November 06, 2021 | 12:30 PM SAST | Nicol Ritchie | • Press releases
AMSTERDAM – DataProphet, the leading AI-for-manufacturing company, today announced the extension of its Semiconductor Advisory Board. The award-winning industrial technology business welcomes Dr. Antonio (Toni) Mesquida Küsters. Dr. Mesquida Küsters joins Susan Wilkerson and Markus Keil, who recently formed this strategic committee of specialist semiconductor advisors at DataProphet in August of 2021.
Toni brings more than 25 years of management experience in the semiconductor industry, holding positions at major integrated circuit and semiconductor equipment manufacturers such as Infineon and ASML, where he currently heads up product marketing and business development. His responsibilities have also included strategy and sourcing & operations management.
As an experienced venture capital investor, Mesquida Küsters also understands start-ups—how they operate and best execute their expansion strategies. This experience will be relevant as DataProphet extends a global presence in the silicon space via its broader Integrator and Machine Builder partnership ecosystem.
Taken together, DataProphet’s Semiconductor Advisory Board members bring a wealth of frontline semiconductor experience. Furthermore, Dr. Toni Mesquida Küsters, Susan Wilkerson, and Markus Keil are outstanding additions to the broader DataProphet Industry Advisory Board. The industry board as a whole will increasingly bolster expansion strategy as this relates to the diverse and critical manufacturing verticals benefiting from the business’s AI-as-a-Service.
Specifically, the Semiconductor Industry Advisory board will work closely with DataProphet’s leadership team as they strive to revolutionize production for the semiconductor industry worldwide with advanced Deep Learning.
The inclusion of Dr. Mesquida Küsters to the DataProphet team directly reflects the business’s growth-oriented, go-to-market mindset at a crucial turning point in its commercial development.
Speaking of the announcement, Toni Mesquida Küsters had this to say:
“I am delighted to join the DataProphet team and contribute with my network and expertise to the growth of this exceptional company. As widely covered in the news, especially since the COVID pandemic started, semiconductor chips have become one of the key bottlenecks in many supply chains, including automotive, industrial, and consumer, to name a few. There is huge pressure from OEMs towards chip makers to increase the output of their factories by improving their yield and efficiency. Here is where manufacturing solutions based on Artificial Intelligence will bring huge value, as provided by DataProphet. The value of AI will be especially significant for IC makers, who barely use it in their current operations. I’m looking forward to working with Susan and Markus and the DataProphet management team in making the expansion of the company into the Semiconductor market a great success.”
In response to the expansion of the Advisory Board, Frans Cronje, CEO, and Co-Founder of DataProphet stated:
“I’m thrilled to welcome Toni to our Semiconductor Advisory Board. Along with Susan Wilkerson’s and Markus Keil’s, Dr. Mesquida Küsters’ expertise will help us overcome the complex challenges customers contend with during semiconductor manufacturing. I look forward to the results we will achieve together as we roll out DataProphet’s state-of-the-art AI technology for chipmakers and semiconductor machine builders.”
ABOUT DATAPROPHET
DataProphet is a venture-backed, high-growth AI for manufacturing company that pioneered the development and delivery of Deep Learning solutions for manufacturers in key industries worldwide. As heavy industry moves towards autonomous manufacturing, its world-leading AI-powered solutions move customers from over-reliance on human experts to machine learning expert guidance. DataProphet’s mission is for its manufacturing process-agnostic AI-as-a-Service innovations to continue revolutionizing process optimization—supporting its manifold manufacturing sector partners while expanding these partnerships globally.
DataProphet helps manufacturers of semiconductors, automotive equipment, rubber, glass, plastics, cast iron, and minerals to meet and exceed critical KPIs with cutting-edge AI-as-a-Service. Requiring no additional hardware investments, DataProphet supports users of its technology to become more competitive and more resource-efficient at any stage of the digital transformation journey. DataProphet AI deployments guarantee ROI in the first year of operation and provide ongoing and complete support after installation—including additional data sources and full model maintenance.
ABOUT TONI MESQUIDA KÜSTERS
Dr. Antonio (Toni) Mesquida Küsters joined ASML in Veldhoven as Director of Market Intelligence in 2006, where he significantly contributed to the management directions and priorities of the Dutch company. Between 2011 and 2014, he served as Sourcing Director and Managing Director of the ASML German Operations in Alsdorf (formerly Ushio / Xtreme Technologies) in EUV DPP Sources. Since the beginning of 2015, Toni has been in charge of product marketing & business development for all TWINSCAN dry lithography products with yearly sales of close to 2 billion Euros.
Between 1995 and 2001 in Munich, Toni held various management positions at Siemens AG (later Infineon Technologies AG) in IC development, technology transfer, product marketing, and corporate venturing. As one of the founding members of Infineon Ventures, he served on the supervisory board of various high-tech start-ups worldwide. At the German MOCVD equipment provider, AIXTRON SE, he was head of Corporate Strategy between 2002 and 2006.
Toni holds both Spanish and German nationality and earned his master’s degree in Electrical Engineering (1990). He also attained a Ph.D. in Semiconductor Science (1994) from the RWTH Aachen in Germany. His technical education has been extended over the last 25 years with various executive courses at well-known business schools like INSEAD and Rotterdam School of Management.