Dassault Systèmes Announces New Executive Committee Evolutions

Dassault Systèmes has announced Executive Committee appointments and changes.

Philippe Forestier, Executive Vice President, Global Affairs & Communities and a founding member of Dassault Systèmes when it was created in 1981 will retire.  Monica Menghini, Executive Vice President, Chief Strategy Officer, is resigning for family reasons. Both departures are effective as of February 28, 2018. Thibault de Tersant, currently Senior Executive Vice President and CFO, will take the position of General Secretary (Secrétaire Général) and Pascal Daloz, currently Executive Vice President, Brands and Corporate Development, has been named Chief Financial Officer & Corporate Strategy Officer, with the changes effective February 5^th following the release of 2017 fourth quarter and full year financial results scheduled for February 1, 2018. Florence Verzelen has joined as Executive Vice President, Industry Solutions, Marketing, Global Affairs and Communication, effective January 15, 2018.

Bernard Charlès, Vice Chairman and CEO, Dassault Systèmes commented, “These changes in our Executive Committee will support the next phase of development of Dassault Systèmes as the 3DEXPERIENCE company.

“Pascal possesses a wide range of talents that are important ingredients for his new position as Chief Financial Officer and Corporate Strategy Officer, particularly at a company such as Dassault Systèmes. He has had a long involvement in our strategy definition and brings a deep understanding of our Brands and the value they represent, individually and together as part of our industry solution experiences. In combination, he is the right person to lead our holistic, growth-centric strategy at this current juncture.

“I am pleased to announce that Florence Verzelen has joined Dassault Systèmes as Executive Vice President, Industry Solutions, Marketing, Global Affairs and Communication effective January 15, 2018.  Florence will extensively exploit the Industry approach to increase value to clients and sharpen our strategy by further connecting Industry / Marketing / Workforce of the Future and public affairs.

“In Thibault’s new role, his knowledge, developed during thirty years of being our CFO, will be instrumental to shape the corporate structure of tomorrow, reflecting our evolution to a platform company to serve both People in Business and Business by People. In addition he will work on our business model strategy, Ethics & Compliance, and La Fondation Dassault Systèmes.

“Finally, I would like to recognize Philippe Forestier, Executive Vice President, Global Affairs & Communities, who is retiring, and Monica Menghini, Executive Vice President, Chief Strategy Officer, who is resigning for family reasons. As a founding member of Dassault Systèmes, Philippe has played a key role in the decisive moves that enabled the Company to transition from start-up to global leader. He has been a passionate ambassador of Dassault Systèmes and contributed to the Company’s influence in the industrial, corporate, scientific, educational and cultural spheres. Monica, working together with me, has guided the translation of Dassault Systèmes’ vision into a unique value proposition as the 3DEXPERIENCE company.”

Thibault de Tersant in his new role as Senior Executive Vice President, General Secretary (Secrétaire Général) will be involved in a wide range of strategic, legal, governance and business initiatives. He will continue as a Director of Dassault Systèmes and as a member of the Executive Committee. Mr. de Tersant has served as the Chief Financial Officer of Dassault Systèmes for thirty years, commencing in 1988. He has implemented a framework enabling the Company to be long-term driven while delivering growth in revenues and earnings for 21 of its 22 years as a public company, accompanied by sector-leading profitability and cash flow generation leveraging a long-standing, highly recurrent financial model.

Pascal Daloz brings more than 17 years of experience in executive positions at Dassault Systèmes to his new position as Executive Vice President, Chief Financial Officer and Corporate Strategy Officer. He has been Executive Vice President, Brands and Corporate Development since 2014 and member of the Executive Committee. With the support of the CEOs of each of Dassault Systèmes’ brands, he has been responsible for overall brand strategy with the mission to build world-class brands by creating a unique portfolio of applications, inspiring users’ experiences and vibrant user communities. Daloz joined Dassault Systèmes in 2001 and was promoted to Vice President, Strategy and Business Development in 2003. He became Executive Vice President, Strategy & Marketing in 2007, and was named Executive Vice President, Corporate Strategy and Market Development in 2010. Daloz began his career in 1992 as a technology consultant and as a sell-side technology analyst at Credit Suisse from 1997 until he joined Dassault Systèmes in 2001. Pascal Daloz is a graduate of the École des Mines de Paris.

Pascal Daloz has contributed to several books on innovation: Strategic Management of Innovation and Design, La métamorphose numérique and Les bureaux d’études. In 2010, he was awarded the Hermès de l’Innovation prize for human relations in the workplace.

Florence Verzelen brings nearly two decades of international business and global affairs experience and leadership to her position as Executive Vice President, Industry Solutions, Marketing, Global Affairs and Communication, and member of the Executive Committee. After beginning her career in project financing at the Société Générale Investment Bank in New York in 2002, she worked at the European Commission from 2004 to 2007, first in the Trade division and then in the Competition division. Florence Verzelen then joined the office of the Secretary of State for European Affairs, as an Advisor, in charge of industrial and commercial matters. She then joined the Engie group (GDF Suez), where she was Director of Group Acquisition activities between 2008 and 2010, and then became Manager of the subsidiary GDF Suez Qatar BV between 2010 and 2013. Between 2013 and 2015, she held the position of President of the Purchase Performance Plan. Since 2015, she has been Deputy Director of Engie Europe, in charge of Operations, Business Development and Innovation and Managing Director of Engie Russia.

Florence Verzelen is currently an independent director on the Board of Directors of Air France.  She was nominated Young Global Leader of the World Economic Forum in 2013. Florence Verzelen is a graduate of the Ecole Polytechnique (specializing in Economics and Finance) and the Ecole des Mines. She is fluent in French, English and German, with additional knowledge of Arabic, Chinese and Russian.