# Sanjai Parthasarathi

> Dr. Sanjai Parthasarathi is Coherent Corp.'s Chief Marketing Officer, an engineer-turned-executive whose 35-plus-year career spans research, manufacturing, product management, operations, strategy, and marketing. He became the predecessor company's first CMO in 2019 and helped turn a complex portfolio of materials, lasers, optics, and communications technology into a market story organized around transmitting data, modifying materials, and sensing and measuring. His background includes a B.Tech from IIT Madras, an M.S. from the University of Virginia, a Ph.D. from Penn State, executive education at Stanford, early technical publications and patents, and senior roles at Oclaro, Oplink, TeraStor, Western Digital, and Concurrent Technologies Corporation.

- **Role:** Chief Marketing Officer at Coherent Corp.
- **Organizations:** Coherent Corp., II-VI Incorporated, Oclaro, Avanex Corporation, Oplink Communications, TeraStor, Western Digital, Concurrent Technologies Corporation, CloudPhotonix, BayAreaCMO, Penn State Industrial and Professional Advisory Council, Ideal Power, L&T Semiconductor Technologies
- **Education:** B.Tech in Mechanical Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Madras, M.S. in Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, University of Virginia, Ph.D. in Engineering Science, Pennsylvania State University, Executive education, Stanford University Graduate School of Business
- **Known for:** Appointed the first Chief Marketing Officer of II-VI in 2019., Led marketing transformation through the Finisar and Coherent acquisitions and the rebrand to Coherent Corp., Reorganized marketing around end markets and helped establish corporate strategic marketing and market-intelligence functions.

## Career timeline

- **1990s** — Worked in technical and management roles that included Concurrent Technologies Corporation, Western Digital, and TeraStor; published research on nondestructive evaluation and was named on patents involving manufacturing and optical measurement.
- **2000s** — Held senior business and technical management positions at Oplink Communications and Avanex Corporation.
- **2009-2013** — Served as Senior Director, Product Line Management at Oclaro.
- **2013** — Joined II-VI Incorporated, the predecessor company later renamed Coherent Corp.
- **2015** — Became Vice President, Product Marketing and Strategy for II-VI Photonics.
- **2019** — Appointed II-VI's first Chief Marketing Officer; the company also completed its acquisition of Finisar.
- **2022-2023** — Helped lead the marketing transformation around the acquisition of Coherent Inc. and the combined company's 2023 rebrand as Coherent Corp.
- **2023** — Represented Coherent at the memorandum-of-understanding signing for a global center of excellence at IIT Madras Research Park.
- **2024** — Served as a mentor in the CEO Action Mentoring Initiative.
- **2025** — Named a BayAreaCMO ORBIE Awards finalist in the Super Global category and spoke publicly about Coherent's AI, datacenter, and laser strategy.
- **2026** — Joined the founding advisory board of BayAreaCMO and the advisory board of CloudPhotonix; presented Coherent's scale-across strategy at its Technology Innovation Briefing and spoke at major photonics events.

## Achievements

- Appointed the first Chief Marketing Officer of II-VI in 2019.
- Led marketing transformation through the Finisar and Coherent acquisitions and the rebrand to Coherent Corp.
- Reorganized marketing around end markets and helped establish corporate strategic marketing and market-intelligence functions.
- Named a 2025 BayAreaCMO ORBIE Awards finalist in the Super Global category.
- Named as an inventor on patents covering optical spacing measurement and manufacturing process optimization.
- Published technical research on nondestructive evaluation, acoustic microscopy, coatings, and interface integrity.
- Served as a mentor in the CEO Action Mentoring Initiative in fiscal 2024.
- Serves in advisory roles spanning photonics, semiconductors, power electronics, professional marketing, and engineering education.

## Latest updates

- **2026-07** — Delivered a keynote on market outlook and strategic direction at Coherent's Amplify 2026 gathering for sales and leadership teams.
- **2026-05** — Discussed Coherent's integrated photonics portfolio and advanced manufacturing capabilities in a Manufacturing Today feature.
- **2026-04** — Spoke at a Silicon Valley marketing conference about explaining fast-changing technical products to customers and investors and about the limits of AI-generated storytelling.
- **2026-03** — Presented Coherent's scale-across strategy at the company's Technology Innovation Briefing and participated in OFC and the Optica Executive Forum in Los Angeles.
- **2026-01** — Began advisory roles with BayAreaCMO and CloudPhotonix, according to his LinkedIn profile.

## Links

- Website: https://www.coherent.com
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sanjai-parthasarathi-6435205

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Profile page: https://yespress.io/sanjai-parthasarathi
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Last updated: 2026-08-11