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Richard Reuter

Senior Director, Hardware Engineering at COGNEXCOGNEX
Executive

About Richard Reuter

Richard Reuter leads Cognex’s embedded hardware development, overseeing mechanical, electrical, optical, and test engineering along with regulatory and compliance responsibilities. He joined Cognex in November 2003 via the acquisition of Gavitec AG and studied electrical engineering at RWTH Aachen University (Germany) . In July 2025, Cognex named him to the new executive leadership team as Senior Director, Hardware Engineering; the company’s senior management page subsequently lists him as Vice President, Hardware Engineering, reflecting an expanded scope over Cognex’s ID, In-Sight, and 3D Vision portfolios . Mr. Reuter’s track record includes leading the DataMan series (e.g., DataMan 370/470/290/390), a product family that has generated “hundreds of million dollars” in revenue at Cognex—an indicator of value creation tied to his domain leadership .

Recent corporate operating context during the 2025 leadership transition shows improved momentum: Q2 2025 revenue grew 4% Y/Y with adjusted EBITDA margin at 20.7% (highest since Q2 2023), framing the performance environment for his organization’s execution priorities .

Past Roles

OrganizationRoleYearsStrategic impact
CognexSenior Director, Hardware Engineering (named to executive leadership team)2025Leads all hardware engineering for next-gen, AI-capable vision systems; elevated as part of new CEO’s execution agenda
CognexVice President, Hardware Engineering (current listing on senior mgmt page)2025–presentOversees embedded hardware across ID, In-Sight, 3D; broader portfolio ownership
CognexHardware engineering leadership (joined via Gavitec acquisition)2003–2024Led development of DataMan barcode readers (370/470/290/390); “hundreds of million dollars” revenue contribution

External Roles

No public company directorships or external board roles are disclosed on Cognex’s senior management page or in recent company communications .

Fixed Compensation

No individual compensation disclosure for Mr. Reuter appears in Cognex’s DEF 14A Summary Compensation Tables (which cover the CEO and other Named Executive Officers). 2024/2023 proxies detail NEO pay but do not list Mr. Reuter, implying he was not an SEC “named executive officer” during those years .

Performance Compensation

Cognex’s annual bonus program (applies to director level and above, including executive leadership) is anchored to company operating margin and individual goals, with payout scaling to performance. The company explicitly disclosed 2022 and 2023 bonus mechanics and outcomes:

YearOperating margin targetActual (for bonus purposes)Payout potential (director level and above)Payout potential (NEOs)
202231.4% 24.4% Up to 56% of pro‑rata target for bonus-eligible employees excluding NEOs (after one-time exclusion of fire-related expenses) Up to 36% of pro‑rata target based on individual performance
202324.5% 16.6% Up to 25% of pro‑rata target for non-NEO bonus-eligible employees Up to 8% of pro‑rata target for director level and above, including NEOs, subject to individual goals

Notes:

  • Program design: target bonus levels set by the Compensation/Stock Option Committee; payouts depend first on consolidated operating margin vs target, then on individual goals .
  • 2023: “each employee at director level and above (which includes our named executive officers) was eligible to receive up to 8%” of the pro‑rata portion of target, given the under-target operating margin result .

Equity incentives for executive officers (general terms):

  • Time-based RSUs and options are standard; CEO also receives PRSUs with market-based TSR components .
  • Change-of-control vesting for executive officer grants (other than CEO PRSUs) follows a double‑trigger: full vesting if (1) a change of control occurs and (2) the executive is involuntarily terminated within 12 months (without cause or for good reason) .

Equity Ownership & Alignment

  • Stock ownership guidelines: executives are expected to hold meaningful equity—3x base salary for CEO; 2x base salary for other executive officers; 5-year compliance window from policy adoption or promotion; compliance measured each fiscal year-end .
  • Clawback policy: adopted August 2023; covers cash/equity incentive compensation tied to financial reporting measures (including stock price/TSR); applies to compensation received on/after Oct 2, 2023 and the prior three completed fiscal years in the event of an Accounting Restatement .
  • Anti-hedging/anti-pledging: directors and executive officers are prohibited from short sales and exchange-traded options; pledging Cognex stock as collateral requires Compensation/Stock Option Committee approval .

Given these policies, pledging/hedging-related misalignment risk is structurally constrained; change-of-control terms reduce immediate post-transaction selling pressure by using double-trigger acceleration (excluding CEO PRSUs which accelerate at change-of-control with performance-based calculation) .

Employment Terms

  • Executive equity awards outside the CEO PRSU framework are structured with double-trigger acceleration upon change of control, contingent on an involuntary termination within 12 months (without cause/for good reason), aligning retention and transaction outcomes .
  • Cognex maintains executive stock ownership guidelines and a Dodd-Frank/Nasdaq‑compliant clawback policy (see above), plus anti-hedging/pledging restrictions, constituting the core governance overlay for executive employment and compensation .

Specific individual employment agreements, severance multiples, non-compete, or tax gross-ups for Mr. Reuter are not disclosed in the company’s 2025/2024/2023 DEF 14A filings (the detailed arrangements disclosed focus on NEOs and CEO) .

Performance & Track Record

  • Product leadership: Mr. Reuter led the development of the DataMan series (370/470/290/390), a core driver generating “hundreds of million dollars” in revenue for Cognex, and now oversees the entire embedded hardware portfolio (ID, In‑Sight, 3D Vision) .
  • Corporate context: Q2 2025 revenue +4% Y/Y (fourth consecutive quarter of organic growth) and adjusted EBITDA margin 20.7% (+80 bps Y/Y) underscore improved execution, with hardware platforms enabling AI-powered machine vision progress (e.g., OneVision cloud) .

Policy Reference Table (selected items)

TopicKey termsSource
Executive stock ownershipCEO 3x salary; other executive officers 2x; 5-year attainment; annual compliance check
ClawbackRestatement-driven recovery; covers incentive comp (cash/equity), incl. stock price/TSR; applies to awards received on/after Oct 2, 2023 and prior 3 completed fiscal years
Anti-hedging/pledgingProhibits short sales and exchange-traded options; pledging requires committee approval
Change-of-control vesting (exec officers)Double-trigger for time-based RSUs/options (CoC + involuntary termination within 12 months); CEO PRSUs accelerate at CoC with TSR-based multiplier

Investment Implications

  • Alignment: Strong governance architecture (ownership guidelines, anti-hedging/pledging, clawback) and double-trigger vesting reduce misalignment and forced-selling risk around corporate events; for a hardware R&D leader, this supports long-term product cycle focus .
  • Incentive cyclicality: The 2023 bonus outcome (up to 8% of pro‑rata target for director+ employees) signals tight linkage to profitability; when operating margin undershoots, cash payouts compress, increasing reliance on equity for retention—increasing sensitivity to vesting values and stock trajectory .
  • Execution track record: Documented product leadership (DataMan series; broad embedded portfolio) and the 2025 elevation to the executive leadership team indicate high internal credibility; combined with Cognex’s improving growth/EBITDA trends, this is a constructive signal for execution risk in next-gen AI‑capable hardware roadmaps .
  • Monitoring gaps: Individual compensation, grant-by-grant vesting schedules, and beneficial ownership details for Mr. Reuter are not disclosed in proxies (non‑NEO). Monitor company website leadership updates and SEC Form 4 filings for future insider transactions and evolving title/scope, given his recent elevation .

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