Executive Committee

The Saint-Gobain COMEX team is responsible for leading the Group’s operations and makes strategic decisions based on the objectives defined by the Board of Directors.

Christian BAKO

Christian BAKO

Vice-President, Marketing and Development

Christian BAKO was born on November 4, 1981 in Stuttgart, Germany. He is married and has two children. He studied International Business Administration in Germany and Spain.

Christian started his career in the windows industry at Roto Frank where during 8 years he held various positions in Sales, Marketing, Strategy & General Management in Germany, Spain and France, before moving to the building distribution as Vice-President Western Hemisphere for VBH Holding.

He joined Saint-Gobain in 2017 as Chief Digital Officer for the Building Glass division in Germany, Austria & Switzerland. In 2018 he became Managing Director for the Glassolutions BU in Germany.

In 2020 Christian joined Saint-Gobains Abrasives division where we was Managing Director of Central Europe until being nominated Vice-President Marketing & Development for the Group as per September 1st 2023.

Christian BAKO
Noémie Chocat

Noémie CHOCAT

Vice-President, Corporate Strategy

After graduating from Ecole Polytechnique and earning a PhD in Materials Science and Engineering from MIT, Noémie Chocat joined Saint-Gobain in 2012 as a Research Engineer in SGR Paris. In 2015, she moved to the Building Distribution Sector central team as Digital Project Leader, then in 2017 to DSC within SGDB France as Director Marketing Studies and Pricing. Since 2019, Noémie has been Digital Director SGDB France.

Noémie Chocat has been appointed Vice-President Corporate Strategy as of October 1, 2021.

She has dual Franco-Japanese nationality.

Noémie Chocat

Patrick DUPIN

Senior Vice-President, CEO Northern Europe Region

Born in December 1963, Patrick Dupin holds a degree from the Havre Normandie Business school.

After having spent several years as a consultant with Coopers & Lybrand (PriceWaterhouseCoopers) and eight years in the Finance Departments of the groups Chargeurs and Matra Telecommunications subsidiaries and divisions in Germany, Patrick Dupin joined Group Saint-Gobain in 1999 as Finance Director within the Abrasives Activity in Germany.

He was appointed in 2005 Finance and Plan Director of the Vitrage and High Performance Materials activities, then of the Innovative Materials Sector.

In January 2012 he has been appointed as General Manager of Saint-Gobain Sekurit activities (Automotive Glazing).

He is Director of the Vitrage Activity since February 2014 and since January 1st 2017, he has been appointed Senior Vice President of the Compagnie de Saint-Gobain in charge of the Flat Glass Activity (Innovative Materials Sector*).

Patrick Dupin has been appointed Senior Vice-President, CEO Northern Europe Region, effective January 1, 2019.

Thierry FOURNIER

Senior Vice-President, CEO Southern Europe, Middle East and Africa Region

Thierry FOURNIER is a graduate of Ecole Polytechnique and Ecole Nationale des Ponts et Chaussées as engineer. He started his career as a civil servant for 9 years for the French Administration before joining Saint-Gobain in 2005.

He was notably General Manager for Isover and Gyproc in Russia, then General Delegate for the CIS by 2012. He has then been appointed General Manager for Construction Products for France, Benelux and Algeria from 2012 to 2014 and General Delegate and General Manager for Construction Products for South America from May 2018 to December 2018. Since January 1st, 2019 he has been CEO Latin America Region.

In January 2019, he was appointed CEO Latin America Region. 

Since July 1, 2021, Thierry Fournier has been appointed Senior Vice-President, CEO Southern Europe, Middle East and Africa Region.

Javier GIMENO

Senior Vice-President, CEO Latin America Region

Javier Gimeno was born on January 9, 1964, in Madrid, Spain. He is married and has two children. 

He is a graduate of Navarra University (Spain) and of Instituto de Empresa Business School, Madrid (Spain). 

In 1987, Javier Gimeno joined the Saint-Gobain Group where he occupied different management positions before being appointed Vice-President Sales & Marketing of Saint-Gobain Sekurit International in 2004. End of 2007, he became President of Saint-Gobain Glass Solutions France. From November 2010 until October 2012, he was in full charge of Saint-Gobain Sekurit Asia-Pacific as President.  In October 2012, Mr. Gimeno became CEO & General Delegate of the Saint-Gobain Group for Asia-Pacific.

In January 2019, Javier Gimeno became Senior Vice-President, CEO Asia-Pacific Region.

Javier Gimeno has been appointed Senior Vice-President, CEO Latin America Region, effective July 1, 2021.

Anne Hardy

Anne HARDY

Chief Innovation Officer

Anne Hardy has a PhD in Material Science from MIT. In addition, she has a BS degree in Chemical Engineering from the University of Utah. 

Anne joined Saint-Gobain in 1992 as a Research Engineer in the Saint-Gobain Research North America center (Northboro, Massachusetts). She has held various positions within the Saint-Gobain R&D organization - Deputy Vice President of Group’s R&D and director of the Northboro R&D center. She currently has 16 patents, working with a range of materials and processes including ceramics, polymers and construction materials. In 2015 she received the STEP award from the Manufacturing Institute which recognizes women in science, technology, engineering and production careers.

In January 2019, she was appointed Vice-President of R&D, High Performance Solutions. 

As of July 1, 2021 she is appointed Chief Innovation Officer.

Anne Hardy

Benoit D'IRIBARNE

Senior Vice-President, Technology & Industrial Performance

Benoit d’Iribarne holds an Engineering degree from Ecole Nationale des Ponts et Chaussées in Paris and a Master of Science in Civil Engineering from the University of Colorado Boulder. 

He joined the Group in 1985 as R&D Engineer for Saint-Gobain Recherche Paris. In 1987, he joined Sekurit in Herzogenrath, Germany as Development Engineer. He became Key Account Manager in the United Kingdom in 1989, Production Manager at Sekurit Belgium in 1992 and Chief Executive Officer of Sekurit NFG in Germany in 1995. 

He was appointed Vice-President of Manufacturing at Saint-Gobain Glass in 1997, President of Saint-Gobain Glass Outside Europe in 2000 and of Saint-Gobain Glass in 2005. In 2008, he became President of Saint-Gobain Glass and Sekurit.

In 2012, Benoit d’Iribarne was appointed General Delegate for Brazil, Argentina and Chile. From July 2014 to end of 2015, he served as President of the High Performance Materials Activity.

Since January 1st, 2016 he is General Delegate for Germany, Austria and Benelux and also coordinates the Industrial Excellence programs, including WCM, at group level.  

Benoit d’Iribarne has been appointed Vice-President Technology and Industrial Performance, effective January 1, 2019. Since January 2020, he has been appointed Senior Vice-President, Technology & Industrial Performance.

 

David Molho

David MOLHO

CEO High Performance Solutions

David Molho is a graduate of Ecole Polytechnique and Ecole Nationale des Ponts et Chaussées as engineer. He began his career in the French administration where he was advisor to the Prime Minister's office, in charge of energy and the environment. 

He joined Saint-Gobain in 2009, where he was successively Vice-President of Corporate Planning in Paris, Managing Director of the pipe business in Brazil, and then CEO Saint-Gobain Distribution in the Nordic countries. 

On January 1, 2019, he was appointed CEO Nordics and Baltics. 

David Molho has been appointed CEO High Performance Solutions, effective July 1, 2021.

David Molho

Claire PEDINI

Senior Vice-President, Human Resources and Corporate Social Responsibility

Claire Pedini is a graduate of Ecole des Hautes Etudes Commerciales (HEC) and holds a Master's degree from Ecole Supérieure de Commerce de Paris (ESCP). She started her career at Total in 1988 as Corporate Controller, before assuming responsibility for Total’s admission to trading on the New York Stock Exchange in 1991, and becoming Vice-President of Investor Relations in 1992, Vice-President of Media Relations in 1994 and Vice-President of New Information Technologies in 1997. In 1998, she joined Alcatel as Director of Financial Information and Shareholder Relations, becoming successively Vice-President, Investor Relations and Public Affairs in 2001, Deputy Chief Financial Officer in 2004, Senior Vice-President, Human Resources and Corporate Communications in 2006, and Executive Vice-President, Alcatel-Lucent for Human Resources and Transformation in 2009. She became a member of the Alcatel-Lucent Executive Committee in 2006.

Since June 2010, Claire Pedini has served as Senior Vice-President in charge of Human Resources for the Saint-Gobain Group. She is also a director on the Board of EDF.

Since January 2019, Claire Pedini has been appointed Senior Vice-President, Human Resources and Digital Transformation.

Claire Pedini has been appointed Senior Vice-President, Human Resources and Corporate Social Responsibility, effective July 1, 2021.

Laurence PERNOT

Vice-President, Communications

Following post-graduate studies in American History and Anthropology at the University of the Sorbonne, Laurence Pernot began her career with the advertising agency Saatchi & Saatchi. In 1993, she was appointed Communications VP for the Regional Council of Loire Atlantique, before moving to the industry and joining the AREVA Group in 2001. She stayed there until 2013, initially as Communications VP for the AREVA La Hague site and then as Communications VP for AREVA North America, based in Washington D.C., USA, and finally as Deputy Communications VP for the AREVA Group. Since 2013, she was Communications VP for the Vallourec Group responsible for internal and external communications, public affairs and the Vallourec brand.

Laurence Pernot, is appointed Communications VP for Saint-Gobain from October 23, 2017.

Mark RAYFIELD

Senior Vice-President, CEO North America Region

Mark RAYFIELD holds a BS, Industrial Distribution, Clarkson University. He started his career in 1986 at PIAB USA Inc. that provide smart solutions for the automated world.

He entered Saint-Gobain in 1999 and hold different positions as Vice President North American Abrasives, CEO Building Distribution in the United Kingdom and Ireland. As of January 2017 he has been appointed President and CEO of CertainTeed Corporation and has also been CEO North America Region since January 1st 2019.

Since January 2020, he has been appointed Senior Vice-President, CEO North America Region.

Santhanam B.

CEO Asia-Pacific & India Region

Santhanam B. obtained his B.Tech in Civil Engineering (1978) from Indian Institute of Technology, Madras and Post-Graduation in Management (1980) from Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad.

Santhanam B. started his career as a Management Trainee in May 1980 at Grindwell Norton, a Saint-Gobain Group Company and served in various functions such as Information Technology, Operations, Product Development, Sales and Marketing. 

In 1996, Santhanam B. worked closely with the Saint-Gobain Group to develop strategic blueprint for investments in India. In April 1997, Santhanam was appointed as Managing Director of Saint-Gobain Glass India. 

On January 1st 2020, he became CEO India.

As of 1 July 1, 2021 he has been appointed CEO Asia-Pacific & India Region.

Ursula Soritsch-Renier

Ursula SORITSCH-RENIER

Chief Digital and Information Officer

Born and raised in Austria, Ursula SORITSCH-RENIER has a Master in Philosophy with a Minor in Computer Science from the University of Vienna and a College Diploma in Economics.  She started her career in 1995 at Philips, where she spent 14 years, in Austria, the Netherlands, Belgium and the United States, before joining Novartis in 2009 in the United States as Global Head IT Strategy, PMO and Architecture and then Sulzer in Switzerland in 2013 as Chief Information Officer and Group Digital Leader IT. Most recently, she was Chief Information Officer and Digital Leader for Nokia between 2018 and 2020.

Ursula joined Saint-Gobain in 2021 as Chief Digital and Information Officer.

Ursula Soritsch-Renier

Sreedhar N.

Chief Financial Officer

Sreedhar N. is a qualified Management Accountant who holds a Masters’ degree in Commerce and a Master’s degree in Management from the Nagpur University (India). He joined the group in 1994 as a management accountant in the Abrasives Business in India and later assumed responsibility for its Finance function. In 2003, he moved to Paris and worked in various functions such as Internal Audit and the Group Finance Controlling at Compagnie de Saint-Gobain.

In 2006 he was appointed Finance Director, West Europe, of the Construction Products Sector. In 2008, he returned to India as the General Manager of the Coated Abrasives Business and in 2010, he became  Vice-President, Abrasives India. Since 2015, he has been the Chief Financial Officer of the High-Performance Materials Sector. 

Sreedhar N. has been appointed Chief Financial Officer of the Saint-Gobain group, effective January 1, 2019. 

Antoine VIGNIAL

Group General Counsel, Corporate Secretary

Antoine Vignial, a qualified lawyer, is a graduate of IEP Paris and ESSEC Business School with a post-graduate degree in private law from Université Paris II Panthéon-Assas. He began his career as a lawyer and then partner at Gide Loyrette Nouel before becoming a partner of the Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer law firm in 1999.

He joined Compagnie de Saint-Gobain in 2012 as Group General Counsel, Corporate Secretary and a member of the Executive Committee.

COMEX Team since September 1st, 2023.

Photos copyrights : ©Jean Chiscano.