Géraldine Picaud is Woman of the Year 2025

Women in Business, the community for women in leading positions in Switzerland, has announced the Woman of the Year 2025. Géraldine Picaud, CEO of SGS, was chosen by the community as this year's Woman of the Year. Géraldine Picaud will be introduced at the Women's Talk on December 1, hosted by Christine Maier. She will also be featured in the magazine issue of December 4.

Rapid rise at SGS

Géraldine Picaud has been CEO of SGS, the global inspection and goods testing group based in Zug, since March 2024. She joined the Group as Chief Financial Officer in December 2023. She was previously Group Chief Financial Officer and a member of the Executive Committee of Holcim, a leading global provider of construction solutions. In a short space of time, she got SGS back on track. She is focusing on speed and growth, particularly in the areas of digitalization and sustainability.

Géraldine Picaud has over 30 years of experience in strategic management positions in various industries and development phases, from accelerated growth to corporate restructuring. Her career began in 1992 as an auditor at Arthur Andersen. From 2018 to 2023, she was CFO of Holcim and before that CFO of Essilor, the world's leading manufacturer of ophthalmic lenses.

Digital trust as a strategic priority

Trust is a core value at SGS. Digital trust is even a strategic priority for the company, says Picaud. In order to create digital trust, the company has developed Digital Trust - digital trust services - to help manage the enormous complexity of the issue.

Friendliness as a leadership principle

Picaud's personal values are openness towards other people and cultures as well as integrity. And last but not least, kindness and generosity. "The fact that I am a leader does not exclude me from being kind and generous towards others," says Picaud. She says her greatest strengths are her speed, her commitment to her work, her ability to keep things and herself simple and not always take herself too seriously.

The 55-year-old Frenchwoman has a master's degree in business administration from the École Supérieure de Commerce de Reims. She is married and has three grown-up sons.

From the Top100 to Woman of the Year

At the beginning of October, Women in Business launches the annual "Top100" as a separate edition of the Women in Business magazine series. In the Top100 edition, 100 successful women from the fields of finance and business, industry and commerce, research and technology, society and public service are recognized for their professional commitment and expertise. These 100 women are representative of all other top performers in Switzerland. The Women in Business community chooses their personal favorite from the top 100. The woman with the most votes will be named Woman of the Year at the beginning of December.