opens up about the importance of grit, work-life balance, and integrity as foundational values that shape her leadership style and company culture.
We also explore her personal leadership journey and the mindset that propelled her to the CEO role of a public company. Plus, she shares three songs that have inspired her along the way.
It’s a rich conversation about building meaningful businesses, leading with purpose, and embracing the future of connected technology.
Kirsten's Top 3 Favorite Songs:
- “Don’t Worry Be Happy” by Bobby McFerrin: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d-diB65scQU
- “Lean On Me” by Bill Withers: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fOZ-MySzAac
- “Rise Up” by Andra Day: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LDffmI0ncfo
Mister Beacon is hosted by Steve Statler, CEO of AmbAI Inc. — creators of AmbAI, the AI agent that connects people to products and the brands behind them. AmbAI also advises leading brands on Ambient Intelligence strategy.
Our sponsor is Blecon http://www.blecon.net. Blecon enables physical products to communicate with cloud applications using Bluetooth Low Energy..