QumulusAI today announced leadership and board updates to support execution at scale as the company expands its hyper-distributed AI cloud platform and advances toward the public markets.

Steve Gertz has stepped down as Chairman of the Board to focus fully on his operational role as Chief Growth Officer. Mike Maniscalco, Chief Executive Officer, has been appointed Chairman of the Board. The company also announced the appointment of Dr. Homaira Akbari to its Board of Directors.

Gertz served as Chairman from February 2025 to February 2026 during a formative period in which QumulusAI established its operating foundation across GPU cloud services, modular data center infrastructure, and power-aligned deployment models. His transition to Chief Growth Officer in December 2025 formalized his day-to-day leadership role as the company entered a more execution-driven phase.

As Chief Growth Officer, Gertz is responsible for capital markets engagement, strategic customer and partner development, executive leadership support, and evaluation of inorganic growth opportunities.

"Steve has been operating as part of the leadership team for some time," said Maniscalco. "This change clarifies the separation between governance and execution while keeping continuity where it matters."

"As QumulusAI scales, growth has to keep pace with infrastructure velocity," said Gertz. "My conviction in the company's vision and execution is what led me to join the executive team, where I can focus on accelerating revenue, building strategic relationships, and expanding the ecosystems around our platform."

QumulusAI also announced the appointment of Akbari to its Board of Directors, where she will serve on the Audit Committee and the Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee.

Akbari is President and CEO of AKnowledge Partners, advising Fortune 1000 companies and private equity firms on AI, cybersecurity, IoT, and energy transition. She previously served as President and CEO of SkyBitz and held senior leadership roles at Microsoft and Thales. She currently serves on the boards of Banco Santander, Landstar System, and Babcock & Wilcox Enterprises.

Akbari holds a Ph.D. in particle physics from Tufts University and is the author of The Cyber Savvy Boardroom .

"Homaira brings deep operating experience and strong public-company governance perspective," said Maniscalco. "Her background in AI and cybersecurity is highly relevant as we scale infrastructure for enterprise workloads."

"QumulusAI is tackling one of the defining infrastructure challenges of this decade," said Akbari. "I'm pleased to guide the company as it scales responsibly and prepares for its next stage of growth."