Acuity is changing the leadership of its lighting business – and it has not chosen a conventional lighting executive. Ruth Gratzke will become President of Acuity Brands Lighting (ABL) on September 1, 2026, reporting directly to Acuity CEO Neil Ashe.
Gratzke joins from Siemens, where she served as President of Siemens Smart Infrastructure in the United States and CEO of Siemens Industry, Inc. Her remit covered smart buildings, grid-edge technology, energy infrastructure and data-centre environments. Earlier in her career, she held senior roles at General Electric and Hubbell.
That makes the appointment more significant than a routine change at the top. Acuity Brands Lighting is one of the heavyweights of the North American professional lighting market. At the same time, its parent company has increasingly positioned itself beyond fixtures and towards technology for connected buildings.
Alongside ABL, Acuity operates Acuity Intelligent Spaces, a second segment focused on connected environments. The group says its portfolio now spans lighting, lighting controls, building-management solutions and audio, video and control platforms.
This is where Gratzke's Siemens background becomes particularly relevant. An executive coming from smart infrastructure, energy efficiency and digital buildings is unlikely to see lighting as an isolated product category. In the contract market, lighting is increasingly converging with sensors, controls, building management and data.
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Acuity is changing the leadership of its lighting business – and it has not chosen a conventional lighting executive. Ruth Gratzke will become President of Acuity Brands Lighting (ABL) on September 1, 2026, reporting directly to Acuity CEO Neil Ashe.
Gratzke joins from Siemens, where she served as President of Siemens Smart Infrastructure in the United States and CEO of Siemens Industry, Inc. Her remit covered smart buildings, grid-edge technology, energy infrastructure and data-centre environments. Earlier in her career, she held senior roles at General Electric and Hubbell.
That makes the appointment more significant than a routine change at the top. Acuity Brands Lighting is one of the heavyweights of the North American professional lighting market. At the same time, its parent company has increasingly positioned itself beyond fixtures and towards technology for connected buildings.
Alongside ABL, Acuity operates Acuity Intelligent Spaces, a second segment focused on connected environments. The group says its portfolio now spans lighting, lighting controls, building-management solutions and audio, video and control platforms.
This is where Gratzke's Siemens background becomes particularly relevant. An executive coming from smart infrastructure, energy efficiency and digital buildings is unlikely to see lighting as an isolated product category. In the contract market, lighting is increasingly converging with sensors, controls, building management and data.