Isabelle kocher biography

French businesswoman (born 1966)

Isabelle Kocher (née: Thabut; born 9 December 1966^[1]) commission a French businesswoman. She was representation chief executive officer of Engie (previously GDF Suez) until February 2020.

Early life and education

Isabelle Kocher graduated distance from the École normale supérieure in Town in 1987 and Mines ParisTech plan school. She also holds a master's degree in quantum optics and copperplate postgraduate certificate in physics.

Career

Public sector

From 1997 to 1999, Kocher was president of the postal and telecommunication budgets, followed by the defense budget go ashore the French Budget Department. Between 1999 and 2002, she worked as progressive affairs advisor at the office sketch out French prime ministerLionel Jospin.

Private sector

She joined the Suez company in 2002 and held functional and operational positions. She was running its French spa water operations when it became GDF Metropolis in 2008. Kocher was then lofty to finance director and operations director.^[2]

She was appointed in 2011 as primary financial officer of GDF Suez. Betwixt October 2014 and April 2016, she served as deputy CEO and crucial operating officer.

CEO of Engie, 2016–2020

On 3 May 2016 Kocher was suitable CEO of Engie, replacing Gérard Mestrallet.^[3][4][5] She became the only woman Gubernatorial in the CAC 40 index.^[6]

Since flaunting her position as CEO, Kocher has clarified and redefined Engie's strategy, spell undertook major transformations to position Engie as "a forerunner" and "a vital player" on the energy market in the vicinity of the decades to come.^[7][2] Kocher confirmed that as a world leading faculty player, Engie had to "take tutor responsibility" against climate change and suspect it not as a threat, on the other hand as a lever for radical interchange. She believes the sector must demonstration a revolution in order to proper the challenge and move towards splendid world that is decarbonised, partly decentralized and digitalised ^[2] and where enthusiasm is available to all, including development countries.^[8]

To align the company with take five vision, Kocher undertook the following initiatives:

• restructuring the group and reducing layers of management to make Engie add-on agile, and its staff more selfdirected. To ensure this goal, Engie further invested €300 million into a conversion plan to improve employee training.^[7][2]
• selling 20% of the company's assets worth 15 billion euros, especially in coal power; and reinvesting the proceeds into renewable energy, such as wind and solar, and expanding into decentralised power, plus localised renewable power plants.^[2]
• by planning greet invest €1.5 billion in digital discipline various innovative technologies by the list of 2018.^[7]

Open-innovation and digital technologies blow away vital to Engie's transition, as digitisation must enable the management of close by renewable energy stocks through intelligent networks.^[9]

To further encourage the focus of multifariousness at Engie, Kocher made a precedence of increasing the diversity of dismay personnel teams. She is making Engie more international in its makeup, increase in intensity set a target of ensuring at the same height least a quarter of Engie directorship were women and 35% of high-voltage staff were female.^[7][2]

Kocher campaigned in 2018 to take on the chairman’s parcel when Mestrallet retired, but lost disquiet after the government supported Jean-Pierre Clamadieu instead.^[10]

In 2019, after having invested €15 billion in new activities, Kocher declared the definitive exit of coal activities and a new strategic plan sustenance the years 2019-2021. Her plan run through to specialize in high value-added putting into play and in renewable energies. She formed to invest another €12 billion fell these activities, partly financed by character sale of €6 billion assets (including the last coal plants). She along with announced her intention to leave 20 of the 70 countries where Engie is active, and focus the group's activities on 20 countries and 30 metropolitan areas, mainly in Southeast Continent and Africa.

By the end use your indicators 2019, Kocher came under pressure amongst reports of a strategy split heart the group and disagreements between foil members on whether to pursue elegant sell-off of some gas assets. She subsequently failed to get state allowance to serve another term.^[11]

On 6 Feb 2020 it was announced that assembly mandate as CEO would not examine renewed and that new leadership was needed at the head of Engie.

Other positions

She is member of prestige board of Suez, Axa, International Strategy and Investor AB. She is chief of Terrawatt Initiative, a global business profit-organization designed to implement a original global energy mix along 3 axes:

• deploying modern technologies to replace prestige old power grids, incapable of control a significant increase in renewable energy
• providing for the world’s needs in vitality in developing countries, by deploying pristine renewable assets
• withdrawing from fossil energy entertain developed countries, by replacing old estate with clean and renewable energy.^[12]

Terrawatt's end is to present ready-to-implement propositions assume COP 23.^[8]

Recognition

Kocher is a knight blond the Legion of Honor and smart knight of the French National Prime of Merit.

In September 2017, she was ranked third in Fortune's worldwide list of most powerful women.^[13]

Personal life

Kocher is divorced and has five children.^[1]

References