Alignment Week (February 2–6) was created as a deliberate investment in Circle Optics’ most important asset — its people.
As the company scales, alignment cannot be assumed. It must be engineered.
Over five days, each department conducted structured reviews of priorities, interdependencies, and execution risk. Software, Finance, Marketing, Optics, R&D, Sales, Mechanics, Operations & Compliance, and Leadership stepped out of daily execution and into focused calibration.
As Circle Optics grows, visibility across functions becomes increasingly critical. Alignment Week created the space to surface friction points early, clarify ownership, and ensure that strategic objectives translate directly into operational plans. The Annual Meeting brought the full team together to reinforce long-range direction and align around measurable outcomes for the year ahead.
The week also included a leadership module led by Dr. Dennis Rebelo centered on decision-making, adaptability, and cognitive alignment. For a company operating at the forefront of optical system development, technical excellence alone is insufficient. The ability to process ambiguity, integrate multiple perspectives, and respond decisively under complexity becomes a competitive advantage. Investing in leadership capacity ensures that growth strengthens execution rather than straining it.
As COO Ian Gauger noted during the week:
“Technology doesn’t create competitive advantage on its own. Teams do. Alignment Week is our investment in making sure the product of this team continues to be greater than the sum of its parts.”
Circle Optics was founded in December 2017, though its origins extend back to a senior lens design course at the University of Rochester’s Institute of Optics attended by founder Zak Niazi. What began as a question about parallax-free 360-degree capture evolved into a company built on intentional team architecture.
Phase I focused on identifying cornerstone employees — individuals with not only deep technical expertise but the humility and collaborative instinct to elevate those around them. The early collaboration between Andy Kurtz and Allen Krisiloff demonstrated that the right combination of experience and openness produces outcomes greater than individual contribution.
Phase II leveraged trusted networks to scale intelligently while implementing disciplined operational systems.
Phase III codified what had always been present: a behavioral framework that governs hiring, development, and growth. Today, every new addition is evaluated through three lenses:
Synergy — the ability to work productively within the team.
Know-How — depth of technical mastery.
Innovation — inventive and disciplined problem-solving.
Alignment Week is the operational expression of that architecture.
A highlight of the week was the annual Wide Field of View Thinking Competition, an internal pitch competition designed to stretch thinking beyond functional boundaries. Team members participate either as competitors or judges, reinforcing both creative initiative and evaluative leadership across the organization. This year’s competition was won by Dr. Anjali Jogeshwar, Software Engineer.
Alignment Week also included time to strengthen relational capital. The team gathered at Nosh for appetizers, stepped into collaborative problem-solving at The Great Escape Room. As Circle Optics continues to grow in Greater Rochester, there is much to celebrate: the technology being built and the team building it.
