Motiv Power Systems announced recently that Prasad Ramakrishnan assumed the role of COO, effective Jan. 1. Ramakrishnan succeeds Marc Herman, who retired at the end of 2020 after a 10-year tenure with the company. Ramakrishnan joined Motiv in July 2020 as a board advisor to assist Motiv’s leadership team in developing a robust manufacturing and supply chain strategy. In his new role, he will focus on operational excellence and ensuring engineering, manufacturing and quality processes provide customer-focused, robust, reliable and profitable products at high-volume.
“As we head into the new year, we are making a shift in our senior leadership team to accommodate the new challenges we face as we transform our business for significant growth,” said Matt O’Leary, Motiv’s chairman and CEO. “I am pleased to welcome Prasad to Motiv’s leadership team, who will have an immediate impact on our company’s performance.”
Ramakrishnan is a global turnaround specialist with expertise in renewable energy, mobility and power industries, to name a few. He held global or regional operational leadership roles at Ford, Triumph International, Alstom and General Electric while living and working in four continents during his career. With a passion for inclusive leadership and team development, while combining social and economic impact, he taught and developed executive education programs at the Swiss Federal Tech University (ETH) in Zurich and Babson College in Boston. Ramakrishnan holds bachelor’s degrees in Physics & Electrical Engineering, master’s degrees in Electrical Engineering & Personnel Administration, and is a Saïd Business School alumnus of the Oxford Advanced Management and Leadership Program.
“I am excited to join Motiv and work alongside Matt and the entire team to continue to execute on its strategic plan, accelerate growth and deliver exceptional products to our fleet customers,” said Ramakrishnan. “There has never been a better time to go electric, and Motivis well-positioned to lead the charge.”
Despite numerous challenges of 2020, Motiv commercialized the AdaptEV software and power electronics in the EPIC chassis, forging key partnerships for battery supply and third-party manufacturing, improving reliability, and establishing a best-in-class customer support team. 2020 also marked the significant growth of customer deployments, including Alsco Uniforms, Bimbo Bakeries, Vail Valley Foundation’s Magic Bus, Town of Estes Park, Community Recourse Project, and many others who enjoy a 98 percent uptime.
