Executive Biographies
Pierre Liautaud
Pierre Liautaud
Vice President,
Western Europe
Pierre Liautaud is vice president of Microsoft Western Europe and oversees operations in Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Sweden and Switzerland. In this role, Liautaud is responsible for working with country general managers to orchestrate the region’s business vision while furthering its corporate citizenship agenda.
Microsoft takes its role as a responsible business partner to local communities very seriously, as demonstrated through its active involvement in community outreach programmes such as Unlimited Potential and Partners in Learning. Through the Microsoft 21st Century Skills initiative, the company’s goal is to provide ICT skills training to 20 million people in Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA) by 2010. These efforts are already reaching women on both sides of the religious divide in Belfast; supporting literacy and skills training for immigrants in Amsterdam and the homeless in Vienna; connecting senior citizens throughout Scandinavia; and helping people with disabilities in Italy, Spain and Switzerland.
During his career, Liautaud held a number of leadership positions including vice president of Microsoft’s Enterprise and Partner Group in EMEA, CEO of @viso, a leading European incubator, the brainchild of Vivendi Universal and Softbank Corporation, and vice president of Marketing, IBM Corp. Additionally, during Liautaud’s 17-year tenure at IBM, he served in key assignments, ranging from executive assistant to Louis V Gerstner, then IBM CEO, and general manager of Global Electronics Industries.
Liautaud holds masters degrees from the École polytechnique and the École nationale supérieure des télécommunications — both in Paris, France.
