Our people | Kiala

Our founders

Denis Payre

Denis Payre Co-founder and president of Kiala, Denis Payre is one of the two people behind the successful software company Business Objects, created in 1990. Co-founder and COO for 7 years, he increased sales to 100 million euros, doubling revenues for five consecutive years. He was responsible of the global operations and marketing, representing 80% of the workforce. He set up a multinational company represented in 60 countries and world leader in the Business Intelligence space, reaching a market capitalization of 1 billion euros. Business Objects was the first European software company to be listed on the American NASDAQ, where it enjoyed the most successful public offering of 1994.
Denis Payre was named "Entrepreneur of the Year" by Business Week, US edition, in 1996. He has also set up an association of growth entrepreneurs called Croissance Plus in Paris and is the Vice-President of Growth Plus in Brussels. After launching Kiala, Denis Payre was listed twice on the top 25 list of technology and innovation leaders in Europe together with Hasso Plattner of SAP and Jorma Ollila of Nokia.

Marc Fourrier

Marc Fourrier Co-founder of Kiala. He co-founded several consulting firms in IT and supply chain management, including Eurosept Associates, which he sold to EDS, and Cleversys, which he sold to Kurt Salmon & Associates. He currently works as a venture capital investor on a personal basis through his company Delphis. He is also the co-founder and board member of technology companies Ilog and Wavecom, both listed on the American NASDAQ.

Corporate

Corporate Management team

	Daniel Lievens, VP IT & Organization Belgian nationality. Commercial engineer graduate KUL, Belgium. Siemens: Consultant on internal process and IT, in Belgium / Germany - 3 years. Worked on ERP implementation and operations/logistics optimizations. Arthur Andersen: Manager - 6 years. Focused on information strategy planning, knowledge management and e-business services. Joined Kiala in July 2000.
	Luc Pirenne, Director new countries UK/Spain/Austria. Corporate Marketing Director Belgian nationality. Commercial engineer graduate, ICHEC, Belgium. Procter & Gamble: Senior marketing position - 6 years. Brand manager for P&G biggest brand Pampers, Pantene Pro-V, Bounty. Set up strategic marketing Partnerships with retailers Carrefour and Delhaize. Joined Kiala in March 2001.
	Yves Humbert, Chief Operating Officer (COO) French nationality. Graduate from Ecole Centrale de Paris in Nuclear Engineering. Accenture: Partner, specializing in the Communication and High-Tech industries; led numerous management consulting and process reengineering projects in areas including Customer Relationship Management, Supply Chain Management and Finance; 21 years. Joined Kiala in February 2006.
	Jean-Marie Arnould, Chief Financial Officer (CFO) Belgian nationality. MBA graduate from University of South Carolina. Manugistics, inc. – 4 years: VP Finance EMEA. Participated in the re-engineering and the restructuring of the European operations, going from a direct to an indirect model and from a country-specific to a centralized pooling of resources. Implemented a pan-European accounting system. General Electric & co – 5 years: Finance Director GE Power Controls Benelux (200 m Euro turnover for 25000 SKU’s). Met quarterly targets in terms of cashflow and operating margin every quarter during his tenure. Joined Kiala in May 2006.
	Ann-Michèle Verheyden, General Counsel & HR Director Belgian Nationality Law Graduate ULB, Belgium – LLM Cambridge Brussels Bar: 8 years with International Law Firms. Specialised in Corporate Law (M&A) and Contracts Law. Hong Kong Bar: registered as Foreign Lawyer in 2000 - 2001 Joined Kiala in March 2004 Belgian nationality.

Local Management team

	Philippe Delaide, Country Manager France French Nationality. Commercial engineer graduate, ESC Rouen – IEP Paris. Accenture: 19 years – 10 years as Partner. Member of the France and Benelux Executive Committee within the Communications, Media and High Tech Industry. Client Partner of key Telecommunications Accounts. Led several large Systems Integration and Process Transformation programs in the Customer Service, Billing and Supply Chain Management areas. Joined Kiala in December 2006.
	Pablo Ramos, Country Manager Spain Spanish Nationality. Diploma in Business Administration, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid. CPIM (Certified in Production and Inventory Management) by APICS (American Production and Inventory Control Society). 10 years of experience at Accenture, 4 of them as a Manager, specialized in systems integration and reengineering projects of the Supply Chain, covering the functional areas of demand planning, MRP, manufacturing, subcontracting, purchasing, warehouse and inventory management and distribution. Working for telecom, chemical and aerospace industry clients. Joined Kiala in April 2007.
	Peter Henderickx, General Director Benelux Belgian nationality. Civil engineer (MSc) in electricity, UCL - Louvain-la-Neuve & Post-graduate in applied economics, KUL – Leuven. Accenture: Experienced manager in supply chain – 7 years. Worked on logistics improvement projects for clients like OPG, Electrabel, Usinor, Mobistar, Glaverbel, … Van Looy Group: Founder of 3logX and BU manager supply chain consulting – 3 years. Responsible for the supply chain consulting business unit. Worked on logistics improvement projects for clients like Makro/Metro, BASF, Panasonic, … Flightcare Belgium: Director cargo handling – 3 years. End responsibility (P&L;) for all activities (strategy, operations, business development, quality and projects) of the cargo division in Belgium (240 heads, 140.000 Tons/year). Joined Kiala in January 2008.
	Michael Zakoucz, Country Manager Austria Austrian nationality. Nestlé – 11 years - head of Marketing, Sales and PR Grundig – 5 years - head of Marketing and Sales Austrian Post - 4 years - Marketing Director TNT Innight – 2 years - Head of Marketing and Sales