Bridgehead Prepared for Eric at Advanced Input Systems
Advanced Input Systems For Eric

Human Machine Interface Software Sales Playbook

Eric, we’ll build your new sales lead’s first 100 accounts in 10 days. The first 25 are below, and they’re yours either way.

If your Director of Sales seat stays open another quarter, ignore this. If it doesn’t, the next two minutes are worth it.

What we noticed

Your site says you build touch displays, custom HMI components and complete systems, with eight plants in five countries behind them. A new director walks in with a full product range to sell.

Your posting asks one person to build the pipeline, the team and the forecast across industrial, medical and aerospace markets. The list of who to call is the part that can be finished before they sit down.

What changes for your new AE

Your new director starts day one with 100 accounts you approved, each with the reason to call now, and a first note written to the top five, instead of spending the first quarter finding which OEMs are moving. Your team gets a list that already follows how you sell.

Your first 25 accounts

Picked from how your posting and your sites describe your buyers. Each one has the reason it’s here and the source.

Yours either wayKeep these 25 whether or not we ever talk.
Cut any you wouldn’t callTell us why, and we replace it. We keep going until you’d keep at least 80 of the 100.
  1. Caterpillar Sanford, North Carolina · Cat Compact manufacturing expansion
    1

    A new compact-machine plant is where operator controls for the next model years get specified and sourced, and the sourcing decisions come before the first machine is built.

    Signal: Sep 30, 2026 Source
    Buyer: Engineering or sourcing leadership
    Why it’s ranked here

    A strong fit.

    • A maker in a market your site names: heavy equipment, industrial automation, energy, aerospace and defense.
    • Builds a product with an operator interface: a touch display, keypad or control panel someone has to design in.
    • Something changed in the last nine months: a plant, a launch, a financing, an acquisition or a new leader.
    • A manufacturer that builds in volume, not a distributor or a one-off integrator.
    • Not already a customer. Your sites name no customers, so a name is dropped if you tell us it already buys from you.
    • Looks like the buyers your posting describes: major OEMs and Tier 1 suppliers.
  2. Volvo Construction Equipment Shippensburg, Pennsylvania · North American excavator and loader plant
    2

    Eleven more models moving to a US plant means new supply chains for cab controls, and a US-based HMI supplier shortens the line.

    Signal: Aug 19, 2026 Source
    Buyer: Engineering or sourcing leadership
    Why it’s ranked here

    A strong fit.

    • A maker in a market your site names: heavy equipment, industrial automation, energy, aerospace and defense.
    • Builds a product with an operator interface: a touch display, keypad or control panel someone has to design in.
    • Something changed in the last nine months: a plant, a launch, a financing, an acquisition or a new leader.
    • A manufacturer that builds in volume, not a distributor or a one-off integrator.
    • Not already a customer. Your sites name no customers, so a name is dropped if you tell us it already buys from you.
    • Looks like the buyers your posting describes: major OEMs and Tier 1 suppliers.
  3. Hyster-Yale Materials Handling Location not stated in the source · Lift truck maker
    3

    A lift truck maker investing in sensor-driven manufacturing is rebuilding how it builds, and the operator station is one of the parts it builds the most of.

    Signal: Jul 7, 2026 Source
    Buyer: Engineering or sourcing leadership
    Why it’s ranked here

    A strong fit.

    • A maker in a market your site names: heavy equipment, industrial automation, energy, aerospace and defense.
    • Builds a product with an operator interface: a touch display, keypad or control panel someone has to design in.
    • Something changed in the last nine months: a plant, a launch, a financing, an acquisition or a new leader.
    • A manufacturer that builds in volume, not a distributor or a one-off integrator.
    • Not already a customer. Your sites name no customers, so a name is dropped if you tell us it already buys from you.
    • Looks like the buyers your posting describes: major OEMs and Tier 1 suppliers.
  4. Doosan Bobcat North America North America · Compact equipment maker
    4

    A new president of North American operations reviews suppliers in his first months, which is the opening for a second source on cab controls.

    Signal: Oct 23, 2026 Source
    Buyer: President Edward Song
    Why it’s ranked here

    A strong fit.

    • A maker in a market your site names: heavy equipment, industrial automation, energy, aerospace and defense.
    • Builds a product with an operator interface: a touch display, keypad or control panel someone has to design in.
    • Something changed in the last nine months: a plant, a launch, a financing, an acquisition or a new leader.
    • A manufacturer that builds in volume, not a distributor or a one-off integrator.
    • Not already a customer. Your sites name no customers, so a name is dropped if you tell us it already buys from you.
    • Looks like the buyers your posting describes: major OEMs and Tier 1 suppliers.
  5. CNH Location not stated in the source · Small dozer line
    5

    The whole N Series update is the cab, controls and display. That is the part of the machine your site says you design.

    Signal: Nov 9, 2026 Source
    Buyer: Engineering or sourcing leadership
    Why it’s ranked here

    A strong fit.

    • A maker in a market your site names: heavy equipment, industrial automation, energy, aerospace and defense.
    • Builds a product with an operator interface: a touch display, keypad or control panel someone has to design in.
    • Something changed in the last nine months: a plant, a launch, a financing, an acquisition or a new leader.
    • A manufacturer that builds in volume, not a distributor or a one-off integrator.
    • Not already a customer. Your sites name no customers, so a name is dropped if you tell us it already buys from you.
    • Looks like the buyers your posting describes: major OEMs and Tier 1 suppliers.
  6. AGCO United States launch, at the Farm Progress Show · Tractor maker
    6

    A first global launch hosted in the U.S. means North American supplier choices are on the table for the next model.

    Signal: Sep 1, 2026 Source
    Buyer: Engineering or sourcing leadership
    Why it’s ranked here

    A strong fit.

    • A maker in a market your site names: heavy equipment, industrial automation, energy, aerospace and defense.
    • Builds a product with an operator interface: a touch display, keypad or control panel someone has to design in.
    • Something changed in the last nine months: a plant, a launch, a financing, an acquisition or a new leader.
    • A manufacturer that builds in volume, not a distributor or a one-off integrator.
    • Not already a customer. Your sites name no customers, so a name is dropped if you tell us it already buys from you.
    • Looks like the buyers your posting describes: major OEMs and Tier 1 suppliers.
  7. Liebherr Germany · Mining excavator maker
    7

    Moving a diesel excavator to electric changes the cab's displays, warnings and controls, a redesign that needs a supplier at the table early.

    Signal: Nov 6, 2026 Source
    Buyer: Engineering or sourcing leadership
    Why it’s ranked here

    A strong fit.

    • A maker in a market your site names: heavy equipment, industrial automation, energy, aerospace and defense.
    • Builds a product with an operator interface: a touch display, keypad or control panel someone has to design in.
    • Something changed in the last nine months: a plant, a launch, a financing, an acquisition or a new leader.
    • A manufacturer that builds in volume, not a distributor or a one-off integrator.
    • Not already a customer. Your sites name no customers, so a name is dropped if you tell us it already buys from you.
    • Looks like the buyers your posting describes: major OEMs and Tier 1 suppliers.
  8. Generac Waukesha, Wisconsin · Generator maker
    8

    A $2.4 billion delivery schedule in 2027 and 2028 means control panels and keypads in volume, ordered well before the first delivery.

    Signal: Sep 17, 2026 Source
    Buyer: CEO Aaron Jagdfeld is named in the source
    Why it’s ranked here

    A strong fit.

    • A maker in a market your site names: heavy equipment, industrial automation, energy, aerospace and defense.
    • Builds a product with an operator interface: a touch display, keypad or control panel someone has to design in.
    • Something changed in the last nine months: a plant, a launch, a financing, an acquisition or a new leader.
    • A manufacturer that builds in volume, not a distributor or a one-off integrator.
    • Not already a customer. Your sites name no customers, so a name is dropped if you tell us it already buys from you.
    • Looks like the buyers your posting describes: major OEMs and Tier 1 suppliers.

Your new director’s first 100 accounts, in 10 days

The first 25 are above, and they’re yours either way.

Email Kash

We build a handful of these a month, for founders hiring now.

10 days

from kickoff to your team running it

  • 100 accounts you approve, each with the reason
  • A first note to the top five, in your voice
  • Your team runs it without us
  • Any account you cut, we replace

How does Advanced Input Systems sell?

An outside read from your posting, your 1HMX and Advanced Input Systems sites and your markets page, built to be corrected: tell us anything that’s wrong. Tap a clip to play it from that moment.

What your customers sayFrom Director of Sales - Industrial posting, advancedinput.com, 1hmx.com/markets, 1hmx.com, 1hmx.com/about
  1. 1P1HMX posting
    “Cultivate executive-level relationships with C-suite and decision makers at major OEMs, integrators, and strategic partners.”
    1HMX posting · Director of Sales - Industrial posting
  2. Aadvancedinput.com
    “We partner with countless original equipment manufacturers on proprietary designs from the initial conceptual design stages through manufacturing end-of-life.”
    advancedinput.com · advancedinput.com
  3. 11hmx.com/markets
    “1HMX brings decades of experience developing high-performance solutions for the most demanding industries, including aerospace, medical, safety, security, industrial, and gaming applications.”
    1hmx.com/markets · 1hmx.com/markets
  4. Aadvancedinput.com
    “Physical controls are a dominant HMI attribute that support a broad range of interactions and applications to achieve a desired experience.”
    advancedinput.com · advancedinput.com
  5. 11hmx.com
    “Specializing in demanding applications and environments, we deliver precision-engineered complete HMI solutions that exceed the highest standards of performance and durability across a variety of industries.”
    1hmx.com · 1hmx.com
  6. 1P1HMX posting
    “Our vertically integrated model ensures quality, speed, and resilience across critical industries.”
    1HMX posting · Director of Sales - Industrial posting
  7. 11hmx.com
    “With eight manufacturing facilities across five countries, our regional production footprint designed for flexibility and resilience, helping customers navigate geopolitical uncertainties, mitigate tariffs, and optimize logistics, while reducing transit time and costs.”
    1hmx.com · 1hmx.com
  8. 11hmx.com/about
    “A core facet of our company culture is over-serving our customers, and consistently delivering clear value with continuous improvement.”
    1hmx.com/about · 1hmx.com/about
  9. Aadvancedinput.com
    “Helping OEM customers manage every phase of their product life cycle.”
    advancedinput.com · advancedinput.com
  10. 1P1HMX posting
    “Demonstrated ability to lead complex global negotiations, close multi-million-dollar deals, and manage long sales cycles.”
    1HMX posting · Director of Sales - Industrial posting
  11. 1P1HMX posting
    “Expand penetration into targeted vertical markets, identifying and closing high-value OEM and Tier 1 opportunities.”
    1HMX posting · Director of Sales - Industrial posting
  12. 1P1HMX posting
    “We are seeking an accomplished VP/Director of Sales to lead the execution of 1HMX’s five-year growth plan.”
    1HMX posting · Director of Sales - Industrial posting

Words you use

  • “Complete HMI Realization”
  • “From Concept to Production”
  • “Precision Engineering - Superior Durability”
  • “over-serving our customers”
  • “Concurrent Engineering”
  • “High-Reliability Applications”

How the list learns your calls

In the first session you react to accounts like these: keep or cut, and why, the way you’d tell a cofounder. Each reason becomes a rule you can read, the pool re-scores, and ten more show whether it learned. Keep eight of ten and the hundred is built on your rules.

  1. You cut one on the call, and say why
  2. It becomes a rule
  3. The pool re-scores
  4. Ten more test it

Which questions can only you answer?

Your sites name the markets you serve but not which OEM you would walk past, or what an engineering team has to see before it designs you in. About 30 minutes of you reacting to real accounts answers these.

  1. 1

    Which kind of OEM engineers you in fastest: heavy equipment, energy or defense?

    Rows 1 to 7 are heavy equipment, rows 8, 10, 11 and 12 are energy, and rows 13, 16 and 17 are defense.

  2. 2

    Does an acquirer or a new president reset interface suppliers in the first year?

    Row 4 (a new president at Bobcat) and row 15 (Terex acquiring Keestrack) depend on this.

  3. 3

    Does a company that designs its own displays ever buy from you?

    Row 21 (Deere) tests this.

  4. 4

    Is gaming in this director’s territory, or does it sit elsewhere?

    Row 23 (IGT) tests this.

  5. 5

    Does the director call plants outside the U.S.?

    Rows 24 and 25 are Korea and Germany and China.

What does your Director of Sales - Industrial’s first morning look like?

Without

The CRM you have now. The early weeks go to learning which accounts you’d call, and why.

With · Director of Sales - Industrial, first morning

  • CCaterpillarDraft written
  • VCVolvo Construction EquipmentDraft written
  • HMHyster-Yale Materials HandlingDraft written
  • DBDoosan Bobcat North AmericaDraft written
  • CCNHDraft written

A hundred accounts you approved, the rules behind them and drafts to the first five, so their time goes to buyers.

From week two, your mornings too: one brief, drafts to approve, every message sent by you.

How the 10 days run

What happens in the ten working days?

November 16, 2026 to December 1, 2026. About a day of your time in total.

  1. Before by November 16

    You send the customers you’d clone and three deals that went wrong, plus 10 to 20 emails or posts you wrote. “How you sell” is drafted from your talks and posts.

    You: 20 minutes
  2. Day 1 November 16

    The playbook session: we fill the gaps and correct the draft together. Your CRM is connected.

    You: 2 hours
  3. Day 2 November 17

    Your first rules are written; a few hundred companies are scored against them.

    You: none
  4. Day 3 November 18

    You review the first 25 (talking it through is fine).

    You: 30 minutes
  5. Day 4 November 19

    Your reasons become rules; you see the re-score and judge 10 more. First touches are written in your voice to the accounts you kept, and you read ten. Touches start logging to the CRM.

    You: 30 minutes
  6. Day 5 November 20

    The hundred is built. The research tool is set up; you test it on three accounts you know.

    You: 15 minutes
  7. Day 6 November 23

    The morning run is set up; your first morning, with us.

    You: 30 minutes
  8. Day 7 November 24

    You review all hundred, and any cut is replaced. Team training, session one.

    You: 1 hour 20 minutes
  9. Day 8 November 25

    Your first morning on your own. Training session two, hands-on for each person.

    You: 1 hour plus your morning
  10. Day 9 November 30

    Your second morning on your own. Each person on your team runs the morning alone.

    You: your morning
  11. Day 10 December 1

    Your third morning on your own. A week of touches is in the CRM. Handover sign-off.

    You: 30 minutes plus your morning
Kash Badami

Who builds it?

The person in the video does the work with you, from the first session to the handover.

$100M+in deals sold in a single year
$0 to $10MARR in 12 months, for a company I built
  1. “Kash and I built ERT Credit together in 2021. He took my MVP and turned it into a SaaS that hit $10M ARR in twelve months.”

    Jordan Anderson, CEO, PayStreetgobridgehead.ai/about

  2. “Analytical in approach, technologically-knowledgeable, and earnest in conviction, Kash was able to drive pipeline in a notoriously challenging tech region.”

    JBJason Brandt, Managing Director, Sales, ePlus inc.LinkedIn recommendation, April 2020

Where does this go from here?

Three options. Each one is fine.

Not a fit

Say so in a line, and that’s the end of it.

Not now

Keep the 25 and the read on how you sell, and share them. When the role fills, the offer stands.

Talk with Kash

Ask Kash to call you, or email him. He calls to set up a 30-minute strategy session. Bring your cofounder or your sales leader.

Your new director’s first 100 accounts, in 10 days

The first 25 are above, and they’re yours either way.

Email Kash

We build a handful of these a month, for founders hiring now.

10 days

from kickoff to your team running it

  • 100 accounts you approve, each with the reason
  • A first note to the top five, in your voice
  • Your team runs it without us
  • Any account you cut, we replace

Advanced Input Systems sales playbook, in brief

Advanced Input Systems is part of 1HMX, which says it delivers “innovative touch displays, custom HMI components, and complete system solutions for high-reliability applications.”Director of Sales - Industrial posting

The Director of Sales, Industrial role reports directly to the CEO and is to win “high-value OEM and Tier 1 opportunities” while building a global sales team.Director of Sales - Industrial posting

The first 25 accounts for a new director are industrial, energy and defense manufacturers with a dated plant, launch, financing or leadership change in 2026, each with a saved source.

Each is scored on six rules: fourteen strong fits, six in the middle and five edge cases that test the rules.

Prepared by at Bridgehead · November 9, 2026 · Every source

Questions founders ask

Can’t my AE build this when they start?

They can. But wouldn’t you rather they were selling? Reps spend 28% of their time selling, and the average new AE takes 6.2 months to ramp. This replaces the weeks they would spend building the list and learning what you already know.

28%: Salesforce, State of Sales (7,700+ sellers, 2022) · 6.2 months: Bridge Group, 2026 AE report (158 companies)

How much sooner does my new AE get to work?

From day one, because the accounts you approved and the first drafts are waiting. The average new AE takes 6.2 months to ramp, and at a $200K median OTE that is about $103K paid before they are fully productive. Only 48% of AEs hit quota.

6.2 months: Bridge Group, 2026 AE report (158 companies) · $103K: arithmetic ($200K median OTE × 6.2 months ÷ 12); Bridge Group, 2026 AE report (158 companies) · 48%: Bridge Group, 2026 AE report (158 companies)

We tried an outreach tool and it sounded like a robot. How is this different?

Nothing goes out on its own. Every account on the list is one you approved, every draft is written to one person, and you send each message yourself. It learns your voice from what you’ve written and from every edit you make.

How much of my time does it take?

About a day, spread across the ten working days: the 2-hour session on how you sell, short list reviews you can talk through, two training sessions and your first mornings. The hours your AE gets back go to selling, where reps spend just 28% of their time today.

28%: Salesforce, State of Sales (7,700+ sellers, 2022)

What happens after you leave?

It keeps learning. Each week it proposes rule changes from what your cuts, replies and silences showed, and you approve or reject each in a line.

Where does my data live?

In your own accounts: your Claude, your CRM, your files. Nothing runs on anyone else’s side, and any rule can be changed in plain English.

How is it priced?

The first engagement is one fixed price for the ten days. It depends on how many people we train and which systems we connect, so Kash quotes it on a short call. After handover, you can keep us on a retainer to keep supporting your sales process and refining it, if you choose that route.

The research behind this page 4 sources · 1 postings · 0 customers · 40 stores looked at

Your talks and posts

  1. 1hmx.com
  2. 1hmx.com/about
  3. 1hmx.com/markets
  4. advancedinput.com

Your open roles

  1. Director of Sales - Industrial

Your customers

(santehq.com/customers and your posts). Customer photos are from santehq.com/customers.

How the 25 were picked

40 stores found and scored on 6 rules; the 25 chosen to teach: 14 strong, 6 middle, 5 at the edges. Logos are from each store’s own site.

  • Sources: manufacturer press releases, trade press and local news for each account, each opened and saved on November 9, 2026.
  • Your sites name no customers, so no row could be checked against a customers page; none of the 25 appears on the pages saved from your sites.
  • The posting is for the industrial director. Your site also lists a medical director role; the 25 here are industrial, energy and defense, with gaming and non-U.S. rows as edge cases.
  • Some rows come from a press release and others from trade coverage; each row names which.
  • Buyer titles are not published in most sources, so most rows name a function, not a person.