Cowboy has shared details of a leadership transition, with Founder and CTO Tanguy Goretti stepping back from his role as an operational executive and transitioning into an advisor and board member position.
In this role, Goretti will remain closely involved with Cowboy, working directly with the product and marketing teams to support the company’s long-term vision, product roadmap, and brand DNA.
Since founding Cowboy in 2017, Goretti has led the development of the company’s products and technology, building a fully integrated hardware and software platform behind Cowboy’s connected bikes. Under his leadership, Cowboy introduced multiple industry-first features, including Auto Unlock, AdaptivePower, Crash Detection, Theft Alerts, and Smart Navigation, and scaled the company’s in-house software and hardware teams from the ground up. Today, more than 80,000 Cowboy bikes are on-the-road.
New leadership in focus
To lead the company operationally, Cowboy appoints Kjell Fastré and Oliver Barleben as General Managers.
Kjell Fastré joined Cowboy mid of last year as Vice President of Operations, leading the company’s operational activities during the period of deal closure. Fastré brings over 25 years of leadership experience across technology and operations, including CEO roles and senior positions at IBM. As General Manager, he will focus on sales and after-sales operations. Kjell will champion the customers and partners inside Cowboy.
Oliver Barleben joined Cowboy in 2022 and currently serves as Chief Supply Chain Officer, bringing more than 20 years of global supply chain and procurement experience, including senior leadership roles at Philips. At Cowboy, he has played a key role in stabilising and strengthening supply chain and manufacturing. As General Manager, he will continue to oversee supply chain and manufacturing to get back in stock as quickly as possible; in addition, he will lead the finance and engineering functions.
Looking to a new future
“This transition reflects the next chapter for Cowboy,” said Tanguy Goretti. “With Kjell and Oliver already leading critical parts of the business, the company is well-positioned to focus on execution, stability, and long-term growth.”
As an immediate priority, the new leadership team is focused on execution and delivery. Cowboy will fulfil its existing order backlog for both bikes and spare parts by the end of February, return delivery timelines to normal levels, and continue the rollout of its ongoing recall programme, which will be expanded to Denmark and Germany in the coming weeks.
