Thales appoints former Airbus executive as head of India business

Saraf also headed the Tata-Sikorsky joint venture in Hyderabad and worked with Deloitte Consulting and Dassault Systemes, in the United States and Europe

Thales has announced the appointment of Ashish Saraf as Vice-President and Country Director for India with effect from June 1, 2021.

Saraf will lead the company’s India business. He will be responsible for the strategic growth of Thales in the country across all of its markets, further strengthening local teams, collaborations and innovation. He succeeds Emmanuel de Roquefeuil, who takes up a new role as the VP and head for Thales in the Middle East.

Before joining Thales, Saraf served as the President and Head of the Airbus Helicopters - India and South Asia. He led Airbus’ Helicopters’ Sales, Services, Training, Innovation, Industrial Partnerships and Government Relations functions across the Civil, Parapublic and Military markets in the region. In addition, Saraf, who also served as the Vice-President and Make in India Officer for Airbus, headed the Tata–Sikorsky joint venture in Hyderabad and worked with Deloitte Consulting and Dassault Systemes, in the United States and Europe, according to a statement.

“I am pleased to welcome on board Ashish Saraf to the Thales Group, who joins us in extremely challenging Covid situation. Under his leadership, Thales will continue its decades-long partnership with our Indian stakeholders to support the country and contribute to India’s longer-term vision of building an ‘Atmanirbhar Bharat,” Pascale Sourisse, Senior Executive Vice-President, Thales, said.

“I am pleased to join Thales where I will apply all my experience and energy to serve our activities and staff in India,” Saraf said.