Tom O’Brien
President and CEO
Axion Biosystems
Tom O’Brien is the president and chief executive officer of Axion Biosystems, which he co-founded in 2008. He leads a team of scientists, engineers and professionals in operations and sales to grow this life science instrumentation company. Summa, a private equity firm in Sweden, acquired Axion in 2021.
O’Brien also serves as chair of BioCircuit Technologies, which spun off from Axion in 2019 and specializes in technology for the electronic medicine market.
Before launching Axion, O’Brien served as executive vice president for Intermagnetics Corporation from 2003-2007. Intermagnetics was successfully acquired by Philips Medical Systems in 2006. Prior to Philips, he served as president of Sensient Technologies’ Colors Group, leading the organization to remarkable growth.
For 12 years (1989-2001) O’Brien worked for Sun Chemical, fulfilling several roles and ending his tenure as vice president of strategy, where he oversaw the consolidation of a $500 million acquisition. O’Brien began his career at General Electric in the company’s management training program.
O’Brien has served as a trustee of the Georgia Tech Alumni Association and a board member of Georgia Bio. He earned his B.S. degree from Georgia Tech and an MBA from the University of Chicago.
