Vertiv Holdings Co announced that Karsten Winther will retire from his position as president, Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA), effective December 31, 2025. Paul Ryan, currently chief procurement officer, has been appointed as his successor, starting January 1, 2026. Winther will continue in his current role through the end of 2025, supporting the regional leadership transition.
During his time at Vertiv, he progressed from leading regional sales to executive leadership, driving business strategy, operational excellence, and profitability across the EMEA region. Paul Ryan has more than 20 years of industry experience, including more than eight years leading Vertiv global procurement and supply chain as chief procurement officer and vice president, global procurement /supply chain, leading a significant transformation of the procurement function, strengthening supply chain resilience and continuity, improving service levels, and fostering a culture of continuous improvement and innovation. For more than ten years, he provided leadership for Emerson Network Power (now Vertiv) as vice president, operations for EMEA, vice president and managing director for Asia Pacific, and vice president, global operations and supply chain for data center solutions.
Ryan received a bachelor's degree in production management from the University of Limerick and later, a master's degree in science from the department of mathematics at the University of Limerick. He also completed the executive development program at the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University. Effective immediately, Vertiv's Patrick Grainey has been named as acting chief procurement officer, reporting directly to Albertazzi.
Grainey will remain in this position while the company actively begins recruitment for the chief procurement officer role.
