With more than 25 years of international leadership experience and a track record of scaling businesses across global markets, Kay Oswald now leads Interblock Gaming as its CEO.
Kay Oswald serves as CEO of Interblock Gaming following the departure of former CEO John Connelly in February 2026, having yielded over 25 years of experience across a multitude of industries – including technology, hardware and fitness.
Who is Kay Oswald?
Following early roles in Europe, Oswald eventually built his career primarily in the US with organizations such as KitchenAid, SmileDirectClub, Technogym, KOHPA and A111 prior to joining Interblock Gaming.
Oswald brings international leadership experience across consumer, hardware and industrial technology businesses, as well as overseeing teams in North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific and Australia. As Interblock CEO, Oswald is tasked with delivering operational excellence and strengthening the supplier’s position across global markets, while also accelerating innovation for its product portfolio.
Education
The Interblock CEO made numerous stops along his educational journey, beginning with his time spent at the Second Naval Supply School during 1998, a military boot camp located in Germany. From there, Oswald spent an exchange semester at the National University of Cordoba, which represents the oldest university in Argentina.
Oswald attended Fachhochschule Nordakademie Elmshorn – a University of Applied Sciences based in Elmshorn – where he studied international marketing, comparative management and strategic marketing from 1999-2003.
He then enhanced his skills and leadership training with the Hult Ashridge Executive Education management program between 2009-2010, as well as attended Stanford University’s executive program in 2015. Two years later, Oswald earned a Master’s degree in business administration from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University.
Career journey
While balancing an extended scholastic life, Oswald began his career with the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), where he served as a staff duty soldier to the German ambassador in the Military Policy Division from September 1998 to August 1999.
Oswald then spent just over eight years with Philips Consumer Lifestyle, holding titles such as Category Manager, Regional Sales Manager, Marketing Manager of Kitchen Appliances and Senior National Key Account Manager.
In September 2010, Oswald departed Philips Consumer Lifestyle to join KitchenAid as Category Leader of Microwave Ovens in the EMEA region. Oswald received his first chance to experience US business relations after being promoted to North America Sales Director of Laundry for Home Depot in 2013, as well as in his Global Business Unit Director of Health & Nutrition role until October 2015. During his time at Kitchen Aid he was also Regional President Asia-Pacific From November 2015 to November 2018.
From 2015-2021, Oswald was also on the Board of Directors for Hanseatic Limited, a Hong Kong-based distribution company for exclusive, high-tech baby products in the European market.
By November 2018, Oswald would transition from his role with KitchenAid to become President of International with SmileDirectClub, where he built and scaled the organization’s global division across multiple markets. Oswald went on to spend just over three and a half years with SmileDirectClub, prior to being appointed as CEO of US operations for Technogym – a leading company in the field of commercial and home gym equipment.
Marking his second Chief Executive appointment, Oswald joined KOHPA as Interim CEO in January 2024, maintaining the title up until becoming Interblock CEO on July 21, 2026. Along with his role as Interblock CEO, Oswald is currently a Board Member of A111, a platform for operator-led private equity which sponsors senior executives to help find and acquire respective businesses.
Key achievements
During his time as Senior National Key Account Manager with Philips Consumer Lifestyle, Oswald crafted and introduced new business practices which aligned with strategic growth plans, negotiated annual targets and contracts and helped deliver €75m in annual revenues.
Oswald also grew sales by 20% and margin by 13%, as well as innovated new category approaches that lowered OOS and inventory by over 70%.
With KitchenAid, Oswald spearheaded strategy and operations within the APAC region, including P&L ownership, cash flow management, organizational development and operations/supply chain optimization.
The Interblock CEO also expanded distribution across B2B channels and drove improvements in pricing and operations to make APAC the number one global growth driver for KitchenAid in 2016 and 2017.
As President of International at SmileDirectClub, Oswald aligned digital GTM, supply chain and regional leadership teams to drive profitable growth, while also forming third-party partnerships which enhanced global scalability and significantly impacted balance sheet and financing cash flow.
While his tenure as Interblock CEO has also just begun – Board Member David Quick believes Oswald is the “right leader to build on the world-class operating platform established over the past year and to capitalize on Interblock’s global growth opportunities.”
Leadership and strategy
Best exemplified by his leadership with Technogym USA, Oswald pushes an “obsess or fail” mantra which demands relentless focus on customer experience, product quality, user and service delivery, while ensuring every interaction reinforces brand trust and loyalty.
Oswald’s leadership strategy combines product innovation with infrastructure investment, having garnered a background in global manufacturing, supply chain and scaling premium brands across North America, Europe, APAC and LatAm.
Fun fact: Oswald volunteered with PAWS Chicago from 2013-2021, representing the city's largest humane organization which implements solutions to help protect homeless animals