leadership

EXPERIENCE
THAT DRIVES
SUCCESS

Our Management Team

Staying on the cutting edge of human interface technology for more than two decades requires talent that begins at the very top. But understanding technology has to come with a thorough understanding of what it takes to help OEMs succeed. That’s exactly how our executive team works. This team combines technological expertise with a deep knowledge of the global marketplace and a clear vision of the future. They focus our organization to continue to push human interface technology to new heights of creativity and innovation.

Michael Hurlston

President and CEO
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Michael Hurlston

President and CEO

Michael Hurlston has been a director and the President and Chief Executive Officer of our Company since August 2019.  Prior to joining our company, Mr. Hurlston served as the Chief Executive Officer and a member of the Board of Directors of Finisar Corporation from January 2018 to August 2019. Prior to joining Finisar, he served as Senior Vice President and General Manager of the Mobile Connectivity Products/Wireless Communications and Connectivity Division and held senior leadership positions in sales, marketing and general management at Broadcom Limited and its predecessor corporation from November 2001 through October 2017. Prior to joining Broadcom in 2001, Mr. Hurlston held senior marketing and engineering positions at Oren Semiconductor, Inc., Avasem, Integrated Circuit Systems, Micro Power Systems, Exar and IC Works from 1991 until 2001.  Mr. Hurlston is a member of the Board of Directors and the Audit Committee of Flextronics International, Ltd., a NASDAQ-listed company.  From August 2016 to August 2021, Mr. Hurlston was a member of the Board of Directors and the Compensation, Audit and Nominating and Governance Committees of Ubiquiti Networks, Inc., an NYSE-listed company.  Mr. Hurlston serves on the Board of Executive Trustees of the UC Davis Foundation and on the Dean’s Executive Committee for the College of Engineering and the Dean’s Advisory Counsel for the Graduate School of Management at the University of California, Davis. Mr. Hurlston holds Bachelor of Science and Master of Science degrees in Electrical Engineering and a Master of Business Administration degree from the University of California, Davis.

Lisa Bodensteiner

Senior Vice President, Chief Legal Officer and Secretary
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Lisa Bodensteiner

Senior Vice President, Chief Legal Officer and Secretary

Lisa Bodensteiner joined Synaptics in November 2023 and serves as the SVP, Chief Legal Officer and Secretary. Prior to joining Synaptics, Ms. Bodensteiner was Executive Vice President, Chief Legal Officer, Compliance Officer and Corporate Secretary of Plantronics, Inc. (“Poly”), a Principal with MDAC, LLC, a family-owned real estate company, and Executive Vice President, General Counsel and Chief Compliance Officer at SunPower Corporation, a global provider of solar power solutions, from June 2012 to May 2016. Before joining SunPower, Ms. Bodensteiner held key executive roles at First Solar, Inc., and OptiSolar Inc. Before her decade in solar energy, Bodensteiner was executive vice president, general counsel, secretary and compliance officer for 10 years with Calpine Corporation, America's largest generator of natural gas and geothermal resources. She holds a Juris Doctor degree from Santa Clara University School of Law and a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration in Accounting from the University of Nevada.

Michael Brooker

Senior Vice President, Information Technology and Chief Information Officer
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Michael Brooker

Senior Vice President, Information Technology and Chief Information Officer

Michael Brooker joined Synaptics in December 2014 and now serves as Senior Vice President of Information Technology and Chief Information Officer. Prior to Synaptics, Michael was Vice President of Information Technology Operations at Atmel Corporation. Prior to joining Atmel, Michael was president of his own technology consulting company and prior to that was Vice President of Strategic Projects at Idea Integration. Michael has a Bachelor of Business Administration from Griffith University (Australia); a Master of Business Administration (MBA) from Curtin University of Technology (Australia), and is a Certified Practicing Accountant (CPA).

Satish Ganesan

Senior Vice President & General Manager of Intelligent Sensing Division and Chief Strategy Officer
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Satish Ganesan

Senior Vice President & General Manager of Intelligent Sensing Division and Chief Strategy Officer

Satish Ganesan joined Synaptics in November 2019 and serves as SVP & GM of Intelligent Sensing Division and Chief Strategy Officer. Prior to Synaptics, Satish served as Chief Product Officer of Keyssa, a wireless startup focused on short range connectivity. Before that, he held several executive positions at Broadcom where he led IoT and mobile strategy at different times. Prior to Broadcom, he held various senior product marketing positions at Tilera and Broadcom. He spent his early career in various engineering roles at Xilinx, and holds more than 10 US patents. He received his Bachelors degree in Electrical and Electronics Engineering from BITS, India and MS in Computer Engineering from University of Cincinnati.

Venkat Kodavati

Senior Vice President and General Manager of Wireless Products
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Venkat Kodavati

Senior Vice President and General Manager of Wireless Products

Venkat Kodavati joined Synaptics in April 2020 and serves as SVP and GM of Wireless Products. Prior to Synaptics, Venkat ran the emerging 60 GHz wireless business at Broadcom, successfully launching products into the backhaul market with tier-1 customers. Prior to Broadcom, Mr. Kodavati was the CEO and co-founder of Posedge, a company that grew into a multi-million-dollar enterprise by developing and selling IP cores, including Wi-Fi and Ethernet switches. In 2013, he successfully sold the company to Imagination Technologies. Venkat also held various senior engineering management roles at Broadcom and participated in the growth of the wireless connectivity business from $0 to nearly $3B. He received his Bachelor’s Degree in Electrical and Electronics Engineering from BITS Pilani, India; an MS in Computer Engineering from University of California, Santa Cruz; and he has more than 10 patents with papers published in multiple journals.

Vikram Gupta

Senior Vice President and General Manager of IoT Processors, Chief Product Officer
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Vikram Gupta

Senior Vice President and General Manager of IoT Processors, Chief Product Officer

Vikram Gupta joined Synaptics in January 2023 and serves as the SVP and GM of IoT Processors and Chief Product Officer. Prior to joining Synaptics, Vikram was the SVP and GM of IoT Compute and Wireless Business Lines for Infineon Technologies, where he led the integration and transformation efforts for the $1B+ multi-site business with three product lines following Infineon’s acquisition of Cypress, where he served as VP of Engineering of the IoT Business Unit. Prior to Cypress, Vikram navigated a progressive tenure with Broadcom, advancing in leadership and responsibility across both engineering and business. Earlier in his career he was a co-founder of Zeevo, a developer of system-on-chip solutions for Bluetooth and other wireless communications applications, which was ultimately purchased by Broadcom. He holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Electrical and Electronics Engineering from Birla Institute of Technology & Science in India and a Master’s Degree in Electrical Engineering from the University of Hawaii at Manoa.

Todd Lepinski

Senior Vice President of Worldwide Sales
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Todd Lepinski

Senior Vice President of Worldwide Sales

Todd Lepinski joined Synaptics as the SVP of Worldwide Sales in June 2021. Before joining Synaptics Todd was the VP of Sales at ARM since 2016. Prior to ARM he held several sales management roles at Broadcom since 2004, in US and Europe. Todd also held sales positions at Wolfson Micro, AMD and Texas Instruments. He received his Bachelors Degree from the University of Wisconsin – Madison.

Divyesh Shah

Senior Vice President of Operations
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Divyesh Shah

Senior Vice President of Operations

Divyesh Shah joined Synaptics in March 2020 as Senior Vice President of Worldwide Operations. Prior to Synaptics, Divyesh ran operations for SiTime and was part of the executive team that had a successful IPO in 2019. Before that, Mr. Shah was at Broadcom (formerly Avago, LSI Logic) for 22 years, ultimately managing worldwide IC operations. He has also held positions at Integrated Device Technology, National Semiconductor and a MEMS startup. Divyesh has served on the boards of industry and community organizations including the Global Semiconductor Alliance and Notre Dame High School. He holds a dual Master’s degree in Chemical Engineering and Industrial & Operations Engineering from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, and a Bachelor’s degree in Chemical Engineering from the University of Wisconsin, Madison.

Lori Stahl

Chief People Officer
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Lori Stahl

Chief People Officer

Lori Stahl joined Synaptics as the Chief People Officer in 2022. As the Chief People Officer, she is responsible for executing the company’s human resource (HR) strategy and employee programs worldwide. She provides leadership for developing and supporting high-performing teams and building exceptional programs that foster employee collaboration, creativity and continuous development.

Ms. Stahl has 23 years of successful experience in nearly every human resources discipline in the technology, insurance, and renewable energy industries. Prior to Synaptics, Ms. Stahl was Chief People Officer at Vocera Communications (acquired by Stryker Corporation in 2022) since June 2013. Under her leadership, the company earned industry recognition as a great place to work multiple years in a row. Lori also held HR leadership roles at both private and public companies including Nanosolar, Extreme Networks, Cisco Systems and WebEx in all HR disciplines.

She earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Health Science and a minor in Marketing from California State University East-Bay. Additionally, she holds several HR professional certifications, including Professional in Human Resources (PHR), Certified Compensation Professional (CCP), and Certified Benefits Professional (CBP).

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