Gérald KARSENTI
Honoris Causa Affiliate Professor
Biography
Gérald Karsenti was appointed Managing Director of HP France on July 1st 2011 and is also Vice President HP Enterprise Group France. Gérald is in charge of directing activities related to a wide portfolio that spans IT infrastructure, software and services. Furthermore, he is responsible for the development of the company’s activity and growth in France.
Gérald joined HP France in 2007 as Vice-President and Sales Manager for Enterprise Business, where he conducted the transformation of the business, obtaining outstanding and notorious success in terms of growth and increase in market share.
Before joining HP, Gérald was President of Capgemini's Services subsidiary and then went on to become Deputy Director of Sogeti France. He also worked for almost 18 years at IBM, where he held numerous vice president positions within different units, especially at the top of the “IBM Software group”. His professional path led him to hold international positions in Russia, Japan, the United States and the EMEA region.
Gérald graduated from Sciences Po Paris, and obtained a specialized Master at HEC Paris School of Management, a diploma from Oxford University and a Masters in Finance. He wrote several books, the last one is entitled “The Business Model of Services” and was published by the “Editions d’Organisation” in November 2010. In addition to the roles mentioned above, Gerald is also Affiliate Professor at HEC Paris where he teaches leadership and corporate transformation.
Gérald was nominated for the award of Leader of the Year (2013) by “Le Cercle du Leadership” in partnership with the magazine “Management” and the French TV channel TF1/LCI.
In July 2013, Gérald was made a Knight in France’s National Order of the Legion of Honor in the Department of Higher Education and Research.
Since September 2014, Gérald is President of “Le Cercle du Leadership”, a group which gathers leaders from large companies who are willing to promote innovative actions and vision in terms of management and leadership.
As a member of the “Le Cercle” which gathers managing directors of international companies with subsidiaries in France, he is one of the sponsors and speakers of “Les Etats de la France” a think tank around France’s attractiveness.