Benoît Potier

Benoît Potier
Benoît Potier
Born	3 9, 1957
Birthplace	Mulhouse, France
Nationality	French
Occupation	Chairman of Air Liquide
Title	Chairman of the Board of Directors
Employer	Air Liquide
Known for	Leading Air Liquide as CEO (2001–2022) and Chairman; advocacy for hydrogen economy
Education	École Centrale Paris; INSEAD

Benoît Potier (Template:IPA-fr; born 3 September 1957) is a French industrialist and corporate leader who has shaped the trajectory of Air Liquide, the French multinational industrial gas company, over the course of more than two decades at its helm. Potier served as Chief Executive Officer of Air Liquide from 2001 to 2022, during which time he oversaw a significant expansion of the company's global operations and positioned it as a major player in the transition toward clean energy, particularly through investments in hydrogen technologies. Since June 2022, he has served as Chairman of the Board of Directors of Air Liquide, following a governance transition that separated the roles of Chairman and CEO. Throughout his career, Potier has held a number of prominent board and advisory positions at international corporations and organizations, including membership in the European Round Table of Industrialists and advisory roles with Temasek Holdings and Siemens. His career at Air Liquide, which began in the mid-1980s, has been closely associated with the company's strategic evolution from a traditional industrial gas supplier into a diversified technology and services group with a growing focus on energy transition and sustainability.

Early Life

Benoît Potier was born on 3 September 1957 in Mulhouse, a city in the Alsace region of eastern France. Mulhouse, historically an important industrial center known for its textile and mechanical engineering industries, provided a backdrop that would later resonate with Potier's career in industrial technology and manufacturing. Details of his family background and childhood have remained largely private, consistent with the discretion typical of senior French business figures.

Potier's early years in Alsace, a region with a distinctive Franco-German cultural heritage, are noted in French press profiles as having contributed to his comfort with international and cross-cultural business environments. This early exposure to a bilingual, industrially oriented region would prove relevant as Potier's career increasingly involved managing operations across multiple countries and continents.

Education

Potier pursued his higher education at two of France's most prominent institutions. He attended the École Centrale Paris (now CentraleSupélec), one of the leading Grandes écoles of engineering in France, where he received an engineering degree. The École Centrale Paris has historically produced many of France's top industrial and business leaders, and its curriculum emphasizes a broad, multidisciplinary approach to engineering and technology management.

Potier subsequently attended INSEAD, the international graduate business school based in Fontainebleau, France, where he earned a Master of Business Administration (MBA). INSEAD's emphasis on global business strategy and international management complemented Potier's engineering training and prepared him for leadership roles in a multinational corporate environment. The combination of an elite engineering education and an MBA from a globally recognized business school is a common pathway among senior executives at major French corporations.

Career

Early Career at Air Liquide

Potier joined Air Liquide in the mid-1980s and progressively rose through the ranks of the company over the following decades. Air Liquide, founded in 1902 by Paul Delorme and Georges Claude, is one of the world's largest suppliers of industrial gases, serving industries including healthcare, electronics, food processing, and energy. Potier's early career within the company involved roles across several operational and strategic functions, giving him broad exposure to the company's diverse business lines and international operations.

His ascent within Air Liquide reflected the company's tradition of promoting leaders with deep institutional knowledge and a thorough understanding of its technical and commercial activities. Over the course of approximately fifteen years, Potier progressed through positions of increasing responsibility, gaining experience in both the operational management of industrial gas production and the strategic direction of the company's business portfolio.

CEO of Air Liquide (2001–2022)

Potier was appointed CEO of Air Liquide in 2001, assuming leadership of a company that at the time was already a major global industrial player but would undergo substantial transformation under his stewardship. His tenure as CEO, which lasted more than two decades until 2022, was one of the longest among leaders of major CAC 40 companies and was marked by several strategic transformations.

Under Potier's leadership, Air Liquide pursued an active strategy of international expansion and diversification. The company strengthened its presence in high-growth markets, particularly in Asia and emerging economies, while also expanding its activities in healthcare and high-technology sectors. Potier oversaw a number of significant acquisitions and capital investments aimed at broadening Air Liquide's geographic footprint and technological capabilities.

One of the defining aspects of Potier's strategic vision during his time as CEO was his early and sustained commitment to hydrogen as a clean energy vector. Long before hydrogen became a mainstream topic in energy policy discussions, Potier positioned Air Liquide as a leader in hydrogen production, distribution, and technology development. This strategic bet was characterized by French media as a long-term conviction that set Potier apart from many of his peers in the industrial sector. Le Journal du Dimanche described him as "the man who believed in hydrogen," reflecting the persistence with which he championed the molecule's potential as a key component of the energy transition.

Potier was a co-founder of the Hydrogen Council, a global CEO-led initiative launched in January 2017 at the World Economic Forum in Davos. The Hydrogen Council brought together leading companies from the energy, transport, and industrial sectors to advocate for hydrogen's role in the global energy transition. Air Liquide was among the thirteen founding members of the council, alongside companies such as Alstom, Anglo American, BMW Group, Daimler, Engie, Honda, Hyundai, Kawasaki, Shell, Linde, The Linde Group, and Total. The creation of the Hydrogen Council was a significant milestone in global advocacy for hydrogen technologies, and Potier played a central role in its establishment and early governance.

During Potier's tenure, Air Liquide also placed increasing emphasis on sustainability and climate goals. The company set targets for reducing its carbon emissions and invested in technologies for carbon capture, low-carbon hydrogen production, and energy efficiency across its operations. These initiatives aligned with broader European and global policy trends but also reflected Potier's personal strategic emphasis on positioning Air Liquide at the intersection of industrial performance and environmental responsibility.

In 2022, Air Liquide launched its strategic plan ADVANCE, which was designed to guide the company through 2025. The plan explicitly linked financial performance with extra-financial objectives, including environmental and social targets, representing a formalization of the sustainability-oriented direction that had been developing under Potier's leadership.

Governance Transition and Chairmanship (2022–present)

On 1 December 2021, Air Liquide's Board of Directors announced a planned governance transition. Following the recommendations of its Appointments and Governance Committee, the Board approved a plan under which Potier would step down as CEO and focus exclusively on the role of Chairman of the Board of Directors, effective 1 June 2022. This transition involved the separation of the roles of Chairman and CEO, a governance reform that had been a topic of discussion among French corporate governance advocates for some time.

François Jackow was named as Potier's successor in the role of CEO. Jackow, a long-serving Air Liquide executive, took over the operational leadership of the company while Potier retained strategic oversight and governance responsibilities as Chairman. Le Figaro reported on the transition, noting that Potier was proposed to remain as Chairman under the new governance structure.

In reporting on the succession, gasworld noted that Potier was "bringing the curtain down on more than 20 years of leadership as CEO," underscoring the length and significance of his tenure at the top of one of France's largest industrial companies.

Since assuming the chairmanship, Potier has continued to preside over Air Liquide's Annual General Meetings. He chaired the 2024 Annual General Meeting of Air Liquide Shareholders, held on 30 April 2024 in Paris, in the presence of CEO François Jackow. He also chaired the 2025 Annual General Meeting, held on 6 May 2025 at the Palais des Congrès in Paris.

Air Liquide under the combined leadership of Potier as Chairman and Jackow as CEO has continued to emphasize its dual focus on financial performance and sustainability commitments. In 2025, the company described its business model as "demonstrating its strength and resilience in response to the challenges of multiple transitions" in a rapidly changing world.

Board Memberships and Advisory Roles

Beyond his roles at Air Liquide, Potier has held a number of significant board and advisory positions in the international business community. He served as a member of the European Round Table of Industrialists (ERT), an influential forum of chief executives and chairmen of major European multinational companies that engages with European policy-makers on competitiveness and industrial policy.

Potier served on the Supervisory Board of Siemens, the German industrial and technology conglomerate, adding an international dimension to his governance experience. He also served as a member of the International Advisory Panel of Temasek Holdings, the Singapore-based sovereign wealth fund, reflecting his recognized expertise in global industrial strategy.

In the context of international economic diplomacy, Potier participated in B20 activities as a representative of Air Liquide. The B20 is the official dialogue platform of the business community with the G20 governments.

Potier has also been listed as a director of Air Liquide in Financial Times market data, reflecting the company's prominence among listed European industrial firms.

Additionally, Potier has been noted as a non-executive director of Unilever, the Anglo-Dutch consumer goods multinational. Unilever's 2024 annual report lists him among its board members.

Personal Life

Benoît Potier has maintained a relatively private personal life, consistent with the conventions of senior French business leaders. Public sources provide limited details about his family or personal activities outside of his professional responsibilities. He is known to reside in the Paris area, where Air Liquide is headquartered.

Profiles in the French press, including in La Tribune, have noted Potier's measured and discreet public persona, contrasting with the high profile of some of his peers among the leaders of France's largest listed companies.

Legacy

Benoît Potier's career is closely intertwined with the modern history of Air Liquide. His more than two decades as CEO represent one of the longest tenures at the helm of a CAC 40 company and coincided with a period of substantial growth, international expansion, and strategic reorientation for the firm. Under his leadership, Air Liquide evolved from a company primarily focused on traditional industrial gas supply into a diversified group with growing activities in healthcare, electronics, and energy transition technologies.

Potier's most distinctive strategic legacy is his early and sustained championing of hydrogen as a clean energy vector. At a time when hydrogen was a niche interest among energy strategists, Potier invested company resources in hydrogen production infrastructure, distribution networks, and research. His co-founding of the Hydrogen Council in 2017 helped place hydrogen on the global energy agenda and brought together a coalition of major industrial and energy companies to advocate for its adoption. As governments and international organizations have increasingly embraced hydrogen strategies in the 2020s, Potier's early advocacy has been recognized as prescient.

The governance transition he oversaw in 2022, separating the roles of Chairman and CEO at Air Liquide, also marked a significant step in the company's corporate governance evolution. By retaining the chairmanship while handing operational leadership to François Jackow, Potier ensured continuity while modernizing the company's leadership structure in line with evolving French and European corporate governance standards.

Through his service on the boards of Siemens and Unilever, his advisory role at Temasek, and his participation in forums such as the European Round Table of Industrialists and the B20, Potier has been an active participant in shaping European and global industrial policy discourse. His career illustrates the trajectory of a French industrial leader who combined deep technical expertise with strategic ambition on a global scale.