Agility names ex-UPS president Mark Vale audit chair ahead of Nov 2 AGLT vote
Agility Robotics said on Oct 19 that former UPS global president Mark Vale will join its board and chair the audit committee after the Churchill XI merger closes, while directors Bruce Leak and Matt Ocko have stepped down. The Nasdaq listing as AGLT goes to a shareholder vote on Nov 2.
Agility Robotics, the Oregon maker of the Digit humanoid, said in a press release on Oct 19 that Mark Vale, a former global president of UPS who now runs the logistics firm Transportation Insight, is expected to join its board and chair the audit committee once its merger with Churchill Capital Corp XI closes. Two long-serving directors, Bruce Leak and Matt Ocko, have stepped down as part of the change. [Company profile](/companies/agility-robotics).
The appointment lands 14 days before Churchill XI shareholders vote on the deal on Nov 2, the date set when the SEC declared the joint Form S-4 effective on Oct 13 ([earlier story](/news/agility-robotics-churchill-xi-s4-effective-nov-2-vote-aglt-20261013)). After closing, the combined company is to trade on Nasdaq as AGLT.
Why the audit chair matters more than usual here
Vale spent more than 30 years at UPS, where he was global president and held finance roles including corporate controller and chief financial officer for international operations, the company said. At Transportation Insight he was chief financial and administration officer before becoming chief executive. As audit chair he would oversee financial reporting, internal controls and the relationship with the independent auditor.
That job is unusually exposed at Agility. In MEKAWIRE's explainer drawn from the S-4, Agility booked $1.78 million of sales in 2025 against a $138.1 million loss, a loss about 78 times revenue by our arithmetic, while it reports more than $300 million of multi-year Digit 5 orders that depend on contractual milestones ([MEKAWIRE explainer](/news/what-is-agility-robotics-digit-5-funding-spac-listing-aglt-customers-explained-20261016)). How milestone-based orders are recognised as revenue is exactly the kind of judgement an audit committee signs off.
The post-merger board takes shape
Vale is to sit with three directors announced earlier, Merline Saintil, Derek Aberle and Pierre Gentin, plus chief executive Peggy Johnson and co-founder Damion Shelton, six named directors in all. Johnson said in the release that scaling humanoids needs both knowledge of customer operations and financial discipline. The company's boilerplate now cites more than 65,000 hours of real-world Digit operation.
- Mark Vale
- CEO, Transportation Insight; former UPS global president
- Expected to join, audit chair
- Merline Saintil
- Previously announced director
- Expected
- Derek Aberle
- Previously announced director
- Expected
- Pierre Gentin
- Previously announced director
- Expected
- Peggy Johnson
- Chief executive
- Director
- Damion Shelton
- Co-founder
- Director
- Bruce Leak
- Long-serving director
- Stepped down
- Matt Ocko
- Long-serving director
- Stepped down
Company release, Oct 19, 2026. Loss / revenue 2025 = 138.1 / 1.78 = about 78x (S-4 figures in MEKAWIRE explainer).
As of Oct 19, 2026
MEKAWIRE analysis
Agility is staffing its public board for a logistics customer base and for scrutiny of how it books revenue, not for more technology development.
A UPS finance veteran speaks the language of GXO and the other warehouse operators that buy Digit time, and his presence may reassure investors weighing a $2.5 billion pre-money valuation against tiny current sales. The counter-argument is that board appointments do not change the economics: until Digit 5 ships to early customers in the first half of 2027, the numbers Vale oversees will mostly be losses. Watch the Nov 2 vote and redemption level, the first quarterly report as AGLT, and whether the auditor flags revenue recognition on milestone orders.
- Merger with Churchill Capital Corp XI; Nasdaq ticker AGLT
- Nov 2, 2026 (14 days after the release)
- Over 30 years at UPS incl. global president; CEO of Transportation Insight
- Bruce Leak and Matt Ocko stepped down
- Digit has more than 65,000 hours of real-world operation
- Mark Vale to join board and chair audit committee after closing
- Saintil, Aberle, Gentin, CEO Peggy Johnson, co-founder Damion Shelton