Cooper Standard has announced the appointment of Soma Venkat, Ph.D., to senior vice president and chief information technology officer, effective Sept. 20. Based at the company’s world headquarters in Northville, Michigan, Venkat is welcomed back to the company as an executive officer and will also join Cooper Standard’s Global Leadership Team. In his new role, Venkat will be responsible for leading Cooper Standard’s information technology (IT) function.
“We are pleased to welcome Soma back to the Cooper Standard team,” said Jeffrey Edwards, chairman and CEO, Cooper Standard. “His wealth of experience leading and executing IT strategies within manufacturing, automotive, media, publishing and technology will be an asset as we continue the digital transformation and execution of our Driving Value plan.”
Most recently, Venkat served as chief information officer for IXS (Innovative Xcessories and Services), a provider of vehicle uplift services and coating solutions. In this role, Venkat was instrumental in turning around the IT team to successfully deliver multiple digitization, data and cyber-security initiatives enabling business resilience during the COVID pandemic. From 2016 to 2020, Venkat held roles of increasing responsibility at Cooper Standard, most recently as global vice president, IT.
Prior, he was the co-founder and chief operating officer at the technology startup, InfoShuk. Previously, Venkat held IT leadership roles of increasing responsibility at Meritor, Masco Corp. and ProQuest. He started his career as a senior consultant at Oracle Corp.
Venkat earned a Bachelor of Science degree in mathematics from the University of Madras in India and a Master of Applied Science degree in applied mathematics from The College of Engineering in Guindy, India. In addition, he holds a Master of Science degree in computational mathematics and a Ph.D. in computational mathematics from the University of Windsor in Canada. Venkat is a six sigma Black Belt and has also completed several executive certificates in management, program/strategic marketing and program/finance from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business.
Cooper Standard also announced the appointment of Amy Kulikowski to vice president, global internal audit and compliance, also effective Sept. 20. She replaces Becky McCabe who was recently appointed vice president, chief accounting officer, Cooper Standard.
In her new role, Kulikowski will provide leadership, strategy and planning for Cooper Standard’s global internal audit and compliance activities, including its Sarbanes-Oxley program, as well as enterprise risk management efforts. Based at the company’s world headquarters in Northville, Kulikowski will report to Jonathan Banas, executive vice president and chief financial officer.
“With more than 23 years of progressive experience in accounting and financial management within global multi-national organizations, Amy brings proven leadership to support Cooper Standard’s business and strategies,” said Banas. “She is an exceptional talent who adds further depth and expertise to our world-class finance team.”
Prior to joining Cooper Standard, Kulikowski served as assistant controller, Delphi accounting and integration, for BorgWarner Inc., which acquired Delphi Technologies PLC in 2020. From 2017 to 2020, she served as vice president and assistant controller at Delphi, and was responsible for corporate accounting and reporting functions. She previously held accounting, finance and controller positions of increasing responsibility at Delphi since joining the company in 2001. She began her career in the audit practice of Deloitte LLP in Detroit in 1998.
Kulikowski earned a Bachelor of Business Administration degree from the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor. She is a certified public accountant (CPA), and a member of the American Institute of CPAs.
