Anne Bouverot (born 21 March 1966) is a French business executive, engineer, AI researcher, and a philanthropist.

Education

Anne Bouverot attended the Ecole Normale Supérieure in

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

where she studied computer science leading to an M.S. (1985) and later a Ph.D in artificial intelligence (in 1991). She also graduated with a degree in telecommunications from Telecom ParisTech.

Career

In the early 1990s, Bouverot worked as IT project manager for

Telmex Telmex is a Mexican telecommunications company headquartered in Mexico City that provides telecommunications products and services in Mexico. Telmex is still the dominant fixed-line phone carrier in Mexico. In addition to traditional fixed-line ...

in Mexico. From 1996, she worked for the U.S. company Global One until 2002 when she was appointed vice president at

Equant Equant (or punctum aequans) is a mathematical concept developed by Claudius Ptolemy in the 2nd century AD to account for the observed motion of the planets. The equant is used to explain the observed speed change in different stages of the plane ...

's IT services unit. She worked at Orange for more than 19 years in different positions. In 2004, she was chief of staff to the CEO of Orange in the UK, returning to Paris in 2007 to work on international business development with assignments in Kenya, Armenia, Tunisian and Portugal. She then became executive vice president, mobile services, for France Télécom Orange. In 2011, she replaced Rob Conway and was appointed CEO and board member of GSMA, the global association of mobile operators. While she was with GSMA, Bouverot promoted initiatives for attracting more women to work in the mobile and ICT sectors, launching the Connected Women programme which hosts events around the world. She has also been instrumental in organizing the GSMA's

Mobile World Congress MWC Barcelona (formerly but still commonly referred to as Mobile World Congress) is an annual trade show organised by GSMA, dedicated primarily to the mobile communications industry. The event is held in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain at the Fir ...

Barcelona Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within ci ...

. Held each year, the event attracts prominent speakers from the mobile and related fields. In August 2015, she joined as Chair and CEO, Morpho (subsequently renamed Safran Identity & Security), a company providing biometrics and cryptography solutions for governments and businesses, with 8,600 people in 55 countries and €2B in revenue. Morpho was acquired by Advent International at the end of 2017 and renamed Idemia. In 2018, to reconcile interest in science and technology with a desire to contribute to a fairer society, Anne Bouverot and Tanya Perelmuter co-founded Fondation Abeona. Abeona promotes responsible approach to AI and studies its impact on society. The foundation created the AI and Social Justice Chair at ENS whose first guest was Dr. Kate Crawford, professor at New York University and co-founder of the AI Now Institute. And it also launched, in partnership with OpenClassrooms and Institut Montaigne, «DestinationAI», a MOOC on risks and opportunities of AI, already followed by more than 300,000 people. In March 2024, Bouverot and an economist

Philippe Aghion Philippe Mario Aghion FBA (born 17 August 1956) is a French economist who is a professor at College de France, at INSEAD, and at the London School of Economics. He is also teaching at the Paris School of Economics. Philippe Aghion was formerly th ...

presented to the president of France

Emmanuel Macron Emmanuel Macron (; born 21 December 1977) is a French politician who has served as President of France since 2017. ''Ex officio'', he is also one of the two Co-Princes of Andorra. Prior to his presidency, Macron served as Minister of Econ ...

their report on AI technologies and how they could be turned into an engine of the country's economy. On March 29, 2024, Bouverot was asked by Macron to organise world's nex
AI Action Summit.

Other activities

*In July 2022, she was appointed the Chair of the Board of Ecole Normale Supérieure. *She co-chairs, alongside Philippe Aghion, th
Committee on Generative Artificial Intelligence
established by Prime Minister Élisabeth Borne. *In February 2023, Bouverot became President of

Series Mania Series Mania (french: Festival Séries Mania) is an international festival dedicated to television series, held annually in Lille, France. It is the largest TV series event in Europe and an important premiere platform. ''Series Mania'' comprises ...

, the biggest event dedicated uniquely to TV and streaming series in Europe. * She is the Chair of the board of directors of Cellnex, Europe’s leading operator of telecommunications infrastructure, since March 2023, having been a Board member (since 2018). *On January 4, 2021, she was appointed to the Board of Directors of Thomson Reuters Founders Share Company. *She is the Chair of Technicolor Creative Studios, a company specialized in visual effects and animation services for entertainment, media, and advertising (since 2019). *She was a director of Edenred (2010-2021) and Capgemini (2013-2021), she also joined in 2019 the Board of Directors of Ledger, a unicorn and member of the Next 40. *She has been a senior advisor for TowerBrook Capital Partner since 2018.

Decorations

Anne Bouverot was made Knight of the National Order of Merit and Officer of the Legion of Honor (France).

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bouverot, Anne 1966 births Living people 20th-century French businesswomen 20th-century French businesspeople French business executives French people of Canadian descent French people of Hungarian descent École Normale Supérieure alumni Télécom Paris alumni 21st-century French businesswomen 21st-century French businesspeople