Strategy. AI Governance. What Comes Next.

Lalitha Suryanarayana is a seasoned public-company C-suite executive with a track record of turning disruption into measurable enterprise value. Over a 30+ year career spanning semiconductors, data infrastructure, telecom, and software, she has guided organizations through critical inflection points including large-scale transformation, M&A, and portfolio evolution. She brings deep expertise in corporate strategy, development and product innovation, along with hands-on experience crafting AI strategies, execution blueprints and responsible governance frameworks that enhance operational performance, strengthen competitive positioning, and manage enterprise risk.

A thought leader and active industry speaker, she brings a distinctive perspective at the intersection of corporate strategy, corporate development, and AI governance, which she has shared in global industry forums such as SEMI, Trust in Digital Life (EU), the Global Semiconductor Alliance, and Athena Alliance. Her recent work spans the Context-Autonomy-Impact (CAI) Framework for right-sizing enterprise AI governance and an AI Safety & Due Diligence Playbook for AI-driven M&A transactions.

She currently serves as Executive in Residence at Techquity Growth Capital, an investment firm specializing in IP-backed debt financing. Prior to that, she served as Vice President of Corporate Development and Strategy at Seagate Technology, a $9 billion global data storage leader, during the company’s most severe downturn. In this role, she led growth-oriented divestiture and portfolio initiatives that generated approximately $650 million in free cash flow within 30 months. She also spearheaded the company’s AI-focused business reinvention, establishing a comprehensive roadmap, operational plan, and trustworthy governance structure to position Seagate for long-term success. She regularly briefed Seagate’s Board of Directors and the C-suite, providing forward-looking perspectives and analytical insights to inform key decisions. She also served as a Board Observer for Infinidat during the company's scaling phase and its subsequent acquisition by Lenovo.

Previously, Lalitha held senior leadership roles at global technology leaders, Infineon, Qualcomm and AT&T. Highlights include doubling revenue and expanding product reach tenfold for a ~$200M SaaS business at Qualcomm, developing the digital go-to-market blueprint for a $1B IoT business post-Infineon-Cypress merger, and co-leading spectrum acquisition and convergence strategies at AT&T which supported landmark transactions including the AT&T Wireless and Cingular-BellSouth acquisitions. Across these roles, she has demonstrated cross-functional leadership, and the ability to align diverse stakeholders around complex macro, market and geopolitical dynamics.

Lalitha has been recognized as one of IEEE’s “Women to Watch” and featured among Inspirational Women in Semiconductors by MRL and Electronic Specifier. She serves on nonprofit boards, currently with the San Diego Horticulture Society, and previously as Treasurer of a San Diego–based organization where she guided a successful turnaround to financial breakeven. She is also serving on the program committee of the International ACM/AAAI conference on AI, Ethics and Society (AIES), 2026.

An inventor on 51 issued patents and co-author of a technical book and industry specifications, Lalitha has actively contributed to technology advancement through leadership roles on global standards committees at the Worldwide Web Consortium (W3C), the Open Mobile Alliance (OMA) and the Global Semiconductor Alliance (GSA).

A resident of San Diego, Lalitha holds an M.S. in Electrical Engineering from New York University and an M.B.A. from the University of Texas at Austin. She can be reached at lalitha@yorai.co.