# Adam Carter

> Adam Carter is the president and CEO of OpenLight, a California silicon-photonics company commercializing an open foundry platform that integrates indium-phosphide lasers, amplifiers, modulators and detectors with silicon. A physicist by training and an optics operator by career, Carter moved through BT&D, HP, Agilent, Avago, Cisco, Oclaro and Foxconn before taking OpenLight from spin-out technology toward production programs, more than 25 PDK customers and $84 million in funding.

- **Role:** President and Chief Executive Officer at OpenLight
- **Organizations:** OpenLight, Foxconn Interconnect Technology, Oclaro, Cisco Systems, Avago Technologies, Agilent Technologies, Hewlett-Packard, BT&D
- **Education:** B.Sc. (Honors) in Applied Physics, University of Portsmouth, Ph.D. researching reactive ion/plasma etching of III-V semiconductor materials, University of Wales, Cardiff (now Cardiff University)
- **Known for:** Led Cisco's Transceiver Module Group and was instrumental in the acquisition of Lightwire and launch of Cisco's first internally designed CPAK 100G silicon-photonics transceiver family., Served on Oclaro's senior executive team during a turnaround from quarterly losses to positive operating income before its $1.85 billion sale to Lumentum in 2018., Built a new go-to-market plan at Foxconn Optical Interconnect and a strategic plan that preceded the group's 2019 divestment to Broadcom.

## Career timeline

- **1989-1994** — Worked as a process and device engineer at BT&D, the British Telecom and DuPont joint venture.
- **1994-2007** — Held product, strategic marketing and business-development roles across Hewlett-Packard, Agilent Technologies and Avago Technologies.
- **2007-2014** — Joined Cisco, first in marketing and then as senior director and general manager of the Transceiver Module Group.
- **2012** — Helped with Cisco's acquisition and integration of silicon-photonics startup Lightwire; the group later released Cisco's internally designed CPAK 100G family.
- **2014-2018** — Served as Oclaro's chief commercial officer through its operating turnaround and $1.85 billion acquisition by Lumentum.
- **2019** — Served as chief commercial officer of Foxconn Optical Interconnect and developed a go-to-market restructuring and strategic plan before the business was divested to Broadcom.
- **2020-2022** — Took time away after Oclaro's sale, a break extended by the pandemic, then returned to consulting work.
- **2023** — Joined OpenLight as its first president and chief executive officer.
- **2025** — Led OpenLight through independence from Synopsys and Juniper Networks and a $34 million Series A round.
- **2026** — OpenLight announced first volume production orders and a $50 million Series A-1, bringing disclosed funding to $84 million.

## Achievements

- Led Cisco's Transceiver Module Group and was instrumental in the acquisition of Lightwire and launch of Cisco's first internally designed CPAK 100G silicon-photonics transceiver family.
- Served on Oclaro's senior executive team during a turnaround from quarterly losses to positive operating income before its $1.85 billion sale to Lumentum in 2018.
- Built a new go-to-market plan at Foxconn Optical Interconnect and a strategic plan that preceded the group's 2019 divestment to Broadcom.
- Led OpenLight from early commercialization to more than 25 PDK users, first volume production orders and $84 million in disclosed venture funding.
- Helped position OpenLight's foundry-validated platform around a portfolio of more than 422 patents by April 2026.

## Latest updates

- **2026-05** — Described OpenLight's move from prototypes to production programs as a 'beachhead strategy' and discussed named customers NewPhotonics and Oriole.
- **2026-04** — OpenLight raised a $50 million Series A-1 led by Matter Venture Partners, bringing total disclosed funding to $84 million; Carter said the funds would expand the roadmap, sales and technical support.
- **2026-03** — OpenLight recorded its first volume production orders and expanded its TFC partnership around a packaged 400G modulator evaluation board.
- **2025-10** — Spoke at Optica's Photonic-Enabled Cloud Computing Industry Summit in Sunnyvale.
- **2025-08** — OpenLight became independent and closed a $34 million Series A to scale integrated photonics for AI data centers.

## Links

- Website: https://openlightphotonics.com
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/adam-carter-5479333

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Profile page: https://yespress.io/adam-carter
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-08-17