Company

Germain Lamonde, founder of EXFO, is Executive Chairman of the Board and served as the company’s Chief Executive Officer (CEO) for over 30 years. During his tenure as CEO, Mr. Lamonde grew the company from the ground up, turning it into a global leader in the test, service assurance and analytics market and the world’s #1 fiber/highspeed testing company, with customers in over one hundred countries. Today as Executive Chairman, Mr. Lamonde leads EXFO’s acquisitions strategy and is actively involved in defining the company’s growth and investment strategies, strategic direction and corporate governance policies.

Mr. Lamonde has served on the board of directors of several public and private organizations, fulfilled numerous speaking engagements, and received several industry awards for his leadership, innovation and global development. Mr. Lamonde was recently appointed Chairman of the Quebec Digital Transformation Council and Chairman of ENCQOR the Canada–Quebec-Ontario partnership focused on research and innovation in the field of 5G/IoT innovation.

Mr. Lamonde holds a bachelor’s degree in engineering physics from Université de Montréal’s school of engineering (Polytechnique Montréal) and a master’s degree in optics from Université Laval in Québec City. He is a graduate of the Ivey Executive Program at Western University in London, Ontario, and a Fellow of the Canadian Academy of Engineering.

Philippe Morin was appointed Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of EXFO in April 2017. He has more than 25 years of experience in the telecommunications industry, and became EXFO’s Chief Operating Officer (COO) in November 2015, leading the company’s global sales leadership, market development, marketing and product strategy. Before joining EXFO, Mr. Morin was Senior Vice-President of Worldwide Sales and Field Operations at Ciena. He previously held senior leadership roles at Nortel Networks, including President of Metro Ethernet Networks and Vice-President and General Manager of Optical Networks. Philippe Morin holds a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering from Université Laval in Quebec City, Canada, and a master’s degree in business (MBA) from McGill University in Montreal, Canada.

François Côté was appointed a member of our Board of Directors in January 2015. Mr. Côté is a director as a full-time occupation, for corporations in the public, private and non-profit sectors, bringing his expertise in strategy, M&A, governance and passion for growth. Mr. Côté held a variety of executive positions at Bell Canada prior to becoming President and Chief Executive Officer of Emergis. Following the acquisition of Emergis by TELUS in January 2008, he was appointed President of TELUS Quebec, TELUS Health and TELUS Ventures. In this role, Mr. Côté was responsible for broadening TELUS Quebec’s presence and driving the company’s national health strategy through timely investments in information technology and innovative wireless solutions. Mr. Côté holds a Bachelor’s degree in Industrial Relations from Laval University. In 2007, he was named Entrepreneur of the Year by Ernst & Young, in the Corporate Restructuring category for the province of Quebec. Mr. Côté serves on the boards of Alithya and Lumenpulse Inc. (LMP) as well as the Advisory Board of the McGill Centre for the Convergence of Health and Economics (MCCHE). He is also Chairman of the Board for Norda Stelo, Vice-President of the Board of the Foundation Dr. Julien and Board member of the Foundation Martin Matte. In June 2013, Mr. Côté was named Honorarily Lieutenant-Colonel of the Canadian Armed Forces’ 34th Signal Regiment.

Ms. Logothetis has more than 25 years of international experience in the telecommunications industry. She has been strategically engaged in the industry’s major network transformations. Ms. Logothetis has an outstanding software pedigree having worked for market-leading software companies including Amdocs, Cramer, PricewaterhouseCoopers and Accenture as well as start-up software companies Clarity and Time Quantum Technology. She has held senior leadership positions in ANZ, APAC and EMEA and has held global responsibility for the past 10 years. Ms. Logothetis is the Head of Network Strategy, Technology and Services for Amdocs. Amdocs is the market leader in customer experience software solutions and services for the world’s largest communications, entertainment and media service providers. Ms. Logothetis has held several senior leadership positions at Amdocs including Head of OSS Product and Technology, Vice-President of OSS Product Management and Executive Site Lead for Amdocs Bath. She has chaired high-caliber software forums in Amdocs including the Divisional Leadership Team, the Technical Advisory Council, and has served as an executive on the Product Business Management Team and the Product Leadership Forum. Ms. Logothetis holds a Bachelor of Science degree, with first class honors, in Business Information Technology from the University of NSW, Australia. She completed dual majors in accountancy and information technology.

Claude Séguin was appointed a member of EXFO’s Board of Directors in February 2013. He brings to EXFO nearly forty (40) years of corporate, financial, executive and provincial government experience gained through senior management positions in major corporations and government departments. Mr. Séguin is currently Special advisor to the Founder and Executive Chairman at CGI Group Inc., a global leader in information technology and business process services. He was, until October 2016, Senior Vice-President, Corporate Development and Strategic Investments. In this position, he was responsible for all merger and acquisition activities. Prior to joining CGI in 2003, he served as President of CDP Capital—Private Equity, and prior to this position, he served as Teleglobe Inc.’s Executive Vice-President, Finance and Chief Financial Officer, a position that he held from 1992 to 2000. Mr. Séguin also has extensive senior-level government experience, having served as Deputy Finance Minister of the Province of Québec from 1987 to 1992, in addition to Assistant Deputy Finance Minister. Prior to that, he has been Director of Planning and Assistant Director of Social Programs at the Province of Quebec Treasury Board. Mr. Séguin is a member of the boards of HEC-Montréal and Centraide of Greater Montreal Foundation as well as being Chairman of the Board of Finance – Montreal, an organization regrouping financial institutions in the Province of Quebec. Claude Séguin graduated from HEC-Montréal and earned a master’s and a Ph.D. in public administration from Syracuse University in New York State. He also followed the Advanced Management Program at Harvard Business School.

Randy E. Tornes was appointed a member of EXFO’s Board of Directors in February 2013. He brings to EXFO over thirty (30) years of telecommunications experience gained through senior management positions at leading network equipment manufacturers. Mr. Tornes is Vice-President, Strategic Alliances at Juniper Networks, a worldwide leader in high-performance networking and telecommunications equipment. Prior to his current role at Juniper, he was the Operating Area Leader for AT&T and responsible for all sales, service and support of Juniper products and services. Prior to joining Juniper Networks in May 2012, he spent two (2) years at Ericsson, where he was Vice-President Sales (AT&T account). Previous to that position, he worked for Nortel for twenty-six (26) years, holding various sales management positions, including Vice-President Sales, GSM Americas. Mr. Tornes also served as member of the Board of Governors at 3G Americas LLC. Randy E. Tornes holds a Bachelor of Science degree in business—organizational development and production and operations management, from the University of Colorado in Colorado Springs.

Germain Lamonde, founder of EXFO, is Executive Chairman of the Board and served as the company’s Chief Executive Officer (CEO) for over 30 years. During his tenure as CEO, Mr. Lamonde grew the company from the ground up, turning it into a global leader in the test, service assurance and analytics market and the world’s #1 fiber/highspeed testing company, with customers in over one hundred countries. Today as Executive Chairman, Mr. Lamonde leads EXFO’s acquisitions strategy and is actively involved in defining the company’s growth and investment strategies, strategic direction and corporate governance policies.

Mr. Lamonde has served on the board of directors of several public and private organizations, fulfilled numerous speaking engagements, and received several industry awards for his leadership, innovation and global development. Mr. Lamonde was recently appointed Chairman of the Quebec Digital Transformation Council and Chairman of ENCQOR the Canada–Quebec-Ontario partnership focused on research and innovation in the field of 5G/IoT innovation.

Mr. Lamonde holds a bachelor’s degree in engineering physics from Université de Montréal’s school of engineering (Polytechnique Montréal) and a master’s degree in optics from Université Laval in Québec City. He is a graduate of the Ivey Executive Program at Western University in London, Ontario, and a Fellow of the Canadian Academy of Engineering.

Philippe Morin was appointed Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of EXFO in April 2017. He has more than 25 years of experience in the telecommunications industry, and became EXFO’s Chief Operating Officer (COO) in November 2015, leading the company’s global sales leadership, market development, marketing and product strategy. Before joining EXFO, Mr. Morin was Senior Vice-President of Worldwide Sales and Field Operations at Ciena. He previously held senior leadership roles at Nortel Networks, including President of Metro Ethernet Networks and Vice-President and General Manager of Optical Networks. Philippe Morin holds a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering from Université Laval in Quebec City, Canada, and a master’s degree in business (MBA) from McGill University in Montreal, Canada.

Abdelkrim Benamar was appointed EXFO’s Vice President of Service Assurance, Systems and Services Division in May 2018, following the Astellia acquisition. In this role, Mr. Benamar is responsible for the overall product and services portfolio for monitoring and analytics. He brings over 25 years of experience in the telecom industry with proven leadership, business transformation and change management skills.

Before joining EXFO, Mr. Benamar successively held the positions of COO (July 2015) and CEO (June 2016) of Astellia. He previously held several executive roles at Alcatel-Lucent including Vice President EMEA, CEO Alcatel-Lucent International, and Vice President Global Head of Financial Analysis and Risk Assessment. He has also worked for leading telecom companies such as Ericsson Group (2000–2007), Motorola (1996–2000) and Alcatel Mobile Phones, in areas such as R&D, Communications & Public Affairs, and Strategy and Sales.

Mr. Benamar holds an engineering degree from Telecom SudParis (formerly known as Institut National des Télécommunications) and a PhD in electrical engineering from Université Paris-Sud.

Stephen Bull joined EXFO in 1995 as an Engineering Manager (project management) for the Advanced Optics group. From September 1997 to December 1999, he held the position of Assistant Director of Engineering responsible for all the software development. Mr. Bull was then appointed EXFO's Vice President of Research and Development in December 1999. Today, he manages a department that includes more than 760 engineers and technicians spread out over three continents and nine locations. He is responsible for EXFO's product development initiatives and manages the Project Management Office and related processes. Prior to joining EXFO, Mr. Bull was General Manager and Managing Director of Space Research Corporation, a military engineering company in Belgium, from June 1986 to March 1990, as well as of Taurus, an IT consulting firm, from 1990 to 1995. He is currently the President of the Institut de développement de produits (an institute dedicated to the advancement of product development practices) and a member of the Product Development Management Association (PDMA). He speaks regularly at conferences on product development. Stephen Bull holds a bachelor's degree in electrical engineering from Université Laval in Quebec City, and is a certified New Product Development Professional from the PDMA.

Stéphane Chabot first joined EXFO as a Product Line Manager in 1998 and was promoted to Product Line Manager—Network Service Provider Market in 2001. As Vice President, Test and Measurement, Mr. Chabot is responsible for the Optical and Access & Platform product lines. Prior to this appointment, he was Director of EXFO’s Optical Business Unit, a position he had held since 2006. In this role, Mr. Chabot led the main team in its responsibility for developing the worldwide optical business and strategy, developing and maintaining the product family roadmap and vision, developing and controlling yearly marketing, ensuring go-to-market plans, developing new markets, providing key market watch and competitive updates, analyzing product line performance and metrics, providing periodic benchmarking, and developing partnerships/OEMs/acquisitions within the product line family. Mr. Chabot was highly successful as Director of the Optical Business Unit, doubling its annual revenues to more than $120M and 38% market share in optical portable solutions, with leadership in many key worldwide applications, such as Fiber-to-the-Home. Prior to his employment at EXFO, Mr. Chabot was a Telecommunications Officer at the Canadian Armed Forces from 1992 to 1998. Stéphane Chabot holds a bachelor’s degree in Space Science from The Royal Military College of Canada, and a Diploma in Business Administration from Laval University.

Étienne Gagnon was appointed Vice President, Commercial Transformation in February 2019. Mr. Gagnon is a noted international business and B2B marketing professional.

Over the past 25 years, he has held leadership roles in sales team management, marketing strategy implementation and innovation management in high-growth, international tech companies.

From 2017 to 2019, he headed up global commercial efforts as Senior Global Vice President of Sales and Marketing at Eddyfi Technologies, a fast-growing company in the field non-destructive testing inspection technology.

From 2015 to 2017, he served as Vice President and then President of Optel Vision, positioning the company as the undisputed leader in the field of pharmaceutical product serialization. Under his leadership, the international sales team generated growth and market share in pharmaceutical packaging rapid inspection and serialization.

From 2003 to 2015, he worked at EXFO, a leading provider of next-generation test and insurance solutions for mobile and fixed network operators. As part of his responsibilities as Vice President of Test and Measurement and Corporate Marketing, he was responsible for EXFO's wireline and wireless test and measurement business units (Optical, Transport and Datacom, Access, Simulators and Analyzers) and Corporate Marketing for the company.
Mr. Gagnon previously held sales and innovation roles at TeraXion, EXFO and Bombardier Aerospace. He holds a bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering from Polytechnique Montréal and a master's degree in European affairs from Télécom Bretagne.

Luc Gagnon was appointed Vice President, Manufacturing Operations in May 2003 and, in May 2007, he also took on the vice-presidency of the Global Services department. He is responsible for ensuring the smooth operation of all manufacturing activities, which include production, purchasing, product engineering, quality assurance, planning, manufacturing engineering, product configuration, transportation and customs, as well as material resources. In addition, he must ensure that there is an ongoing and efficient relation between the manufacturing process and the end customer. Prior to his nomination in 2003, Mr. Gagnon held the position of Production Director since 2000. Before joining EXFO, he had similar roles in several other high-technology companies. He worked for Mendes from 1999 to 2000, for C-MAC from 1997 to 1999, for STERIS from 1993 to 1997 and for MITEL from 1985 to 1993. Luc Gagnon holds a bachelor's degree in electrical engineering and master's degree in engineering, both from the Université de Sherbrooke, in Canada.

Julie Lamontagne was appointed Vice President, Human Resources (HR) in November 2017. She is responsible for overseeing EXFO’s global HR activities, including talent management, talent acquisition, performance management, HR policies and governance, and executive compensation. Specifically, her role is to implement an HR vision and strategy to support EXFO’s strategic plan. Before joining EXFO, Ms. Lamontagne held a similar position at Lumenpulse, which she joined in 2011. Previously, she was an Associate Director with Bell Canada for five years and HR Director for Brookfield LePage Johnson Controls for three years. Ms. Lamontagne has also held HR consultancy positions with Ceridian Canada and SIBN (a subsidiary of National Bank). Ms. Lamontagne holds a bachelor’s degree in industrial relations from Université de Montréal and a Certified Human Resources Professional (CHRP) professional designation from Quebec’s Ordre des conseillers en ressources humaines agréés.

Claudio Mazzuca was appointed Vice President, Strategic partnerships and alliances in May 2018. Prior to this appointment, he had served as Vice President, Systems and Analytics since 2012 and director of EXFO's Transport and Datacom Business Unit since 2006. In this role, he was responsible for the development and execution of business and product strategy for the unit, which now is a leading player in the Ethernet and next-generation packet transport test market segments. Mr. Mazzuca began his career as a systems engineer for Nortel Networks, where he worked on the launch of the highly successful 10G High-Speed Transport and DWDM product line, and later on Nortel's Preside Network Management solution. He then moved to technology startup Hyperchip Systems as Senior Product Manager, focusing on the development of large-scale metro and core IP routers and switches, and associated OEM components. In 2004, Mr. Mazzuca joined EXFO's Transport and Datacom Business Unit as Product Line Manager for the next-generation SONET/SDH products, and in 2005, was promoted to Group Manager for the entire Transport and Datacom product line. Mr. Mazzuca holds a bachelor's degree in electrical engineering from Montreal's Concordia University and a master's degree in business from McGill University, also in Montreal.

Pierre Plamondon was appointed Chief Financial Officer and Vice President, Finance of EXFO in January 1996. He is responsible for accounting, legal and IT services, as well as financial reporting and investor relations.

Prior to joining EXFO, Mr. Plamondon served as Senior Manager for Price Waterhouse, now PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP, from September 1981 to December 1995, in Canada and France.
Mr. Plamondon is a member of the Order of Chartered Professional Accountants of Quebec. He is currently a director of Urbanimmersive, a public company listed on the TSX Venture Exchange. Over the years, he has served on the boards of several non-profit organizations, including the Fondation de l’Université Laval and SOVAR Inc. (Société de valorisation des applications de la recherche de l'Université Laval).

Mr. Plamondon holds a bachelor's degree in business administration and a license in accounting, both from Université Laval in Quebec City.

Michael Scheppke was appointed EXFO’s Vice President, Sales – APAC in October 2016. He is responsible for managing telecom sales, both direct and indirect, and the execution of sales strategies across APAC regions. Michael developed his expertise working in our industry in both the USA and Asia. Following several years at HP and Agilent, he spent a significant part of his career at Ixia where he held various senior roles. He has developed and executed the go-to-market strategy for their network monitoring business in APAC by successfully leading diverse sales teams, and expanding sales coverage with channel partners. Michael holds a bachelor of science degree in electrical engineering from the University of Florida.

Willem Jan te Niet was appointed Vice President, Sales – EMEA in August 2016. He is responsible for managing telecom sales, both direct and indirect, and the execution of sales strategies across Europe, the Middle East and Africa. Prior to joining EXFO, Wim was on the senior management teams for global leaders such as Citrix Systems, Equinix, Ericsson-LG and Nortel. He brings considerable expertise in the areas of cloud, networking and big data mobile analytics. Wim also has more than 20 years of experience in managing sales teams and executing successful business development strategies with wireline and mobile operators. Wim holds a master of science degree in business administration from the University of Groningen.

Dana Yearian was appointed EXFO’s Vice President, Sales – Americas in March 2007. Prior to this appointment, Mr. Yearian held the position of Vice-President, Telecom Sales, North America. He is responsible for managing telecom sales, both direct and indirect, and the execution of sales strategies across North, Central and South America regions. From 2005 to 2006, Mr. Yearian held senior executive sales positions at Spirent Communications Service Assurance division. In 2003, he founded The Katrixx Group, which provided consulting and contracting services to high-technologies companies. Before founding this company, Mr. Yearian worked as Vice-President of Sales at Acterna Corp. (from 1991 to 2003), where he led both North American and International sales and support operations. Prior to working for Acterna, Mr. Yearian held various executive positions, namely at Toshiba America, Silicon Sensors (Advanced Photonix, Inc.) and Impell Corporation (ABB Ltd.). Dana Yearian holds a bachelor's degree in electrical engineering from the Illinois Institute of Technology in Chicago, and has completed MBA course work at DePaul University, also in Chicago, Illinois, USA.