OpenLight has appointed Kevin Soukup as Chief Operating Officer and Kirk Ouellette as Chief Strategy Officer and Interim Chief Revenue Officer.
The new appointments strengthen OpenLight’s leadership across operations, strategy and commercialisation as it expands customer engagements in AI, cloud, networking and advanced communications.
Soukup previously served as Senior Vice President and General Manager of GlobalFoundries’ silicon photonics business, where he was in charge of product strategy, technology roadmaps, commercial operations and business growth. He also held executive roles in corporate strategy, finance, operations and business transformation, and was part of the leadership team that guided GlobalFoundries through its initial public offering.
As OpenLight’s COO, Soukup will oversee operational strategy and execution, including scaling the company’s technology platform, operating infrastructure and customer delivery capabilities. He also serves as Chairman of the board of VueReal.
“OpenLight has built a differentiated platform at a pivotal moment for silicon photonics. My focus will be on strengthening execution, scaling the operating model and ensuring we can support customers as adoption grows,” Soukup said.
Ouellette has more than 25 years of semiconductor and photonics experience across strategy, sales, marketing, product management, and business development. He most recently served as Vice President of Corporate Strategy at STMicroelectronics, where he led initiatives covering market and technology intelligence, strategic partnerships, mergers and acquisitions, and corporate growth. He previously led photonics and advanced semiconductor businesses across Asia-Pacific at STMicroelectronics.
In his expanded role at OpenLight, Ouellette will lead corporate strategy, business development, market expansion and revenue growth. He also chairs the Canadian Semiconductor Council.
“As AI and increasingly data-intensive computing architectures drive greater requirements for bandwidth, power efficiency and integration, the role of photonics is becoming more critical,” Ouellette said.
According to Chief Executive Adam Carter, the appointments bring deep operating experience that is directly aligned with where OpenLight is going.
“Their proven track records significantly strengthen our ability to execute for customers, broaden our commercial reach and expand our position in the market,” he said.
OpenLight develops silicon photonics technologies based on the heterogeneous integration of III-V devices. Its photonic application-specific integrated circuit technology and process design kit integrate active and passive components into a single chip for applications spanning datacom, telecom, automotive, AI, and quantum computing.
