Bernard Charlès (born 1957) is a

French French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents ** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...

business executive A business executive is a person responsible for running an organization, although the exact nature of the role varies depending on the organization. Executives run companies or government agencies. They create plans to help their organizations g ...

. He is the

chief executive officer A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a central executive officer (CEO), chief administrator officer (CAO) or just chief executive (CE), is one of a number of corporate executives charged with the management of an organization especially ...

and the Chairman of the

board of directors A board of directors (commonly referred simply as the board) is an executive committee that jointly supervises the activities of an organization, which can be either a for-profit or a nonprofit organization such as a business, nonprofit organiz ...

Dassault Systèmes Dassault Systèmes SE () (abbreviated 3DS) is a French software corporation which develops software for 3D product design, simulation, manufacturing and other 3D related products. Founded in 1981, it is headquartered in Vélizy-Villacoublay, Fr ...

, "the 3DEXPERIENCE Company", world leader in 3D design

software Software is a set of computer programs and associated documentation and data. This is in contrast to hardware, from which the system is built and which actually performs the work. At the lowest programming level, executable code consists ...

, 3D digital mock-up and

Product Lifecycle Management In industry, Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) is the process of managing the entire lifecycle of a product from its inception through the engineering, design and manufacture, as well as the service and disposal of manufactured products. PL ...

(PLM) solutions. Charlès is the 13th best-performing CEO in the world according to the

Harvard Business Review ''Harvard Business Review'' (''HBR'') is a general management magazine published by Harvard Business Publishing, a wholly owned subsidiary of Harvard University. ''HBR'' is published six times a year and is headquartered in Brighton, Massach ...

2017 ranking.
The Best-Performing CEOs in the World 2017 In 2018 Dassault Systèmes was named the most sustainable corporation in the world in

the Global 100 The Global 100 Index is an annual ranking of the world's most sustainable corporations. The list is published by Toronto-based media and research company, Corporate Knights (and announced each year during the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switze ...

Most Sustainable Corporations in the World index by

Corporate Knights Corporate Knights is a media and research company based in Toronto, Canada, focused on advancing a sustainable economy. The company publishes an award-winning magazine,  ''Corporate Knights'', and produces global rankings, research reports, a ...

.
The 2018 Global 100 Most Sustainable Corporations in the World index In 2018, he was named one of the "Best CEOs In The World" by the ''CEOWORLD magazine''.

Early life and education

Bernard Charlès was born and grew up in

Brittany Brittany (; french: link=no, Bretagne ; br, Breizh, or ; Gallo language, Gallo: ''Bertaèyn'' ) is a peninsula, Historical region, historical country and cultural area in the west of modern France, covering the western part of what was known ...

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

. He is a graduate from the Ecole Normale Supérieure engineering school in Cachan ( ENS Cachan) and has a

PhD PHD or PhD may refer to: * Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), an academic qualification Entertainment * '' PhD: Phantasy Degree'', a Korean comic series * ''Piled Higher and Deeper'', a web comic * Ph.D. (band), a 1980s British group ** Ph.D. (Ph.D. albu ...

mechanical engineering Mechanical engineering is the study of physical machines that may involve force and movement. It is an engineering branch that combines engineering physics and mathematics principles with materials science, to design, analyze, manufacture, and ...

majoring in

automation engineering Automation engineering has two different meanings: * From a software engineering point of view looking to automate software processes. * From a traditional engineering sense providing automated solutions to physical activities and industries. Aut ...

and

information science Information science (also known as information studies) is an academic field which is primarily concerned with analysis, collection, Categorization, classification, manipulation, storage, information retrieval, retrieval, movement, dissemin ...

. He also holds an

agrégation In France, the ''agrégation'' () is a competitive examination for civil service in the French public education system. Candidates for the examination, or ''agrégatifs'', become ''agrégés'' once they are admitted to the position of ''professe ...

— the most senior teaching qualification achievable in France (specializing in mechanical engineering).
Bernard Charles, Creating the Future, Biography.

Professional career

Bernard Charlès joined Dassault Systèmes in 1983 to develop new design technology – less than two years after the company was created. In 1986 he founded a New Technologies, Research and Strategy department. In 1988 he was named to the position of President of Strategy, Research & Development. In 1989, he initiated the creation of the digital mock-up (DMU), complete virtual 3D modeling, 3D model of a product that replaced physical

prototype A prototype is an early sample, model, or release of a product built to test a concept or process. It is a term used in a variety of contexts, including semantics, design, electronics, and Software prototyping, software programming. A prototyp ...

s. Charlès was appointed president and chief executive officer of Dassault Systèmes in September 1995. In 1996, he became a member of the board of directors. The same year he organized the flotation of Dassault Systèmes on the

stock market A stock market, equity market, or share market is the aggregation of buyers and sellers of stocks (also called shares), which represent ownership claims on businesses; these may include ''securities'' listed on a public stock exchange, as ...

. In 2000, with the idea of Product Lifecycle Management (PLM), he extended the concept of the digital mock-up to the entire lifecycle of a product. In parallel he made a series of acquisitions and brand creation: ENOVIA in 1998, DELMIA in 2000 and

SIMULIA Simulia may refer to: * Simulia (company) Dassault Systèmes Simulia Corp. is a computer-aided engineering (CAE) vendor. Formerly known as Abaqus Inc. and previously Hibbitt, Karlsson & Sorensen, Inc., (HKS), the company was founded in 1978 by ...

in 2005. To reinforce the company's business scope and sales capabilities, he decided to acquire

SolidWorks SolidWorks is a solid modeling computer-aided design (CAD) and computer-aided engineering (CAE) application published by Dassault Systèmes. According to the publisher, over two million engineers and designers at more than 165,000 companies we ...

in 1997, and to gain control of Dassault Systèmes’ entire distribution network, previously managed by IBM. In 2012, with 3DEXPERIENCE, Charlès announced a new vision for the company based on the idea that 3D should also include the

simulation A simulation is the imitation of the operation of a real-world process or system over time. Simulations require the use of Conceptual model, models; the model represents the key characteristics or behaviors of the selected system or proc ...

of the consumer experience. He set a specific purpose to “The 3DEXPERIENCE Company”: “Dassault Systèmes provides business and people with 3DEXPERIENCE universes to imagine sustainable innovations capable of harmonizing product, nature and life.”
Dassault Systèmes Opens New Horizons with 3DEXPERIENCE, February 9, 2012, To support this ambition, he carried on an acquisition (Gemcom
Dassault Systèmes Announces Gemcom Software International Transaction Completed, July 12, 2012. in 2012, Apriso in 2013,
Dassault Systèmes Completes Apriso Acquisition, July 2, 2013. RTT,
Dassault Systèmes Announces the completion of the acquisition of a 84% controlling interest in Realtime Technology AG, January 14, 2014. Quintiq
Dassault Systèmes Completes Quintiq Acquisition, September 9, 2014. and

Accelrys BIOVIA is a software company headquartered in the United States, with representation in Europe and Asia. It provides software for chemical, materials and bioscience research for the pharmaceutical, biotechnology, consumer packaged goods, aerospa ...

Dassault Systèmes Successfully Completes Tender Offer for Accelrys, April 29, 2014. in 2014) and diversification strategy with 3DSWYM for

social innovation Social innovations are new social practices that aim to meet social needs in a better way than the existing solutions,Howaldt, J./ Schwarz, M"Social Innovation: Concepts, research fields and international trends" IMO international monitoring, 2010 ...

EXALEAD EXALEAD is a software company, created in 2000, that provided search platforms and search-based applications (SBA) for consumer and business users. The company is headquartered in Paris, France, and is a subsidiary of Dassault Systèmes (). C ...

and

NETVIBES Netvibes is a French company that offers web services. History The company was founded by Tariq Krim and Florent Frémont in 2005. In August 2006, Netvibes closed a funding round of €12 million led by Accel Partners in London along with Index V ...

for data intelligence, GEOVIA in the

Natural Resources Natural resources are resources that are drawn from nature and used with few modifications. This includes the sources of valued characteristics such as commercial and industrial use, aesthetic value, scientific interest and cultural value. O ...

sector, 3DVIA for a B2C approach, BIOVIA
Dassault Systèmes Introduces BIOVIA; Combines Accelrys and BioPLM, Powered by the 3DEXPERIENCE Platform, May 21, 2014. for virtual

biosphere The biosphere (from Greek βίος ''bíos'' "life" and σφαῖρα ''sphaira'' "sphere"), also known as the ecosphere (from Greek οἶκος ''oîkos'' "environment" and σφαῖρα), is the worldwide sum of all ecosystems. It can also be ...

and materials, and 3DEXCITE
RTT Becomes 3DEXCITE, Dassault Systèmes’ Brand to Power Marketing in the Age of Experience, May 15, 2014. for real-time, high-end visualizations. In May 2016, he was named vice-president of the board of directors of Dassault Systèmes, of which he had become member in 1993. Since May 2015, Bernard Charlès has been co-leading the French

government A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a state. In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive, and judiciary. Government is a ...

project “Industry of the Future”. This alliance is a group of technology companies, professional associations and academic partners whose mission is to promote the French government's program to digitally transform

industry Industry may refer to: Economics * Industry (economics), a generally categorized branch of economic activity * Industry (manufacturing), a specific branch of economic activity, typically in factories with machinery * The wider industrial sector ...

in France.
Dassault Systèmes Co-Leads the French Government Project “Industry of the Future”, May 20, 2015. He is the Honorary Chairman of La Fondation Dassault Systèmes that helps research and academic institutions leverage the power of 3D virtual worlds to stretch the limits of knowledge.
La Fondation Dassault Systèmes Charlès was elected a member of the

National Academy of Engineering The National Academy of Engineering (NAE) is an American nonprofit, non-governmental organization. The National Academy of Engineering is part of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, along with the National Academy ...

in 2017 for leadership in providing major software tools for simulation-based engineering.

Honors

Bernard Charlès holds the knight of Commander in the French

Legion of Honour The National Order of the Legion of Honour (french: Ordre national de la Légion d'honneur), formerly the Royal Order of the Legion of Honour ('), is the highest French order of merit, both military and civil. Established in 1802 by Napoleon, ...

(French) Décret du 6 avril 2012 portant promotion et nomination à titre exceptionnel, Journal Officiel, April 8, 2012. and is a member of the French Academy of Technologies, National Academy of Technologies of France.
Members of the Academy of Technologies. He is a foreign member of the US National Academy of Engineering.
Members of the NAE

References

External links

Biography

Dassault’s modest proposal: Change the way we make everything, January 25, 2016

Rethink Innovation! We are in the Experience Economy, Keynote lecture at CeBIT Global Conferences, March 16, 2015

The Experience Economy is Changing Everything about the Way We Do Business, Executive Insight, Prime Magazine, Autumn 2014

Inside a Beating Silicon Heart, Forbes, January 20, 2014

Dassault Systèmes: a Story of Excellence, Interview with TV5Monde channel for the reception of the French Excellence prize, Subtitled in English, 2012

* ttps://www.nytimes.com/2006/01/06/business/worldbusiness/06iht-wbspot07.html?_r=0 Spotlight: A Frenchman with virtual passion, The New York Times, January 6, 2006 {{DEFAULTSORT:Charles, Bernard French businesspeople Living people Dassault Group 1957 births