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Glaston Corporation is losing one of its longest-serving commercial leaders as Kimmo Kuusela, EVP sales & service for EMEA & APAC, departs after 21 years to join Robit Plc as VP sales & marketing. The move leaves Glaston with a leadership vacancy across two of its largest geographic markets during a period of weak industrial demand and extensive executive restructuring.
Robit said yesterday that Kuusela will join the mining technology company and its management team on August 24, 2026, with responsibility for global sales and marketing.
Glaston announced the departure yesterday but did not name a successor. Kuusela joined the company in 2005 and became a member of the executive leadership Team in May 2025, when he was appointed EVP sales & service for EMEA & APAC. His promotion came at the same time Joe Butler joined the management team as EVP sales & service for the Americas, while former Chief Sales Officer Sasu Koivumäki exited the leadership group.
The changes formed part of a broader restructuring period under President and CEO Miika Äppelqvist, who assumed the CEO role in 2025 and has since overseen a substantial reshaping of the executive team.
“I would like to warmly thank Kimmo for his contribution to Glaston’s development over many years and the many positions he has held in the company,” Äppelqvist said. “On behalf of all Glaston, I wish him success for the future.”
A company in transition
Although Kuusela spent more than two decades at Glaston, his time on the executive leadership team lasted only one year. During his career, he held leadership positions across sales, service, R&D, and strategic accounts in Europe, the Americas, and Asia-Pacific, including assignments in Singapore and the US.
His departure is the latest in an unusually active period of executive turnover at the company. According to Listeds data, Glaston has recorded more than 10 leadership changes since March 2025, suggesting a deliberate redesign of the organization rather than routine management rotation.
Among the changes were the appointments of CFO Magnus Sjöblom, EVP Services Robert Jenks and EVP Solutions & Operations Jens Mayr, alongside the departures of former CEO Toni Laaksonen, former CFO Päivi Lindqvist and former General Counsel Kaisa Latva. Most recently, Riikka Laitasalo, SVP people & culture, left the company in April 2026.
The scale of the changes means few senior executives from the pre-Äppelqvist era remain in unchanged roles. Kuusela, one of the company’s longest-serving leaders, represented an important link between Glaston’s previous leadership structure and its new operating model.
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