POET Names Giovanni Pacelli Chief Financial Officer
Pacelli succeeds Thomas Mika, who served as CFO for ten years, effective November 2, 2026.
Updated on Nov. 2, 2026 in People
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POET Technologies has appointed Giovanni M. Pacelli as Chief Financial Officer, effective November 2, 2026. He succeeds Thomas Mika, who will remain with the company through December 2, 2026 to support the transition.
Why it matters
The appointment places a CFO with semiconductor finance experience in charge of financial operations and strategy as the company manages capital it has raised over the past decade. The overlap period with Mika is intended to preserve continuity during the handover.
Pacelli was awarded 384,615 restricted share units under the Company's 2025 Omnibus Incentive Plan, vesting in thirds over three years. POET has raised more than $800 million in capital over the past decade, and the extraction does not specify the award's dollar value.
The players
POET Technologies
POET Technologies is a company with headquarters in Toronto, Canada, and operations in Singapore, Penang in Malaysia, and Shenzhen in China.
Giovanni M. Pacelli
Giovanni M. Pacelli is a Certified Public Accountant licensed in Texas with three decades of financial leadership experience across semiconductor companies.
Thomas Mika
Thomas Mika served ten years as POET's Chief Financial Officer and remains with the company through December 2, 2026 to support the leadership transition.
The details
Pacelli joins POET from Silicon Labs, where he was Senior Director of Finance, and previously held financial leadership roles at Freescale Semiconductor and NXP. He is a licensed Certified Public Accountant in Texas and holds a Master in Professional Accounting and a BBA from the University of Texas at Austin. He will oversee financial operations and strategy alongside the executive leadership team and Board of Directors.
Timeline
November 2, 2026: Pacelli's appointment as CFO takes effect.
November 16, 2026: POET reports third-quarter 2026 financial results.
December 2, 2026: Mika remains with the company through this date to support the transition.
Market Landscape
The hire follows a pattern of finance executives moving from established analog and mixed-signal chipmakers such as Silicon Labs, Freescale and NXP into smaller semiconductor firms. It positions POET with a CFO whose background spans those competitors' finance functions.
For shareholders, the change means the company's financial reporting and capital planning will fall under new leadership, with the first quarterly call scheduled after the November 16 release. Investors tracking POET's disclosures should watch the third-quarter report and the subsequent earnings calls for any shift in guidance or capital strategy.
The takeaway
A CFO transition with a built-in overlap period is a common way to preserve reporting continity, and the November 16 quarterly results will be the first clear test of the new finance leadership's approach.
What happens next
POET will report its third-quarter 2026 financial results on November 16, 2026, and intends to host an earnings conference call each quarter beginning with fourth-quarter and full-year 2026 results.
Further reading
For more on executive moves at companies like this one, see People coverage on Wisevoter.
Source note: This article includes information reported by The Manila times.
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