POET Technologies Inc. (NASDAQ:POET) said Tuesday that its board has appointed Sandeep Kumar as Chief Operating Officer, a move that was followed by a roughly 5% uptick in the company’s share price. The appointment took effect Monday, May 11, 2026, and the company noted that Dr. Kumar will report directly to the Chief Executive Officer and has been named an Officer of the Corporation.
Dr. Kumar joins POET with an operations-heavy pedigree. He spent more than 18 years at Silicon Labs in Austin, TX, where he most recently served as Senior Vice President of Worldwide Operations. In that capacity he oversaw manufacturing teams, supply chain and planning functions, and several engineering disciplines - including package engineering, product and test engineering, and quality assurance.
Before his tenure at Silicon Labs, Dr. Kumar held engineering roles at Agere Systems, Lucent Technologies and AT&T Bell Labs. In those positions he carried responsibility for worldwide product and test engineering for the storage business.
On the academic side, Dr. Kumar earned a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology in Bombay, a master’s degree from the University of Evansville and a Ph.D. from Lehigh University. He has also completed the Leadership Development Program at Wharton, University of Pennsylvania.
POET’s Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Dr. Suresh Venkatesan, commented on the hire: "We are delighted to be adding to our C-Suite an experienced semiconductor executive. Sandeep is expected to play a major role in managing global operations in with an immediate focus on bringing proven talent into our manufacturing organization in Malaysia to prepare it for high-volume production,"
The company disclosed that Dr. Kumar received 410,397 restricted stock units (RSUs) in connection with his appointment. These RSUs were granted under the Corporation’s 2025 Omnibus Incentive Plan and are scheduled to vest at a rate of one-third each year over a three-year period.
Market reaction to the announcement was immediate, with POET’s shares rising 5% on Tuesday. The appointment and accompanying compensation package underscore the company’s operational priorities, particularly the push to ready its Malaysia manufacturing operations for higher-volume output.
Key points
- Sandeep Kumar named COO effective May 11, 2026; he will report directly to the CEO and is an Officer of the Corporation.
- Dr. Kumar has over 18 years of operations experience at Silicon Labs and prior engineering roles at Agere Systems, Lucent Technologies and AT&T Bell Labs.
- He received 410,397 RSUs under the 2025 Omnibus Incentive Plan, vesting one-third annually over three years, and the hire coincided with a roughly 5% increase in POET shares.
Risks and uncertainties
- The company’s immediate focus on preparing its Malaysia manufacturing organization for high-volume production introduces execution risk tied to scaling operations and recruiting or deploying proven talent, as noted by the CEO.
- The RSU vesting schedule ties a material portion of Dr. Kumar’s compensation to continued service over three years, creating potential retention and succession considerations if objectives are not met or if there is leadership turnover.
- While the market reacted positively to the appointment, the durability of that move depends on operational progress in manufacturing and supply-chain execution, which are not assured by the announcement alone.