Presto Automation Inc. appointed Xavier Casanova as new CEO

Item 5.02 Departure of Directors or Certain Officers; Election of Directors; Appointment of Certain Officers; Compensatory Arrangements of Certain Officers


On July 30, 2023, Krishna Gupta tendered his resignation as interim Chief Executive Officer of Presto Automation Inc. (the "Company") effective immediately. Mr. Gupta remains a director and Chairman of the Board.


On August 1, 2023, the Board appointed Xavier Casanova to serve as Chief Executive Officer. Mr. Casanova, 47, has served as Chief Operating Officer of the Company since March 2023. He previously served as Chief Product Officer of Presto since July 2022. Prior to joining Presto, Mr. Casanova was Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Everystep, a provider of ways for brands to connect with customers to drive sustainability outcomes. Prior to that, he was Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Liveclicker, a provider of real-time personalization solutions for business to consumer marketers, from January 2008 until the company's acquisition by the Campaign Monitor (the CM Group) in July 2018. He continued to serve as the General Manager of the Liveclicker business segment until October 2019. Mr. Casanova has founded other technology driven start-up companies, such as Wambo and Everystep. Mr. Casanova holds a B.S. in Math and Computer Science from École Polytechnique in France and a Master of Science in Electrical Engineering from Stanford University.


On August 1, 2023, the Board appointed Stanley Mbugua to serve as Interim Chief Financial Officer. Mr. Mbugua has served as Chief Accounting Officer of the Company since March 2023, a role in which he will remain while serving as Interim Chief Financial Officer. Prior to joining the Company, Mr. Mbugua served as Chief Accounting Officer at Skillz Inc. (NYSE: SKLZ), a mobile eSports platform, a position he held since 2021. Mr. Mbugua served as Group Vice President and Chief Accounting Officer of Rimini Street, a software company delivering third-party enterprise software support for Oracle, SAP, JD Edwards, PeopleSoft, Siebel, and other applications, from 2017 to 2021. From 2015 to 2017, Mr. Mbugua served as Senior Director and Corporate Controller at Lattice Semiconductor, a manufacturer of high-performance programmable logic devices. Mr. Mbugua is a Certified Public Accountant and has a Bachelor's degree in Commerce (Accounting Major) from the University of Nairobi.


The Company is in the process of finalizing the compensation and terms of separation of the Company with Mr. Gupta and determining potential changes to the compensation arrangements for Messrs. Casanova and Mbugua.


There are no other arrangements or understandings pursuant to Mr. Casanova's appointment as Chief Executive Officer or Mr. Mbugua's appointment as Interim Chief Financial Officer. There are no family relationships among any of the Company's executive officers, members of the Board and Mr. Casanova or Mr. Mbugua, and there are no transactions with Mr. Casanova or Mr. Mbugua that require disclosure pursuant to Item 404(a) of Regulation S-K.


On August 1, 2023, the Board appointed Ed Scheetz, an independent member of the Board, to serve as the Company's Lead Independent Director, effective immediately. Scott Raskin, who formerly held that position, will continue to serve as a director.


A copy of the related press release announcing the resignation of Mr. Gupta and the appointment of Mr. Casanova and Mr. Mbugua is attached to this Current Report on Form 8-K as Exhibit 99.1.