Kiran Ramakrishnan, 50, takes over the position from Hans Ebinger, who successfully ran the company since 2018. Ramakrishnan has more than 25 years of experience in senior management positions with global players in the semiconductor industry. He joined Z-Laser in spring 2021 to elevate sales and marketing activities to an international level. This gave him the opportunity to learn the company’s capabilities and earn the respect of the leadership team. When the position of CEO needed to be filled, Kiran was the candidate of choice for both the management team and the Exaktera Group, of which Z-Laser is a part. A handover program took place to ensure continuity of operations.

Ramakrishnan studied engineering and worked for more than two decades in senior management positions at various leading companies in the semiconductor industry in Europe, Singapore, and the Silicon Valley before starting at Z-Laser. “I am a native of Freiburg and it was always clear to me that I would return to this inspiring city at some point,” Ramakrishnan comments. “I regret Hans Ebinger’s decision, to leave the company. I thank him for his trust and conscientious handover of responsibility. I already feel the support from the staff as well as from my management team and look forward to shaping the future of Z-Laser together!”

Commenting on the CEO appointment, Exaktera CEO Phil Martin said, “We are very sorry to see Hans leave and thank him for building a great management team at Z-Laser and for his leadership during the Covid pandemic. We have found the ideal successor in Ramakrishnan. Kiran is familiar with the company, has the full support of our team, and can continue our development plans for Z-Laser without interruption. In addition, he has exactly the global management experience we need to build our Exaktera family of companies.”