Photo | WBJ File
Robert Willett is retiring after a 17-year stint at Cognex.
3 hours ago
Longtime Cognex CEO retires, president takes over
Photo | Grant Welker
Cognex's Natick headquarters
Natick machine vision firm Cognex has named a new CEO and president, following the retirement of the $915-million public company’s longtime leader, Robert Willett.
Matt Moschner, who has worked in a variety of roles at Cognex since joining the company in 2017, took on the role of CEO on June 27, according to a LinkedIn post from Moschner. The CEO role comes in addition to his role as president, which he was appointed to in February.
Moschner replaces Willett, who worked at Cognex for 17 years, having served as Cognex’s CEO since 2011 and its president since 2008.
“This is an exciting time in our industry, and a moment of great change globally in technology, supply chains, and customer needs,” Moschner wrote in his LinkedIn post. “It is in just these kinds of environments where Cognoids do our best work, and I’m excited to move forward together to build a bigger, more profitable Cognex that delivers even greater value to our customers.”
Moschner wrote he intends to ensure Cognex becomes the top provider of AI technology for industrial machine-learning applications. Cognoids is a term Cognex uses to refer to its employees.
Moschner most recently served as chief operation officer for Cognex, a position he was appointed to in February at the same time he was named president. Prior to working at Cognex, Moschner worked at Boston Consulting Group from 2013 to 2017. He holds an MBA from Northwestern University and a bachelor’s degree in electrical and computer engineering from Duke University.
Moschner’s appointment follows the hiring of Greer Aviv to the newly-created role of head of investor relations in May, according to a press release from Cognex at the time. Aviv holds a bachelor’s in psychology from the University of Michigan, having worked most recently as senior vice president of investor relations at Dallas-based Cyxtera Technologies.
Founded in 1981, Cognex manufactures machine vision systems and sensors, part of automated systems which allow computers to see and interpret visual information. This technology is used in a variety of industries, including manufacturing, where it is used to sort or inspect products or materials.
Cognex’s stock trades on the Nasdaq and was hovering around $34 per share on Thursday morning. In 2024, the firm generated $915 million in revenue and held $587 million in cash and investments.
Willet was the ninth highest-paid public company CEO in Central Massachusetts for 2024, earning $7.9 million in total compensation, including an annual salary of $681,200, according to data compiled by the WBJ Research Department.
Eric Casey is the managing editor at Worcester Business Journal, who primarily covers the manufacturing and real estate industries.
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