Leadership Team

• Dinakar Munagala CEO

  Dinakar Munagala co-founded Blaize^® and serves as CEO. He brings more than 22 years of experience successfully leading global teams building graphics chips and has been recognized for technical excellence, new initiatives, and a results-focused approach. Starting with a bootstrapped development effort to create a more energy efficient processor architecture for the needs of a new generation of computing, Dinakar has led Blaize in delivering a transformational compute solution that unites silicon and software to optimize AI at scale from the edge to the core. Under his leadership, the company has brought together marquee investors to back the vision of the founding team, grown to ship products to multiple customers across automotive and other sectors, and continues to hire exceptional talent to join its US, UK, Japan, India, and UAE offices.

  Prior to co-founding Blaize, Dinakar spent 12 years at Intel where he held pivotal roles in graphics processor micro-architecture and design and feature ownership in the mobile and graphics engineering group, as well as with the Intel Centrino platforms. Programs included Intel’s next generation multi-core, multi-threaded graphics chips, and the architecture for Intel’s first integrated CPU/GPU product family.

  Dinakar holds a Bachelor of Engineering degree, Electrical and Computer Engineering, from Osmania University, India, and a Master of Science degree, Electrical and Computer Engineering, from Purdue University, USA. He is credited with 5 IP/Patent filings.

  Actively engaged in community service initiatives, Dinakar has for 10 years taken a leadership role in fundraising for CRY (Child Relief and You)/Vibha (Sacramento Action Center), a non-profit that supports educational projects for underprivileged children, and is an active supporter of Kiva & Vittana initiatives, empowering students and entrepreneurs globally to achieve their goals via non-profit micro-finance loans.

• Satyaki Koneru Chief Technology Officer

  Satyaki Koneru co-founded Blaize^® and serves as Chief Technology Officer, bringing more than 20 years of experience in next-generation system-on-a-chip design. Overseeing Blaize’s research and development efforts, Satyaki is the chief architect of the innovative programmable graph computing vision at the core of the Blaize Graph Streaming Processor (GSP), designed to efficiently compute the new and more varied data structures associated with the emergence of edge computing, IoT and AI.

  Prior to co-founding Blaize, Satyaki held Architect/Micro-Architect and Design Engineer positions at Intel and Nvidia. At Intel, Satyaki was instrumental in defining the first DX9 compliant programmable graphics core in Intel chipsets, and was closely involved in the development of the motion-estimation engine for video encoding for second generation Core-i Sandybridge processors. He also was part of the design team for the Ultra-Mobility Group next-generation SoC (Medfield).

  Satyaki holds a Bachelor of Technology degree, Electrical Engineering, from I.I.T., Bombay, India, and a Master of Science, Computer Engineering from Iowa State University, Ames. He is credited with 6 IP/Patents and 10 filings.

• Ke Yin Chief Scientist and Chief Operating Officer, Technology

  Ke Yin co-founded Blaize^® and serves as Chief Scientist and Chief Operating Officer, Technology, bringing more than 22 years of experience in graphics and video processor architecture and micro-architecture. A noted expert in multi-thread, multi-core, and SIMD/MIMD processor architecture, Ke defined the Blaize core architecture and developed multiple algorithm innovations in the area of graphics, video processing and network graphics, with multiple patents pending. He also created the Blaize core simulator, a transaction-accurate model with bit-accurate precision that validates the correctness of the Blaize architecture and provides performance and power projections.

  Prior to co-founding Blaize, Ke was at Intel for 12 years in a variety of Architect/Micro-Architect and Design Engineer roles across multiple key Intel products and initiatives. This included architecture work on the Intel Gen graphics core where he led a power reduction effort resulting in a more than 30% power saving.

  Ke holds a Bachelor of Science in Computer Engineering from the University of Texas, Austin. He is credited with 6 IP/Patents and 6 filings.

• Val G. Cook Chief Software Architect

  Val G. Cook is Chief Software Architect at Blaize^®. An AI visionary and authority on the design of graphics and visual computing architectures, Val possesses two decades of experience in graphics and multimedia algorithms and software architecture. He is responsible for the Blaize Graph Streaming Processor software programming environment.

  Prior to joining Blaize, Val was at Intel in a variety of software and 3D graphics architecture positions associated with high profile projects. This included responsibility for advanced development activities around Intel bit-precise GPU simulator, and overseeing the software architectural design of the simulator and its enhancements. He also defined the initial ISA for Intel’s family of GPUs, and was the technical lead in developing the world’s first programmable GPU.

  Val holds a Bachelor of Science degree, Electrical Engineering, and a Master of Science degree, Computer Science, from Brigham Young University, Provo, Utah.

• Harminder Sehmi Chief Financial Officer

  Harminder Sehmi is the Chief Financial Officer at Blaize^®, as well as company Secretary and Treasurer, overseeing all Finance, Legal and HR functions. With 20 years’ experience in scaling organizations from early stages through hyper-revenue growth, Harminder works closely with Blaize’s CEO in managing funding relationships with existing and new investors, and with the management team to develop profitable revenue streams.

  Prior to joining Blaize, Harminder was CFO at Truphone, a global mobile start-up where he collaborated with the CEO to raise over $525m in equity and convertible debt and oversaw rapid revenue growth in a multi-country footprint. He also held senior finance positions at Yahoo Europe and Vodafone, and established a track record in delivering value and profitable business solutions.

  Harminder is a Chartered Accountant (CPA equivalent) from the UK with a Master of Business Administration degree from Cranfield Business School, Bedfordshire.

• Doug Burns Chief People Officer

  Doug Burns serves as the Chief People Officer at Blaize^®. With over 20 years of experience, he specializes in global talent expansion and retention for technical enterprises in the FinTech, cyber security, infrastructure and semiconductor industries. He is dedicated to driving corporate growth by creating trust-based cultures of team-first collaboration where every member feels valued.

  Doug's career is centered around prioritizing the well-being of employees. He is committed to fostering employee development and engagement and focuses on building and executing strategic staffing plans that support significant organizational growth while maintaining team quality and culture. Doug brings clarity, simplicity, accountability, and humanity to all aspects of the employee experience. By implementing tailored development initiatives and recognition programs, he has cultivated cultures of trust and connection, ultimately enhancing employee engagement. Doug has a proven track record of supporting early-stage, high-growth, and post-M&A tech companies like Figure, SoFi, and Palo Alto Networks. He is a trusted leader who drives meaningful change by prioritizing the people who propel organizations forward.

  Doug holds a Bachelor of Arts in Economics from the University of California, Berkeley, and a Master of Science from the MIT Sloan School of Management. He currently resides in California.

• Tiffany Tan Chief of Staff

  Tiffany Tan is the Chief of Staff at Blaize^®. Leveraging ten years of experience in the semiconductor industry, Tiffany works directly with the CEO and CFO to develop the company’s strategy and financial plan.

  Prior to joining Blaize, Tiffany held senior finance positions at Intel, supporting the Client Computing Group and the Gaming/Esports Group. She led the long-range planning process, managed multi-million dollar budgets, and shaped roadmap strategy for executability and profitability. She has an established track record in executing strategic plans and leading cross-functional teams.

  Tiffany holds a Bachelor of Science in Management Science from UC San Diego and a Master of Business Administration degree from UC Davis Graduate School of Management.

• Dmitry Zakharchenko Chief Software Officer

  Dmitry Zakharchenko is Chief Software Officer at Blaize^®, with a proven record of executing Cloud, mobile and AI capabilities and inventing first-to-market products and features. He brings to Blaize R&D function more than 21 years of experience in strategic planning, technology commercialization, customer engagement, and ideating products that solve customer problems.

  Dmitry’s expertise is in connecting advanced technology to revenue by delivering a predictable cadence of releases and clear roadmap that ensures a smooth flow of product from rapid prototypes to final commercialization. Prior to joining Blaize, Dmitry was at Intel where he managed specialized data science and product engineering teams in the field of cognitive computing to deliver AI products for financial, manufacturing, health and defense customers. Before Intel, he held a range of product management positions at Motorola Mobility, delivering differentiated mobility offerings and desktop software solutions.

  Dmitry holds a Master of Arts degree, Philology & Linguistics, from Peoples’ Friendship University, Moscow; a Master of Business Administration degree, Management Science, from California State University, Hayward; and a Master of Science degree, Computer Information Systems, from Northwestern University, Evanston.

• Stephen Patak Chief Revenue Officer

  Stephen Patak joined Blaize® in January 2026 as Chief Revenue Officer, accountable for the company’s global revenue and responsible for the entire go-to-market strategy and approach. He brings more than 25 years of experience in building world-class sales and partner organizations across both developed and emerging markets.

  Prior to joining Blaize, Stephen served as Chief Revenue Officer at Nile, a technology company specializing in secure, AI-powered networking solutions delivered as a service. Before Nile, he was the Chief Revenue Officer at Ubicquia, a leading supplier of smart infrastructure to cities, utilities, and mobile operators. Stephen also held the role of SVP/GM of Americas for both Technologies and Extreme Networks, where he led all aspects of the go-to-market strategy across all sectors. He spent the first 15 years of his career at Cisco, leading sales organizations in both the U.S. and Asia Pacific regions. While based in Singapore, he served as the Managing Director for Cisco’s Service Provider business in Asia Pacific, Japan, and China, and earlier held multiple leadership positions managing the AT&T relationship, which grew into a multi-billion-dollar partnership.

  Stephen holds a Bachelor of Business Administration from the University of Texas at Austin.

• Santiago Fernandez-Gomez PhD, VP of Platform Engineering

  Santiago Fernandez-Gomez is Vice President of Platform Engineering at Blaize^®. With more than 25 years of management, organizational, and strategic planning experience, Santiago leads the company’s Systems Engineering, SoC, and Operations groups and is responsible for the development and manufacture of Blaize’s Plug & Code AI Platform™ used for application development.

  Prior to joining Blaize, Santiago led efforts in developing multiple ground-breaking products across the computing industry. These include the first NGS DNA Sequencing platform at Roche Sequencing Solutions, the first five generations of iPhone/iPad/iPod products at Apple, high-performance Micro-Processors at AMD, the first CMOS-based Pixel sensor at Pixim, and the first high-volume integrated graphics North-bridge at ATI, among others.

  Santiago holds a Master of Science degree, Telecommunications Engineering, from Universidad Politécnica de Madrid, and a PhD. in Electrical Engineering from Universidade de Vigo. He is an active member of several advisory boards, and collaborates with the University as a former Consulting Faculty at Stanford University.

• Joseph Sulistyo Sr. VP of Global Marketing

  Joseph Sulistyo is the Vice President of Global Marketing at Blaize, where he leads the company’s worldwide marketing strategy across product marketing, content, partner marketing, communications, and sales enablement. His work is focused on elevating Blaize’s position as a category-defining leader in edge AI through impactful storytelling and scalable go-to-market programs.

  Before joining Blaize, Joseph served as Head of Cloud and Gen AI Sales at Ampere, where he drove global adoption of the company’s ARM64-based cloud infrastructure. His career spans leadership roles across digital-native platforms, cloud and edge computing, open source ecosystems, networking, and telco innovation.

  Joseph has held key positions at Cisco, Brocade, Radisys Corporation, and the Open Networking Foundation, and has also founded and advised multiple technology startups. He brings deep expertise in bridging product strategy, marketing, business development, and developer ecosystems, with a strong track record of enabling next-generation computing platforms to scale and thrive. A builder at heart, Joseph brings a unique blend of business strategy and technical depth. He is passionate about creating high-impact ecosystems that bridge innovation with real-world application.

  Joseph holds degrees in Business Administration and Computer Science from The University of Texas.

• Kim Evans General Counsel

  Kim Evans is General Counsel and Corporate Secretary at Blaize, bringing over 25 years of legal leadership in the semiconductor industry, supporting transformative growth and innovation. She spent the last 9 years at Intel as the lead attorney for various business units and served for 15 years before that at Altera where she led various legal functions including contracts, compliance, litigation, and governance.

  Kim’s approach emphasizes close partnership with business teams to understand the goals of each project, enabling her to provide clear, simple, and pragmatic legal solutions. Her leadership philosophy is grounded in building trust through connection, transparency, and humility.

  She holds a law degree from the University of San Francisco and a Bachelor of Arts from the University of California, San Diego. Born and raised in the California Bay Area, she continues to call it home.

Board of Directors

• Lane Bess Board Chair
  CEO, Deep Instinct

  Lane Bess is CEO of Deep Instinct and Principal/Founder of Bess Ventures and Advisory. Prior, he was the CEO of Palo Alto Networks and the Chief Operating Officer of Zscaler Inc. Lane has successfully launched startups and grown medium-sized businesses to large scale and has extensive experience building technology businesses in Europe, Asia Pacific, Japan, and other International regions. His considerable work in the security technology sector has made him a trusted advisor for many Enterprise CIOs and CISOs. Lane’s business experience includes providing critical technology solutions to Fortune 2000 companies, large enterprises, mid-size businesses, and consumer markets.

  Mr. Bess received a B.S. in Managerial Economics from Carnegie Mellon University. He also earned an MBA from the University of Dayton.

• Tony Cannestra Director of Corporate Ventures, DENSO International America

  Tony Cannestra is the Director of Corporate Ventures for DENSO International America (DIAM). DIAM is the U.S. subsidiary of DENSO Corporation, once of the world's largest auto parts and systems suppliers. Mr. Cannestra's primary responsibility is to identify, and invest in, startup companies working on new technologies that are of strategic interest to DENSO's future product roadmap. Prior to joining DENSO, Mr. Cannestra worked as an Independent Consultant helping clients with startup technology discovery in Silicon Valley. Prior to his work as an Independent Consultant, Mr. Cannestra was Executive Vice President of Ignite Group, a venture capital company based in Silicon Valley.

  Mr. Cannestra received a BA in International Economics from the University of California at Berkeley. He also earned an MBA,with a Certificate in Management of Technology, from the University of California at Berkeley.

• George de Urioste Board Director and Advisory Service

  George de Urioste is an accomplished, vision-driven executive with extensive experience as a CFO, COO, Board member, and advisor across 14 public and private companies. He leverages his strong understanding of complex financial concepts to influence strategic direction, positioning companies for growth and long-term financial stability. His expertise spans all facets of financial management, mergers and acquisitions (M&A), business development, and operational optimization, enabling him to grow organizations and enhance financial performance. George serves as a Board Director and Audit Committee Chairman at HeartBeam, member of the compensation committee, a Board Director at Roambee Corporation, and is a CPA.

  Mr. de Urioste received a BS in Accounting from the University of Southern California and earned an MBA from the University of California at Berkeley, with an emphasis in Finance & International Business.

• Edward H. Frank Co-Founder and CEO of Brilliant Lime, Inc.

  Dr. Edward H. Frank is presently co-founder and CEO of Brilliant Lime, Inc., a very early-stage technology development startup. Previously, he was co-founder and CEO of Cloud Parity Inc., a voice-of-the-customer startup in the SF Bay Area, founded in late 2013. From 2009 through 2013, he was Vice President of Macintosh Hardware Systems Engineering at Apple, Inc. where he led the development of four generations of Macintosh laptop and desktop computers. Before joining Apple, he was Corporate Vice President of Research and Development at Broadcom, where he was responsible for Broadcom's overall engineering execution and played a key role in corporate business and IP strategy. Prior to becoming Corporate VP of R&D, Frank co-founded and led the engineering group for Broadcom's Wireless LAN business, which is now one of Broadcom's largest business units. Frank joined Broadcom in May 1999 following its acquisition of Epigram, Inc., where he was the founding CEO and Executive Vice President. From 1993 to 1996, he was a co-founder and Vice President of Engineering of NeTpower, Inc., a computer workstation manufacturer. From 1988 to 1993, Frank was a Distinguished Engineer at Sun Microsystems, Inc., where he co-architected several generations of Sun's SPARCstations and was a principal member of Sun's Green Project, which developed the precursor to the Java cross-platform web programming language. Dr. Frank holds over 50 issued patents. He presently serves on the Boards of Directors of Analog Devices (ADI), Marvell (MRVL), and SiTime(SITM), and was previously on the Boards of Directors of Cavium (CAVM), FusionIO (FIO), and Quantenna (QTNA).

  Dr. Frank holds BSEE and MSEE degrees from Stanford University. He received a Ph.D. in Computer Science from Carnegie Mellon University, where he was a Hertz Foundation Fellow. He is a member of the National Academy of Engineering (NAE), a Fellow of the Institute for Electrical and Electronic Engineers (IEEE), and a Board Leadership Fellow of the National Association of Corporate Directors (NACD). Frank has been a Trustee of Carnegie Mellon University since 2000 and is currently a Vice-Chair of its Board of Trustees. Dr. Frank also serves as the Executive Director (pro bono) of Metallica’s All Within My Hands Foundation.

• Yoshiaki Fujimori Senior Executive Advisor, CVC Capital Partners

  Yoshiaki "Fuji" Fujimori is recognized for his significant contributions to the building materials and housing equipment industry. Mr. Fujimori formerly served as a director of Toshiba Corporation and Shiseido. Previously, he spent five years as CEO at LIXIL Group Corporation (a leading manufacturer of building materials and housing equipment), where he implemented a successful globalization strategy that involved acquiring several international companies, including Permasteelisa, American Standard Brands, and GROHE Group. Prior to that, he was chairman and CEO of GE Japan and senior vice president of General Electric. He spent 25 years at General Electric for various CEO roles, including GE Plastics, GE Healthcare Asia, and GE Money Asia. He is well known for his strategic vision and operational expertise.

  Mr. Fujimori received a Bachelor's in Engineering from the University of Tokyo. He also earned an MBA from the Tepper School of Business at Carnegie Mellon University, where he has served on the board of trustees since 2004.

• Jürgen Hambrecht Chairman of Trumpf Group

  Dr. Jürgen Hambrecht is presently the Chairman of Trumpf Group, a German industrial machine manufacturing company recognized as one of the world’s largest providers of machine tools with more than 70 operative subsidiaries. He is also a Board Member for Nyxoah S.A. and Aya Gold & Silver. Previously, he served as the CEO and Chairman of BASF SE, Chairman of Fuchs Petrolub SE, and a Board Member for Lufthansa, Mercedes Benz AG, Daimler Truck AG, Bosch, Aldi Süd, and Bilfinger. Dr. Hambrecht also served on the Board of Directors NeuroDerm, Nyxoah S.A., and Man & Science. He worked in Research for BASF for over 45 years, holding different responsibilities worldwide.

  Dr. Hambrecht studied at the Eberhard Karl University of Tübingen (Germany), where he graduated Summa Cum Laude with a Ph.D. in Organic Chemistry.

• Dinakar Munagala Blaize

  Dinakar Munagala co-founded Blaize^® and serves as CEO. He brings more than 22 years of experience successfully leading global teams building graphics chips and has been recognized for technical excellence, new initiatives, and a results-focused approach. Starting with a bootstrapped development effort to create a more energy efficient processor architecture for the needs of a new generation of computing, Dinakar has led Blaize in delivering a transformational compute solution that unites silicon and software to optimize AI at scale from the edge to the core. Under his leadership, the company has brought together marquee investors to back the vision of the founding team, grown to ship products to multiple customers across automotive and other sectors, and continues to hire exceptional talent to join its US, UK, Japan and India offices.

  Prior to co-founding Blaize, Dinakar spent 12 years at Intel where he held pivotal roles in graphics processor micro-architecture and design and feature ownership in the mobile and graphics engineering group, as well as with the Intel Centrino platforms. Programs included Intel’s next generation multi-core, multi-threaded graphics chips, and the architecture for Intel’s first integrated CPU/GPU product family.

  Dinakar holds a Bachelor of Engineering degree, Electrical and Computer Engineering, from Osmania University, India, and a Master of Science degree, Electrical and Computer Engineering, from Purdue University, USA. He is credited with 5 IP/Patent filings.

  Actively engaged in community service initiatives, Dinakar has for 10 years taken a leadership role in fundraising for CRY (Child Relief and You)/Vibha (Sacramento Action Center), a non-profit that supports educational projects for underprivileged children, and is an active supporter of Kiva & Vittana initiatives, empowering students and entrepreneurs globally to achieve their goals via non-profit micro-finance loans.