1115: The Evolution of a Leader—One CFO Chapter at a Time | Lisa Cummins Dulchinos, CFO, Ayar Labs

When Lisa Cummins Dulchinos joined Ayar Labs, she knew translating deep tech into a business story would be central to her role. At a company where 85% of the nearly 200 employees hold PhDs, Dulchinos found herself among experts fluent in micro-ring resonators and laser physics. To explain what Ayar Labs does, she took a different approach. “It’s basically a computer chip that allows us to open up the bandwidth in a computing system,” she tells us. That chiplet—named TeraPHY—replaces traditional copper wiring with optics, using lasers to transfer data more efficiently. Dulchinos describes it with a relatable analogy: “There’s traffic on a highway…you open up and add more lanes.” This optical solution not only alleviates the data bottleneck but also delivers measurable benefits: “It decreases the amount of power required by four to eight times, increases the bandwidth almost 10 times, [and] reduces latency,” she tells us. What drew Dulchinos to Ayar Labs is also what defines her leadership: the intersection of technical complexity and strategic clarity. She frames the customer value in terms of “tokens per second, per dollar, per watt,” highlighting how improved throughput leads to greater profitability. Though the solution may cost more upfront, Dulchinos emphasizes its long-term value: “It decreases their total cost of ownership.” By making the science digestible and the business case undeniable, Dulchinos reveals not just what Ayar Labs builds—but how finance can illuminate innovation.