David Daoud
Principal Analyst / PresidentAbout David
David Daoud is a seasoned analyst and strategic advisor with nearly three decades of experience at the intersection of technology, sustainability, and enterprise governance. He is the Founder and President of Compliance Standards LLC, where he leads advisory and research work focused on circular IT strategies, the IT asset disposition (ITAD) sector, sustainable tech, ISMS, compliance and adjacent areas such as ESG compliance, vendor risk, and sustainable infrastructure.
David began his research career in 1996, specializing in mainstream IT hardware markets, and by 2003, had become the first analyst to systematically study the emerging challenges and opportunities in IT hardware disposition. While at IDC, he launched the GRADE Certification program — a vendor evaluation framework mentioned by companies like Dell, HP, IBM Global Asset Recovery Services and Unisys — and has since remained a trusted industry voice for clients seeking to understand the evolving lifecycle of enterprise IT assets.
Today, David provides strategic foresight and hands-on consulting to companies operating across multiple technology sectors.
His areas of expertise include:
Market and regulatory analysis for ITADs, OEMs, and data center operators
Strategic planning around sustainability, innovation, and risk mitigation
Enterprise procurement advisory with a focus on ISMS compliance, cybersecurity, and ESG-aligned vendor audits
AI’s emerging role in traceability, refurbishment, decommissioning, and responsible IT management
As an independent advisor, David is frequently called on to brief and consult with clients across Silicon Valley, New York, Japan, China, South Korea, Taiwan Singapore, North America and elsewhere. He works closely with both operational leaders and investment teams to help anticipate market shifts, align roadmaps with geopolitical and sustainability risks, and build future-proof frameworks for growth and compliance.
David is also a contributor to industry publications including Resource Recycling and E-Scrap News, where he explores the intersection of circularity, regulation, and innovation in IT.
He is currently authoring a new book titled Sustainable IT in the Age of AI: How Companies Can Lead on Responsible IT Use, to be published by De Gruyter in 2026. The book will address how artificial intelligence is reshaping every stage of the IT lifecycle — from procurement and optimization to decommissioning and ESG reporting — and will feature case studies from across the IT, ITAM and ITAD ecosystems.
Prior to founding Compliance Standards, David worked as a Research Analyst for IDG/Computerworld, a Data Analyst at Harvard University, and taught computer science and English as an Adjunct Faculty member in Massachusetts.
He studied economics at Algiers University and Suffolk University in Boston, and is certified in ESG Investing from the Wharton School of Business.
Connect with David:
📞 +1 754-229-0095
💬 WhatsApp: +1 508-981-6937
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- User adoption strategies and practices 100%
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Some of David's Recent Work
M&A: Sumitomo Takes Equity Stake in U.S. ITAD Firm GreenTek, Betting on AI-Driven Hardware Disposal
Sumitomo Corporation has taken an equity stake in GreenTek Solutions, a Texas-based IT asset disposition firm, becoming an equity-method affiliate as it enters the U.S. ITAD market amid AI-driven data center hardware turnover.
Corporate Strategy: Blancco Bets on the Drive, Not the Device, as It Chases a Recover-First IT Market
Blancco is rebuilding its business around the ‘drive’, not the device, betting that surging AI infrastructure and component scarcity are pushing ITAD from “destruct-first” to “recover-first.” The company’s new strategy centers on data-bearing drives, data center decommissioning, and mobile, positioning certified erasure and diagnostics as the backbone of a market where assets move fluidly between enterprises, processors, and secondary channels.
Opinion: The Sims Leadership Changes Point to a Broader Generational Shift Across the ITAD Industry
Sims Limited’s executive leadership changes this week may be evidence of a generational transition surfacing across the industry regardless of ownership model, as the leaders who built ITAD over the past two decades begin handing off to whoever comes next.
IBM’s 2025 Breach Data Puts ITAD Providers Inside the Vendor-Risk Perimeter
The global average breach cost at $4.44 million, according to IBM. Healthcare leads all industries at $7.42 million, followed by financial services at $5.56 million, industrial at $5.00 million, energy at $4.83 million, and technology at $4.79 million. Supply-chain compromise, where ITAD sists, ranks as the second-costliest attack vector at $4.91 million per incident, trailing only malicious insider incidents at $4.92 million. Phishing averages $4.80 million and stolen credentials $4.67 million. For ITAD providers, the supply-chain figure is the number that matters. Enterprise procurement teams now treat disposition vendors as part of the same risk perimeter as any other third party with access to sensitive data. Governance maturity, documentation quality, and audit readiness are becoming primary evaluation criteria, alongside processing capacity and recovery rates. Providers serving healthcare and financial services face buyers with the highest breach-cost exposure and the strongest incentive to demand governance-mature partners.