Board of Directors

Claudio Simao has more than 30 years of experience in the global semiconductor and technology industry, of which 18 years in various management roles at Hexagon AB, including Global Business Unit CEO, Corporate CTO and CEO, and President of the Ventures Division (2002-2020). Prior to joining Hexagon, Claudio founded and led 5 companies across various industries (1995-2008). Today, he serves as a Venture Partner at ETF Partners and advises various companies on their strategies and investment decisions.

Claudio graduated in Engineering and Physics and MSc in Mechatronics at the Polytechnic University of Sao Paulo and had a prior Academia technology-scientific career with various books, patents and awards.

Ronald Ayles has more than 25 years of experience in Private Equity and is a Managing Partner at Advent, a global private equity firm with more than $94 billion of assets under management. He is a member of the European Investment Advisory Committee and heads the firm's global Chemicals and Materials practice. Prior to joining Advent, he worked at 3i where he established the investor's Chemicals and Materials practice. Before moving into Private Equity, Ronald spent 10 years in industry at Degussa AG.

Ronald holds an MBA from the JL Kellogg Graduate School of Management and the WHU Koblenz (Germany), as well as degrees from ESB Reutlingen and the universities of Granada and London. He is also trained as an ‘Industriekaufmann’.

Stephan Zizala has more than 25 years of experience in the semiconductor industry. He currently leads the Edge Systems division at Infineon Technologies AG, which focuses on sensors, computing, connectivity, security and software. 

Before that, he was CEO and member of the Executive Committee of u-blox AG (2022-2025). Earlier at Infineon (2001-2022), he led the Business Line Automotive High Power and held management roles in marketing, application and concept engineering across the microcontroller, security and wireless units. 

He was also a member and deputy chairman of the Supervisory Board of Schweizer Electronic AG (2016-2023). 

He holds Dipl.-Ing. and Dr.-Ing. degrees from the Technical University of Munich.

Karl-Thomas Neumann has more than 30 years of experience in the global automotive and technology industry. He began his career at Motorola Semiconductor from 1993 to 1999, working as a chip designer and system engineer, before joining Volkswagen AG in 1999, where he held several management positions including Head of Group Research and Director of Electronics Strategy. From 2004 to 2009 he served on the Executive Board of Continental AG, responsible for the Automotive Systems Division, becoming Chairman of the Executive Board from 2008 to 2009. He then returned to Volkswagen AG, taking company-wide responsibility for Electric Traction, before serving as CEO and Vice President of Volkswagen Group China in Beijing from 2010 to 2012. From 2013 to 2017 he was Chairman of the Management Board and President of Adam Opel AG, and he subsequently served as General Motors Executive Vice President and President Europe, and as a member of the GM Executive Committee.

Today, he is the founder of KTN, an organization supporting the transformation toward e-mobility, and serves on the boards of several companies, including as Chairman of Autobrains Technologies.

Karl-Thomas studied electrical engineering at the University of Dortmund and the University of Duisburg, where he earned his doctorate.