MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif. — Kodiak Robotics Inc. is announcing its choice for CFO to drive the company’s financial strategy.
Surajit Datta will be part of Kodiak’s executive leadership team and oversee all aspects of Kodiak’s financial operations, including financial planning and analysis, accounting, tax and treasury, investor relations and internal audit. Datta succeeds Eric Chow, who has been with Kodiak since January 2019, has served as CFO since 2022 and plans to remain at Kodiak through the end of 2025 to support the transition.
“Surajit brings significant strategic and operational finance leadership expertise to Kodiak, which will be invaluable to us as we expect to enter the public markets and continue to execute on our strategy to scale our business,” said Don Burnette, founder, CEO, Kodiak. “We believe a leader of Surajit’s caliber and insight, including his over two decades of experience at leading financial institutions and with rapidly-growing AI technology companies, will strengthen our C-suite and help accelerate our sustainable growth. I would also like to thank Eric for his leadership and dedicated and loyal service helping build Kodiak to where we are today. We appreciate his continued support and wish him the very best in his next chapter.”
Surajit Datta
“I am excited to join Kodiak because I believe the company’s leadership, technology, and track record sets it apart in the autonomous vehicle industry,” Datta said. “It’s a compelling time for Kodiak as the company embarks on the next phase of growth. Kodiak has demonstrated that it is well-positioned to deliver autonomous technology at scale, and I believe that we have a tremendous opportunity ahead.”
Datta will draw on his deep experience in financial operations and leadership at publicly traded artificial intelligence , semiconductor and SaaS companies, as well as at top-tier investment banks, to support Kodiak’s next chapter of growth. He joins Kodiak as the company prepares to become a publicly listed company via a business combination with Ares Acquisition Corporation II. Through this business combination, Kodiak expects to become publicly listed on NASDAQ in the second half of 2025.
As a seasoned corporate finance professional, Datta brings more than 20 years of experience in strategic finance, financial planning and analysis, business partnering, corporate development and strategy, capital raising and investment banking. He has a proven track record of helping scale private and public companies across industries, according to Kodiak.
Most recently, Datta served as vice president of finance at SentinelOne, a publicly traded AI-powered cybersecurity firm. Prior to SentinelOne, he held several senior-level positions with semiconductor and AI technology company Arm, including serving as vice president of finance and corporate development. In addition, Mr. Datta has over a decade of experience in investment banking at Evercore and J.P. Morgan, where he led the origination and execution of complex advisory, debt and equity transactions.
Datta received an MBA from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business, a Post Graduate Degree in Management from the Indian Institute of Management, Calcutta, and a B.Tech from the Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur.
Dana Guthrie is an award-winning journalist who has been featured in multiple newspapers, books and magazines across the globe. She is currently based in the Atlanta, Georgia, area.
