OpenLight has expanded its leadership team with two experienced executives from the semiconductor and silicon photonics sectors. The company appointed Kevin Soukup as Chief Operating Officer and Kirk Ouellette as Chief Strategy Officer and Interim Chief Revenue Officer. The appointments bring extensive experience from GlobalFoundries and STMicroelectronics. Both executives have worked across semiconductor strategy, operations, commercialization, and business development.
OpenLight specializes in heterogeneous silicon photonics integration and custom photonic application-specific integrated circuit (PASIC) design. The company is now expanding its platform and customer engagements across several high-growth technology markets. These markets include artificial intelligence, cloud computing, networking, and advanced communications. Therefore, the new appointments support OpenLight’s plans to scale its technology and commercial operations.
Soukup joins OpenLight after leading the Silicon Photonics business at GlobalFoundries. He served as Senior Vice President and General Manager of the business. His responsibilities covered product strategy, technology roadmaps, commercial operations, and business growth. Meanwhile, Ouellette brings more than 25 years of semiconductor and photonics leadership experience.
He most recently served as Vice President of Corporate Strategy at STMicroelectronics. His experience spans strategy, sales, marketing, product management, and business development. Together, the executives add senior-level expertise to OpenLight’s growing organization. Their backgrounds also include building and commercializing semiconductor and silicon photonics businesses at global scale.
“OpenLight is entering a pivotal phase of growth as demand for high-performance optical technologies continues to accelerate,” said Adam Carter, Chief Executive Officer of OpenLight. “Kevin and Kirk 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.”
Kevin Soukup Named Chief Operating Officer
As Chief Operating Officer, Kevin Soukup will oversee OpenLight’s operational strategy and execution. He will focus on scaling the company’s technology platform and operating infrastructure. He will also support the company’s customer delivery capabilities as adoption increases. His experience covers the full operating lifecycle of semiconductor businesses.
That experience includes strategy, technology investment, commercialization, operations, and business expansion. At GlobalFoundries, Soukup led the Silicon Photonics business as Senior Vice President and General Manager. He managed product strategy, technology roadmaps, commercial operations, and growth initiatives. Under his leadership, the business expanded significantly within the growing silicon photonics market.
Before that role, Soukup held executive positions across corporate strategy, finance, operations, and business transformation. He also contributed to GlobalFoundries’ transformation into a profitable growth company. In addition, he was part of the leadership team that guided the company through its successful initial public offering. Soukup also serves as Chairman of the Board of VueReal. VueReal develops microLED technology for advanced display applications. His broader experience adds operational depth to OpenLight as the company continues its expansion.
“OpenLight has built a differentiated platform at a pivotal moment for silicon photonics,” said Kevin Soukup. “The company has the technology, ecosystem and team to capture that opportunity. My focus will be on strengthening execution, scaling the operating model and ensuring we can support customers as adoption grows. I look forward to helping OpenLight operate at significantly greater scale and deliver even more value to customers and partners.”
Kirk Ouellette Takes Strategy and Revenue Leadership
Kirk Ouellette will serve as Chief Strategy Officer and Interim Chief Revenue Officer. In this role, he will oversee corporate strategy, business development, and market expansion. He will also lead initiatives focused on revenue growth and customer engagement. Ouellette brings more than 25 years of global semiconductor and photonics leadership experience.
His background covers strategy, sales, marketing, product management, and business development. Throughout his career, he has built and managed semiconductor businesses generating more than $100 million in revenue. He has also played a direct role in developing and commercializing silicon photonics technologies worldwide. Most recently, Ouellette served as Vice President of Corporate Strategy at STMicroelectronics.
There, he led initiatives covering market intelligence and technology intelligence. He also managed strategic partnerships, mergers and acquisitions, and corporate growth initiatives. Previously, Ouellette led photonics and advanced semiconductor businesses across Asia-Pacific for STMicroelectronics. During that period, he drove growth across custom silicon and photonics solutions.
He also secured major silicon photonics programs with leading global technology companies. Additionally, Ouellette serves as Chair of the Canadian Semiconductor Council. The council supports the development and competitiveness of North America’s semiconductor ecosystem. His experience will support OpenLight’s strategy as the company expands its global market presence.
“OpenLight has built a unique technology platform that is enabling a new generation of photonic integrated circuits,” said Kirk Ouellette. “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. OpenLight is exceptionally well positioned to address that demand, and I am excited to accelerate customer adoption, expand strategic relationships and grow the company’s global market presence.”
The two appointments strengthen OpenLight’s leadership across operations, strategy, and commercialization. Meanwhile, the company continues scaling its platform and expanding relationships with global customers and partners.
The leadership expansion also reflects the growing role of silicon photonics in AI and data-intensive computing. As demand for bandwidth and power efficiency rises, photonic technologies are gaining greater relevance across advanced connectivity applications. OpenLight will now use the combined expertise of Soukup and Ouellette to support its next stage of growth. Their experience spans semiconductor operations, silicon photonics, strategic partnerships, commercialization, and global market development.
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News Source: Businesswire.com
