Bernard Charlès (born 1957) is a French

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 gr ...

. He is the

chief executive officer A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a chief executive or managing director, is the top-ranking corporate officer charged with the management of an organization, usually a company or a nonprofit organization. CEOs find roles in variou ...

and the Chairman of the

board of directors A board of directors is a governing body that supervises the activities of a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government agency. The powers, duties, and responsibilities of a board of directors are determined by government regulatio ...

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

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

software Software consists of computer programs that instruct the Execution (computing), execution of a computer. Software also includes design documents and specifications. The history of software is closely tied to the development of digital comput ...

, 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. ...

(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 not-for-profit, independent corporation that is an affiliate of Harvard Business School. ''HBR'' is published six times a year ...

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 a magazine,  ''Corporate Knights'', and produces global rankings, research reports, and financial pr ...

.
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 ( ) is a peninsula, historical country and cultural area in the north-west of modern France, covering the western part of what was known as Armorica in Roman Gaul. It became an Kingdom of Brittany, independent kingdom and then a Duch ...

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

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

PhD A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, DPhil; or ) is a terminal degree that usually denotes the highest level of academic achievement in a given discipline and is awarded following a course of graduate study and original research. The name of the deg ...

mechanical engineering Mechanical engineering is the study of physical machines and mechanism (engineering), mechanisms that may involve force and movement. It is an engineering branch that combines engineering physics and engineering mathematics, mathematics principl ...

majoring in automation engineering and information science. He also holds an

agrégation In France, the () is the most competitive and prestigious examination for civil service in the French public education A state school, public school, or government school is a primary school, primary or secondary school that educates all stu ...

— 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 prototype ...

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 a ...

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

SolidWorks SolidWorks (stylized as SOLIDWORKS) is a brand of software used for solid modeling computer-aided design (CAD) and computer-aided engineering (CAE). It was one of the first 3D CAD applications designed to run on a desktop PC. The brand is owned ...

in 1997, and to gain control of Dassault Systèmes’ entire distribution network, previously managed by

IBM International Business Machines Corporation (using the trademark IBM), nicknamed Big Blue, is an American Multinational corporation, multinational technology company headquartered in Armonk, New York, and present in over 175 countries. It is ...

. 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 an imitative representation of a process or system that could exist in the real world. In this broad sense, simulation can often be used interchangeably with model. Sometimes a clear distinction between the two terms is made, in ...

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 Quintiq is a planning, scheduling and Supply chain optimization, supply chain optimisation software solution originally developed by Quintiq B.V. in the Netherlands. The software is headquartered in 's-Hertogenbosch. Since the integration into the ...

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, EXALEAD and

NETVIBES Netvibes is a French subsidiary of Dassault Group that previously ran a World Wide Web, web service offering a Dashboard (computing), dashboard and feed reader. History 2005–2012 Founded in 2005 by Tariq Krim, the company provided software f ...

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. ...

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 (), also called the ecosphere (), is the worldwide sum of all ecosystems. It can also be termed the zone of life on the Earth. The biosphere (which is technically a spherical shell) is virtually a closed system with regard to mat ...

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 (polity), state. In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive (government), execu ...

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.
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 organization, nonprofit, NGO, non-governmental organization. It is part of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (NASEM), along with the National Academ ...

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 ( ), formerly the Imperial Order of the Legion of Honour (), is the highest and most prestigious French national order of merit, both military and Civil society, civil. Currently consisting of five cl ...

(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

Gallery

Bernard Charlès at ESTIA (11-10-2024) 01.png, Bernard Charlès in conference at

ESTIA Institute of Technology The École Supérieure des Technologies Industrielles Avancées (ESTIA), translated as "Institute of Advanced Industrial Technologies", is a French engineering and research graduate school ( Grande Ecole). Founded in 1996, it is a general enginee ...

(10-11-2024)

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 Dassault Systèmes