Energy Vault NRGV

Mr. Robert Piconi is the co-founder of the Company and has served as our Chief Executive Officer and as a director since February 2022. Prior to his time at the Company, Mr. Piconi founded Medical Equipment Solutions & Applications (MESA) Group Holdings, a service provider for clinical and diagnostic imaging maintenance service, parts, and refurbished equipment solutions for all MRI, CT, PET CT, Angio/Cardiac and other general X-Ray systems, in 2009 and served as its chief executive officer until its acquisition by London-based private equity firm, Permira, in 2014, becoming Pantheon Healthcare Group and later Althea Group. He continued to serve as its Chief Executive Officer and a member of its board from 2014 to 2016. Prior to Pantheon Healthcare Group, Mr. Piconi served as Group Executive for the Network Software and Security Platform group companies at Danaher Corporation (NYSE: DHR) from 2012 to 2014. Mr. Piconi's earlier experience included roles of increasing responsibility at large Fortune 500 public companies, including the diversified energy group Amoco Corporation and British Petroleum (NYSE: BP) after its merger with Amoco in 1998, followed by executive leadership roles of increasing responsibility at Bell Labs Lucent Technologies (now Nokia, NASDAQ: NOK) and as President and Chief Operating Officer at Spirent Communications (LSE: SPT) within the telecommunications network infrastructure industry. Mr. Piconi served as a director of Healthcare AI Acquisition Corp. (NASDAQ: HAIAF) from 2021 to 2023. Mr. Piconi holds a B.B.A. from the University of Notre Dame and an M.B.A. from Northwestern University's Kellogg School of Management.

Mr. Akshay Ladwa has served as our Chief Development and Operations Officer since July 2024. Mr. Ladwa also served as the Company's Chief Engineering Officer from October 2021 to June 2024. Mr. Ladwa is responsible for execution, technology innovation and creating customer centric solutions. Prior to joining the Company, Mr. Ladwa served as Vice President of Energy Storage & Integration at BrightNight from November 2019 to October 2021. Mr. Ladwa served as Vice President of Engineering at Wartsila from July 2017 to November 2019. Mr. Ladwa served in various roles at Greensmith Energy Management Systems from June 2013 to July 2017, including Engineering Program Manager, Director of Engineering, and Vice President of Engineering. Mr. Ladwa holds a B.E. in Mechanical Engineering from Visvesvaraya Technological University and an M.S. of Mechanical Engineering from Lawrence Technological University.

Mr. Thomas R. Ertel has been a member of our Board of Directors since February 2022. He was a Partner at Ernst & Young, LLP, an accounting firm, from June 2002 until his retirement from full-time employment in June 2017. Prior to that, Mr. Ertel spent 25 years, including 13 years as Partner, with Arthur Andersen, LLP, an accounting firm. From October 2017 until his retirement in April 2025, Mr. Ertel has served as Senior Vice President and Chief Accounting Officer of Strada Education Foundation, a nonprofit organization that strengthens America's pathways between education and employment. From December 2017 through September 2021, he served as a director on the board of directors of Blackbaud, Inc. (Nasdaq: BLKB). Mr. Ertel holds a BS in Accounting from Ball State University and has maintained an active CPA license in the State of Indiana since 1980.

Mr. Larry M. Paulson has served as a member of our Board of Directors since February 2022 and previously served as a director and non-executive Chairman of our predecessor, Novus Capital Corporation II, a special purpose acquisition company, from its inception in September 202 until its merger with legacy Energy Vault in February 2022. Mr. Paulson co-founded Novus Capital Corporation, a special purpose acquisition company, and served as its Chief Executive Officer and a director from its inception in March 2020 until its business combination with AppHarvest, Inc. (Nasdaq: APPH) in January 2021. Mr. Paulson has served as a managing member of Novus Capital Associates, LLC, an investment firm, since its formation in October 2020. He has also served as principal and founder of Rancho Santa Fe Solutions, a wireless industry consulting company he founded in February 2010. From 2013 to January 2020, Mr. Paulson was with Qualcomm (Nasdaq: QCOM) where he served as Vice President of Product Management (from 2013 to 16), Vice President and President India and SAARC (from 2016 to 2018) and Vice President Sales NA and Australia (from 2018 to Jan 2020). Prior to Qualcomm, he served as Executive Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer of Brightpoint, Inc., a provider of worldwide distribution and integrated logistics services to the wireless communications industry, from 2011 to 2013. Prior to that he served with Nokia (NYSE: NOK) from 1987 to 2009 where he had numerous roles including global Senior Vice President and General Manager CDMA Product line. Mr. Paulson holds a BA in Communications from Point Park University.

Ms. Mary Beth Mandanas has served as a member of our Board of Directors since February 2022. Ms. Mandanas currently serves as Chief Executive Officer for Onyx Renewables LLC, having begun this role in January 2022. From July 2021 to July 2023, Ms. Mandanas served as an Independent Director, Audit Chair, on the Board of TortoiseEcofin Acquisition Corp III (NYSE: TRTL), a special purpose acquisition company. From August 2020 to August 2021, she consulted and served as Chief Investment Officer for Sol Systems, LLC, a renewable energy infrastructure and impact investment company based in Washington, DC. Previously, from September 2015 to May 2020, Ms. Mandanas held the position of Executive Vice President, Chief Strategy Officer, of CleanChoice Energy, Inc., a company engaged in renewable energy retail supply and community solar, where she led strategic planning and was responsible for raising capital, banking/investor relations and establishing protocols for risk management and financial reporting. Ms. Mandanas earned her M.B.A. degree from Vanderbilt University and graduated, magna cum laude, with a B.S. from the University of South Carolina.

Ms. Stephanie Unwin has been a member of the Board since March 2024. She has served as the Chief Executive Officer of Arc Infrastructure, a leader in the managing rail freight network in Western Australia, since August 2025. Prior to this, Ms. Unwin served as the Chief Executive Officer at Horizon Power from March 2019 to July 2025, where she led the company through a rapidly changing energy landscape and positioned the company for long-term growth while accelerating decarbonization projects across Western Australia. From 2018 to 2019, Ms. Unwin served as General Manager of Transformation and Technology at CBH Group. From 2017 to 2018, Ms. Unwin served as Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director at Phylogica. Prior to her role at Phylogica, Ms. Unwin served in multiple executive-level roles at Synergy and Verve Energy (Verve) prior to Synergy's merger with Verve, including General Manager of Retail, General Manager of Commercial and Chief Transformation Officer. Synergy is Western Australia's largest energy generator and retailer to industrial and consumer customers. Ms. Unwin has been recognized as a dynamic leader within the energy and renewables sectors, including being named one of Western Australia's most influential business leaders in Business News' Power 500. Ms. Unwin also has significant experience serving other boards of publicly-listed companies, including Alacer Gold Corp, Zenith Energy, Integra Mining Limited and several non-listed joint ventures. Ms. Unwin received undergraduate degrees in economics and law from Murdoch University.

Ms. Theresa M Fariello has been a member of our Board since February 2023. She has served as Executive Vice President of Government Affairs & Global Public Policy for United Airlines (Nasdaq: UAL) since 2017. In this role, she leads United Airlines' federal, state, local, and international government engagement, including environmental affairs. Prior to her role at United Airlines, Ms. Fariello served a sixteen-year tenure at ExxonMobil (NYSE: XOM), where she advised executive leadership on key governmental and policy matters. Prior to her time at ExxonMobil, Ms. Fariello served as Deputy Assistant Secretary for International Energy Policy in the Office of International Affairs at the U.S. Department of Energy and held senior leadership positions at Occidental Petroleum Corporation (NYSE: OXY). Ms. Fariello received her undergraduate degree in political science from George Washington University. She also holds a Master of Laws in International and Comparative Law from Georgetown University Law Center, as well as a Juris Doctorate from George Mason University School of Law.

Mr. Dylan Hixon has served as a director since March 2025. He has served as the Chair of Hixon Properties Inc., a privately held real estate investment company, since June 2022, and as a director since 2005. Mr. Hixon is also President and a director of Finkbine Farms Inc., a position he has held since 2010. He has been General Partner of the Gideon Hixon Fund since 1990 and a co-Managing Partner beginning in 2007. Mr. Hixon is President of Arden Road Investments where manages a diversified portfolio of public and private investments, having served in this capacity since 2001. Mr. Hixon previously worked as an engineer, first at Precision Combustion, Inc. and then at Reel EFX, a special effects company. Mr. Hixon has served as a director on several private company boards, including ATTAP Technologies, Telaurus Communications, and Cogent Data Technologies. He also served on the Advisory Board of Levensohn Venture Partners. Mr. Hixon is a trustee and chair of the Academic Affairs and Tenure Committee at Harvey Mudd College in Claremont, California and a board member of the Yale School of the Environment, the Regional Plan Association of New York, and the Planetary Sunshade Institute. Mr. Hixon holds a Master's degree in Mechanical Engineering from the California Institute of Technology and a Bachelor's degree from Yale University.

On July 14, 2026, the Board of Directors of Energy Vault Holdings, Inc. appointed Nitin Dahiya to serve as Chief Financial Officer of the Company beginning July 27, 2026. Nitin Dahiya, 49, has served as a Senior Portfolio Manager and Investment Committee member at BlackRock, Inc. since 2018, where he has led investments and financing transactions across specialty finance, energy and energy transition, and special situations. Prior to joining BlackRock, Mr. Dahiya served as an investor at Paulson & Co. Inc. from 2012 to 2018, focusing on event-driven, distressed and opportunistic credit investments. Earlier in his career, Mr. Dahiya held analyst positions at KLS Diversified Asset Management, Nomura and Barclays Capital (formerly Lehman Brothers). Mr. Dahiya received an M.B.A. from the Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad and a Bachelor of Technology in Mechanical Engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology Delhi.