Former Google and Qualcomm executive joins team to expand partnerships and advance optical solutions for next-gen AI data centers

Ayar Labs, a leader in co-packaged optics (CPO) for large-scale AI workloads, today announced that Vivek Gupta has joined as the company’s first Chief Strategy Officer (CSO). This appointment comes as the industry transitions to next-generation AI architectures that demand the bandwidth, latency, and efficiency benefits made possible by CPO.

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Vivek Gupta, Chief Strategy Officer (CSO)

“This is a momentous time for the company, as we scale to commercial production and strengthen customer partnerships,” said Mark Wade, CEO and co-founder of Ayar Labs. “Vivek’s proven ability to guide emerging technologies through complex industry inflection points, along with his experience building executive relationships in the hyperscale ecosystem, will be instrumental in advancing our mission to make optics a key enabler for the future of AI.”

Vivek will oversee Ayar Labs’ global strategy, customer engagement, and product functions to drive market adoption of optical I/O. This includes developing deep relationships with hyperscale customers as well as leading go-to-market and product strategies. In his new role, Vivek will work closely with the CTO, engineering, and commercial teams to ensure Ayar Labs continues to deliver innovative, customer-centric solutions for AI data centers.

“CPO is no longer just a breakthrough technology, it’s foundational for large-scale AI data centers to drive the power efficiency and performance required for AI roadmaps,” said Vivek. “Success at this inflection point requires creative customer co-development, bold new business models and go-to-market strategies, and a steadfast focus on customer value. I can’t imagine a more impactful time to join Ayar Labs and help shape how next-generation AI workloads are powered and scaled.”

Vivek brings over two decades of experience leading business strategy, commercialization, and product innovation at global technology leaders including Google, Qualcomm, and Atheros. He is recognized for building executive relationships, launching disruptive solutions in complex technology markets, and driving the adoption of emerging compute architectures across leading global organizations.

Vivek’s appointment follows significant progress at Ayar Labs, including a collaboration with Alchip Technologies to scale AI infrastructure with CPO and continued expansion of the company’s executive team, customer base, and global presence.

About Ayar Labs

Ayar Labs, a leader in optical engines for co-packaged optics, is transforming AI infrastructure by accelerating data movement in scale-up networks. Its industry-first optical I/O solution enables customers to maximize compute efficiency and performance while reducing costs, latency, and power consumption. Based on open standards and optimized for AI training and inference, Ayar Labs’ optical interconnect solutions are backed by a robust ecosystem to easily integrate into AI systems at scale. Ayar Labs was founded in 2015 and is funded by domestic and international venture capital firms, as well as strategic investors including AMD, Applied Ventures, GlobalFoundries, Hewlett Packard Pathfinder, Intel Capital, and NVIDIA. For more information, visit www.ayarlabs.com.

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