Executive Board

Olivier Leteurtre is the CEO of the AutoForm Group. He is an alumni of INSEAD and holds a degree in Mechanical Engineering as well as an MBA. With more than 15 years of international experience, he has held various executive positions in leading software companies located in Europe, Asia and USA. Prior to joining the AutoForm Group, Olivier Leteurtre was the Managing Director of Dassault Systèmes EUROWEST (France, Iberia, North Africa and the Middle East) for 10 years. Before his position at Dassault Systèmes, he was Executive Vice President and Executive Board Member at Tecnomatix/Siemens PLM. Through his career he has gained deep knowledge and extensive expertise in the automotive, aerospace as well as other manufacturing industries. In his position as CEO, he is responsible for expanding the worldwide development of AutoForm in the field of sheet metal forming within various industries.

Christian Burgherr has been the CFO of AutoForm since 2019. He holds a master’s degree in Business and Economics and is a Swiss certified public accountant. His primary responsibility is the management of the Group’s finances. Furthermore, he is in charge of the IT department and the general administration department. Christian Burgherr joined AutoForm from Ernst & Young, where he advised clients on M&A, corporate finance and financial accounting and reporting.

Dr. Markus Thomma has been the CMO of the AutoForm Group since 2003. He holds a Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering as well as an MBA. Upon completion of his research work at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH) Zurich, he became a project manager at Advaltech, a leading Swiss supplier of stamping and forming technology to the automotive industry. After setting up a subsidiary in the USA, Dr. Thomma worked as Head of Research and Development and finally as Managing Director of Technology with overall responsibility for the tooling and special machinery business unit. Dr. Markus Thomma has been with AutoForm since 2003 and is in charge of the global, strategic and operative marketing, product management as well as intellectual property and software compliance.

François Michel is the Chief Revenue Officer of the AutoForm Group. He holds a master’s degree in Mechanical Engineering from UTBM, France. François started his career at Bertrandt AG, a German engineering services provider, where he developed his strong customer focus. He then joined the Swedish bearing market leader SKF, to head the business development team for the Powertrain & Steering division. In this role, his capability to work across cultures was key. François entered the CAE simulation industry in 2008 by taking a position at Romax Technology Ltd. He was responsible for developing sales for this global market leader in transmission and driveline analysis. In 2020, he joined the AutoForm Group. In his position, François Michel is responsible for the transformation and development of AutoForm’s global sales operations.

Matthias Pietsch is the R&D Director of the AutoForm Group. He holds a master’s degree in Software Engineering from TFH Berlin. Before joining AutoForm in 2003, he worked at inpro as head of the virtual prototyping department. With his experience in CAD/CAE applications in the fields of sheet metal forming and BiW assembly processes, he began at AutoForm by building up an international team of developers dedicated to these fields. Over the years, he has held different positions at AutoForm, including development manager and product director, and was responsible for the business development of AutoForm’s CAD-embedded products as well as for the overall system architecture. In 2020, he assumed the position of R&D Director in which he maintains a strong focus on agile transformation and the development of new and advanced CAD/CAE applications.

Dr. Bart Carleer has been the Corporate Technical Director of AutoForm since 2008. He holds a Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering and, within the context of his dissertation, focused on the application of forming simulation for deep drawing. Before coming to AutoForm in 2003, he worked at steel and aluminum manufacturer Corus for over five years, with his last position as department head for sheet metal and hydroforming at Corus Research, Development and Technology. At AutoForm, he is responsible for the technical supervision of AutoForm products as well as training, support and technical product management.

Daniela de Capitani has been the Corporate HR and Legal Director of AutoForm since 2010. She is an attorney and also holds an Executive MBA from the University of St Gallen. After several years in various Zurich courts, she worked in the legal department of UBS AG in Zurich and New York. In 2001 she moved to the IT sector, first to Sun Microsystems (Switzerland) AG as Legal Counsel and member of the Board of Management, and then to IBM Research Lab in Rueschlikon. In 2006, Daniela de Capitani assumed responsibility for the legal affairs of the AutoForm Group as Legal Counsel and since 2010 she has also been Head of HR.

Dr. Waldemar Kubli is the Founder and Advisory Board Member of the AutoForm Group. He holds a Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering as well as a postgraduate degree in Business Administration. In the early nineties, Dr. Kubli led a project at the Institute of Metal Forming at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH) Zurich to develop a prototype of a new solver for forming simulation. This project was carried out in collaboration with industry partners Audi, Alusuisse (today Novelis) and Hoesch (today a part of thyssenkrupp Steel). The subject of his doctoral thesis at the ETH Zurich was the theoretical principles for the solver code, which later served as the basis for the original version of AutoForm software. In 1995, Dr. Kubli founded the AutoForm Group and led the company as its CEO. As a result of AutoForm’s great success, he was named Entrepreneur of the Year in 2002.