Kiala founders and management team

Founders


 Denis Payre
Co-founder and president of Kiala
  • Denis Payre is one of the two entrepreneurs 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, with his associate, "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
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 Management


 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
VP Marketing & New Countries Development
  • 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.

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-Michele 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.
Christian Colombe
Director of Network
  • French nationality.
  • Commercial engineer graduate IDRAC, Lyon (France).
  • GIE in the Eyewear industry: 4 years of sales, key account manager & sales manager in a retail environment.
  • Dyneff Petroleum: 3 years in charge of one of the French branch team serving B2C, B2B and B2Retail customers.
  • Consultant: 1 year in charge of the Kiala pre-launch survey conducted in Europe & the USA.
  • Joined Kiala as the first employee beginning of 2000.

Local Management


 Nicolas Prouteau
General Director Kiala France
  • French nationality
  • Engineer graduate from Télécom ParisTech
    M.B.A. INSEAD
  • Claranet France: CEO - 7 years. Managed application hosting and internet network services.
  • World Online / Tiscali: General Management - 4 years.
  • Bouygues Telecom / Neuf Telecom: Strategy and external affairs Management - 2 years.
  • EADS Astrium: Telecom satellites Management. Strategy Management - 7 years.
  • Joined Kiala in August 2011.

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.