Vertiv announces EMEA leadership transition

A new name is taking over the president of EMEA role

Digital infrastructure vendor Vertiv today announces a leadership change affecting its EMEA operations.

Karsten Winther will retire from his position as president of the region, effective December 31, 2025.

Current chief procurement officer, Paul Ryan will take over as Winther’s successor from January 1, 2026.

Winther will continue in his current role through the end of 2025, supporting the regional leadership transition.

While Patrick Grainey, senior director of global supply chain risk and resiliency has been named as acting chief procurement officer, as Vertiv recruits for a permanent replacement.

"Karsten has made impactful contributions to Vertiv during his tenure, particularly in strengthening our EMEA region through complex market dynamics," said Giordano Albertazzi, CEO of Vertiv.

"His strong leadership and passion for growing our business and our people, combined with his deep understanding of the market and ability to build lasting customer relationships, have been critical to our success."

The NYSE-listed vendor closed 2024 with $8m in revenues and a global headcount of 31,000 staff.

Vertiv has bolstered its EMEA presence twice in 2025 through M&A, with its acquisitions of Belgium-based generative AI software provider Waylay, and Great Lakes Data Racks & Cabinets in August.

Ryan, the new president of EMEA, brings more than 20 years of industry experience to the role, including more than eight years leading Vertiv global procurement and supply chain.

For more than ten years, he provided leadership for Emerson Network Power (now Vertiv) as vice president, operations for EMEA, VP and MD for Asia Pacific, and VP, global operations and supply chain for datacentre solutions.

"[Ryan’s] vast experience with our industry and technologies, commercial acumen, proven track record in leading regional and global execution, combined with his expertise in advancing global supply chains and procurement, makes him the ideal leader to build upon the strong foundation established in our EMEA region," said Vertiv’s CEO.

"[Ryan’s] internal succession to this role is a reflection of his impressive results and the momentum of Vertiv’s high performance culture. I am confident in his ability to further accelerate the region's success and drive continued growth."

Multitude of C-level changes

This year Vertiv has seen an array of leadership swaps at the C-suite level with brand new faces joining the company.

In June the vendor got a new CIO in Mike Giresi, who joined the business from consumer electronics company Molex where he was chief digital officer.

October saw a double swoop, with the appointment of Craig Chamberlin as EVP and CFO, joining from rail technology company, Wabtec, and succeeding the retiring David Fallon.

The second C-level appointment of the October season was Scott Armul, who will step into an expanded role as chief product and technology officer, effective January 1, 2026 to replace previous CTO Stephen Liang, who will retire after three decades.