Executive Appointment

Reno – October 29, 2026 -- Dragonfly Energy Holdings Corp. (Nasdaq: DFLI) has appointed Dr. Lukas Lutz, co-founder of Germany-based AI engineering firm Sphere Energy, to its Board of Directors. The move adds battery-simulation and machine-learning expertise as the company works to use data from its installed base of Battle Born Batteries.

Sphere Energy models simulate battery aging from a handful of tests

Lutz co-founded Sphere with Luca Scherrer and Dr. Daniel Alves Dalla Corte. The company built an AI Operating System that lets large corporations scale AI applications across their organizations. Its proprietary transformer-based models generate CAD parts from a single requirement, optimize complex crash scenarios, and simulate battery aging and performance from just a handful of tests.

Beverly, Mass. – October 29, 2026 -- Axcelis Technologies (Nasdaq: ACLS) has appointed Jeroen Delsman, a finance executive with more than 26 years of experience, as Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer effective November 12, 2026, as the ion implantation supplier prepares for its pending merger with Veeco.

Interim CFO Ryzhik takes over merger integration and investor relations

David Ryzhik, who has served as Interim CFO during the transition, becomes Senior Vice President, Corporate Development and Investor Relations. He will report directly to President and CEO Russell Low.

Ryzhik will lead integration planning and execution for the Veeco merger, along with corporate development, investor relations and other strategic initiatives. Low cited Ryzhik's knowledge of Axcelis' business and his experience supporting the Veeco transaction as the basis for the assignment.

BASKING RIDGE – October 29, 2026 -- Ascendion, an AI-native software engineering company serving 250+ enterprise clients, has appointed four former senior executives from banking, retail, high-tech and industry bodies to its AI Advisory Community as it steers its AAVA platform toward governed, production-scale enterprise AI.

The appointees are Andy Gamble, Jack Madrid, Julieta Ross, Ph.D., and Joseph Sirosh, Ph.D. Their combined experience spans banking, high-tech, media and retail. Each will work directly with Ascendion's regional and engineering leaders.

HOUSTON – October 29, 2026 -- Kraton Corporation, a global producer of specialty polymers and bio-based chemicals derived from pine wood pulping byproducts, has appointed Brian Rea as Chief Human Resources Officer (CHRO) and added him to its executive leadership team.

Rea brings CHRO experience from multi-site manufacturers

Rea has held CHRO and other leadership roles at several international, multi-site manufacturing businesses. His remit has covered talent and succession planning, organizational transformation, labor relations, employee engagement, safety and change leadership.

Those disciplines map to the operating profile of Kraton, which sells its products to customers in more than 70 countries.

Nashville – October 29, 2026 -- Sound Physicians has appointed Emil Engels, MD, MBA, as Chief Physician Officer for Sound Anesthesia, a newly created post that places a physician executive alongside a CRNA executive at the top of the unit's clinical leadership.

Engels joined in September and shares leadership with Chief Anesthetist Officer Noele Morse

Engels is a cardiac anesthesiologist with more than 25 years of experience leading anesthesia practices and healthcare organizations. He joined the medical group in September to work with Sound Anesthesia's physician leaders on operational excellence and clinical quality initiatives. He will work alongside Noele Morse, DNP, CRNA, the unit's Chief Anesthetist Officer. The same collaborative model extends to the associate-level roles.

NEW YORK – October 29, 2026 -- Talos, the institutional technology and data provider for digital asset trading and portfolio management, has hired Kelly Ye as Head of Research, putting a dedicated leader over a research program that follows liquidity, market structure and onchain finance.

Ye brings nearly two decades of finance experience, including 14 years in traditional markets

Ye will be based in New York. She held investment leadership roles in digital assets at Avenir Group and Decentral Park Capital. She also held research and product leadership roles at Fidelity Digital Asset Management and CoinDesk Indices. Most recently, she was building Coinbridge, a company focused on bridging the capital gap for tokenized real-world assets.

Ye holds a bachelor's degree in Applied Mathematics from Peking University and a master's degree in Operations Research from MIT. She is a CFA charterholder.

PASADENA – October 29, 2026 -- Virtualitics has appointed orthopedic surgeon Dr. Bert R. Mandelbaum as Scientific Advisor to shape its AI-driven medical readiness strategy for defense and government customers.

Mandelbaum to advise on injury prevention, recovery and return-to-performance

Mandelbaum will inform Virtualitics' medical and personnel readiness solutions, drawing on expertise in injury prevention, musculoskeletal health, recovery and return-to-performance programs. Virtualitics is targeting defense, government and other mission-critical sectors that want to optimize human performance and operational readiness.

MILWAUKEE – October 29, 2026 -- ManpowerGroup (NYSE: MAN) has elected Lidia Fonseca, Pfizer's former Executive Vice President and Chief Digital and Technology Officer, to its Board of Directors, effective November 1, 2026.

Fonseca built Pfizer's enterprise AI program from inception

Fonseca served as Pfizer's Chief Digital and Technology Officer from January 2019 to April 2026. She led the company's enterprise AI, digital, data and technology strategy, as well as Learning & Development and Business Process Excellence. She scaled the AI program across the enterprise, contributing to significant growth and cost savings.

She now serves as Senior Advisor to Pfizer's Chief Executive Officer and sits on the Board of Directors of Medtronic plc.

London – October 29, 2026 -- Sciensus has appointed James Tugendhat OBE as Chief Executive Officer, bringing in an executive with more than 20 years of leadership experience across healthcare and complex service organisations.

Former HC-One group CEO replaces interim chief Gordon Cox

Tugendhat was most recently Group CEO of HC-One, the UK's largest care home operator. He previously held senior positions at Bupa, including CEO of Health Dialog, a US health analytics and chronic disease management company. He also spent seven years as a non-executive director of the Royal Free London NHS Foundation Trust.

Gordon Cox led Sciensus as interim CEO while the Board searched for a permanent successor. Cox continues as Chief Operating Officer and as a member of key company boards.

San Francisco – October 29, 2026 -- The RealReal (Nasdaq: REAL) has appointed Alexis Hoopes, who led eBay's $10 billion global fashion business, as Chief Merchandising Officer, handing her control of the luxury resale marketplace's merchandising strategy.

Hoopes to focus on luxury assortment, personalized discovery and supply growth

Hoopes will lead merchandising strategy with three stated priorities: strengthening the luxury assortment, improving personalized product discovery, and opening new growth opportunities through technology, data and global marketplace expertise. She said she intends to expand the assortment and unlock new sources of supply.

CEO Rati Sahi Levesque cited Hoopes' "rare combination of luxury merchandising expertise, global marketplace experience and operational discipline."