SS Innovations International has named Sarah Romano as its CFO, hiring the finance executive from rival robotic surgery company Vicarious Surgical. Romano will step into a position that has been held by a series of executives over the past year.
She is joining from Vicarious Surgical, where she was CFO since April 2025. Romano told Vicarious of her resignation last month and will leave the company on July 22. She will start as SS Innovations‘ CFO on August 3.
Romano has experience working as CFO of drug developers Entero Therapeutics and Kiora Pharmaceuticals before joining Vicarious. At Vicarious, she worked to reduce the company’s cash burn and strengthen its balance sheet.
Related: HistoSonics gains approval for tissue treatment system
During Romano‘s time at Vicarious, the company outsourced robot development work, reduced its headcount, and reorganized internal teams to lower spending. These actions reflected pressures on a company that lacked the money to fund operations for 12 months when Romano became CFO.
SS Innovations faces similar pressures, telling investors in May that its cash and operating income are not expected to fund operations and business development through the next 12 months. The company has worked to grow sales amid turnover at the top of its finance department.
Anup Sethi stepped down as CFO in April 2025. Arvind Palaniappan filled the post on an interim basis, only to step down after about 12 weeks in the job. Vishwajyoti Srivastava was the next interim CFO. Naveen Kumar Amar became SS Innovations‘ next permanent CFO in September but left for personal reasons at the start of 2026.
Related: Essential Oil Recipes Every Man Should Try
Two weeks later, Milan Rao started as permanent CFO. Rao stepped down in May, creating the vacancy that Romano will fill when she starts at the company next month. SS Innovations has filed for 510(k) clearance for its SSi Mantra surgical robotic system in December.
Getting 510(k) clearance from the Food and Drug Administration would unlock the US market, diversifying sales of a system that is primarily used in India. In the first quarter, the company sold 18 SSi Mantra surgical robotic systems, with 99% of revenue from India.
SS Innovations highlighted Romano‘s work to reduce Vicarious‘ cash burn and strengthen the company’s balance sheet. The company’s SSi Mantra robot is a key part of its growth strategy, and Romano‘s experience will likely be important in helping the company achieve its goals.