Rieder Kirstan appointed Vice-President for Business Development Asia
Rieder Kirstan (57) has been appointed Vice-President for Business Development Asia. Rieder is a member of the Group Management Committee and reports directly to Philippe Salle, Chairman and Chief Executive of the Altran group.
After graduating with a Master’s degree in mathematics from the University of Constance, Rieder began his career working in major systems, real-time operating systems and embedded software development. In 1989, he was appointed Project Manager in the avionics department of Cap Gemini AG in Munich, before taking up a variety of positions including that of Managing Director of CMG's Industry department in Germany.
In 2003, Rieder became a Senior Manager with Arthur D. Little's German office and, in 2005 took up the same position at one of Altran's subsidiaries. In January 2009, following the merger of Altran's German subsidiaries, he was appointed Managing Director of Altran Germany and, in 2010, Executive Director of Altran's Automotive, Infrastructure and Transportation Industry (AIT).
As Vice-President for Business Development Asia, Rieder's main focus will be China and India where he will be in charge of providing Altran's clients with support services (made available by the Group's Industries and Solutions network) that are tailored to meet the specific challenges they face in terms of technology and innovation. In addition to offering the Group's European clients global project support, Rieder will also build up Altran’s local presence with a view to accompanying the Group's Chinese clients in the AIT (Automotive, Infrastructure and Transportation) and TEM (Telecoms and Media) industries and in the ECS (Embedded and Critical Systems) sector.
Together with his Chinese management teams, Rieder will develop client proximity and service excellence with a view to stepping up organic growth within the Group. In India, Rieder Kirstan will be working closely with Altran's Chief Technical Officer, Michel Bailly, to deploy the Group's offshore activities.
Sanjay Kumar appointed CEO of Altran India
Sanjay Kumar (47) has been appointed CEO of Altran India. Sanjay joins the Group Management Committee and reports directly to Michel Bailly, Chief Technical Officer of the Altran group.
A graduate in physics from the University of Delhi, Sanjay also holds an MBA from IRMA (The Institute of Rural Management Anand, Gujarat, India). Before joining Altran, Sanjay acquired a solid experience in the creation of new companies and the development of existing ones.
For over 18 years, Sanjay worked for the Royal Dutch Shell group where he held a variety of positions in Europe and Asia. In India, he was part of the team that set up Royal Dutch Shell's joint-venture then went on to develop Shell’s bitumen market in India. At the international level, he was in charge of turning around the oil company’s retail-sales business in 13 Asia/Pacific countries, including China. He also played a key role in launching several targeted consumer-initiative programmes in Germany, Greece and Turkey designed to boost the lubricant retail-sales business in Europe. Upon his return to India in 2007, Sanjay Kumar helped set up Shell's Aviation joint-venture in Bangalore (India), then moved to Chennai to launch a Business Intelligence and Strategic Consulting unit.
Sanjay Kumar is now in charge of the next development phase programmed for Altran India, in accordance with the Strategic Plan initiated by Philippe Salle.
David Nicolas appointed CEO of Altran China and Southeast Asia
David Nicolas (37) has been appointed CEO of Altran China and Southeast Asia. David is a member of the Group Management Committee and reports directly to Philippe Salle, Chairman and Chief Executive of the Altran group.
After graduating with an engineering degree from the Douai School of Mining (France), David joined the Altran group in 2000 as a commercial engineer. In 2007, he was appointed Deputy Managing Director of MAP, a Paris-based Altran subsidiary specialised in IT-systems quality assurance. Between 2008 and 2010, he oversaw the merger of several Altran IT-systems subsidiaries in Paris. In 2009, he was involved in the creation of Altran's business solutions and also took charge of managing the Group's Northern European zone.
At the beginning of 2011, David was appointed Managing Director of Global Delivery (China, India and Offshore). David's time is spent between Paris, other European sites, Bangalore and Shanghai, with a view to enhancing the performances of the Group's subsidiaries in India and China and implementing a sustainable growth strategy.
In his new position, David's focus will be on developing Group activities in China in accordance with the Strategic Plan put in place by Philippe Salle.
