When Hinda Gharbi took the helm of Bureau Veritas in 2023, she entered a rare circle of women leading major global corporations. Born in Tunis in 1970, her story is one of persistence, adaptability, and transformation — the portrait of an engineer who evolved into a strategist capable of navigating both the industrial and human dimensions of leadership.
Her journey began far from executive offices. After winning a scholarship that brought her from Tunisia to France, she studied electrical engineering at the École nationale supérieure d’ingénieurs électriciens de Grenoble (ENSIEG) before completing a Master of Science in signal processing. That combination of rigorous training and curiosity for applied science would shape her approach to management: analytical, structured, but always grounded in real-world impact.
Gharbi’s first professional chapter unfolded within Schlumberger, the world’s largest oilfield services company. Joining in 1996, she started on offshore drilling sites in the Gulf of Guinea — an environment where technical precision and teamwork could mean the difference between success and disaster. Over two decades, she built a reputation as a leader able to blend engineering acumen with cross-cultural sensitivity. She managed operations in Asia-Pacific from Bangkok, oversaw human resources in London, and joined the group’s executive committee, steadily moving from fieldwork to global strategy.
In 2022, she made a decisive shift by joining Bureau Veritas, a company operating in more than 140 countries and employing nearly 80,000 people. As Chief Operating Officer, her mission was to modernize processes and strengthen the company’s focus on sustainability and performance. Just a year later, she was appointed CEO — leading a business valued at over €11 billion and recognized for its role in quality control, certification, and risk management. By 2024, with Bureau Veritas entering the CAC 40 index, Gharbi became the fourth woman ever to head a company within France’s premier stock market benchmark.
Her career, however, is not without debate. Critics point to her long tenure in the oil and gas industry, questioning how that aligns with her current advocacy for sustainable growth. Gharbi, however, views her past as an asset rather than a contradiction. Having witnessed firsthand the complexity of global energy systems, she argues for a pragmatic approach — one that combines technological progress with environmental accountability.
Rather than presenting herself as an icon of disruption, Hinda Gharbi embodies the quiet strength of transition: from petroleum to sustainability, from engineering precision to corporate purpose. Her leadership style reflects a belief that transformation is not about breaking with the past but learning from it — a philosophy that may well define the next era of industrial leadership.
Anecdotes
Early in her career on an offshore rig, a colleague doubted her ability to handle the job. Within weeks, she proved herself through skill and determination — a moment she later described as her first real lesson in leadership.
