Management Team

André Kudelski
Chief Executive Officer & Chairman

André Kudelski obtained a degree in physical engineering from the Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (Swiss Federal Institute of Technology) in 1984. He then held the position of R&D Engineer at Kudelski SA and in Silicon Valley, before becoming Pay TV Product Manager and then Director of Nagravision, Kudelski SA’s pay TV division.

In 1991, André Kudelski succeeded his father Stefan Kudelski to the post of President and Chief Executive Officer of Kudelski SA. He has been a member of Kudelski SA’s Board of Directors since 1987.

He is also Chairman of the Board's Strategy Committee.

Pierre Roy
Chief Operating Officer & Executive Vice President

Pierre Roy began his professional career in 1975 with Procter & Gamble as a Financial Analyst. Following this early experience, he joined IBM in 1977 as a Sales Engineer. In 1979, he began his international career with Digital Equipment Corporation where he fulfilled various management positions at the company’s European headquarters in Geneva and also abroad, in Finance and Administration, Marketing and Business Management.

Pierre Roy joined Kudelski SA in 1992 as Managing Director of Nagra Audio, Business Development Director of Nagravision and Managing Director of Précel (at the time a Kudelski Group company).

In 1999, Pierre Roy established his own corporate consultancy firm working in the telecommunications sector while continuing to collaborate on strategic projects for Nagravision. In 2003, the Kudelski Group appointed him as Chief Operating Officer and Executive Vice President for the Digital Television sector.

Mauro Saladini
Chief Financial Officer & Executive Vice President Kudelski Group

Mauro Saladini began his career as a financial services consultant with Accenture. He then joined Thema Consulting where he established the company’s Zurich subsidiary and took responsibility for cash flow and risk management activities.

In 1997, Mauro Saladini joined McKinsey & Co where he became a partner in 2001. While at McKinsey & Co, his focus was on corporate finance and strategic projects relating to a wide array of industries, particularly media and telecommunications.

During this time, Mauro Saladini was also in charge of the Swiss Media Practice and was joint-head of the European Media Practice. In early 2003, he joined the Kudelski Group as Chief Financial Officer and Executive Vice President.

Mauro Salidini holds a degree in electrical engineering from the ETZ (Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, Zurich) as well as a MBA from INSEAD, Fontainebleau France.

Alex Osadzinski
Executive Vice President of Products, Nagravision

Alex Osadzinski spent the first two decades of his career in a variety of operational roles at technology companies and 7 years in venture capital. After establishing his career at two successful enterprise software start-ups, he joined AT&T as European Sales Manager for Unix Products in the mid-80s and then joined Sun Microsystems as Head of European Marketing.

In 1992 he became the head of Sun Microsystems’ software marketing and went on to become Vice President of Markets and Product Strategy. In 1994, Alex Osadzinski was the initial member of the successful turnaround team at Grass Valley Group, the leader in digital video production equipment. He followed this position with executive sales and marketing roles at Be and Vitria. At Vitria, he was part of the IPO and secondary offering team that spearheaded the 11th most successful IPO of 1999. Following, he became CEO of Katmango, a business process integration start-up. He became a partner at Katmango’s lead investor, Trinity Ventures of Silicon Valley, and focused on software, systems and digital media. Alex Osadzinski joined the Kudelski Group as Vice President of Products.

Alex Osadzinski studied Computer Science at England’s Dulwich College, Bristol University and Open University.

Yves Pitton
Senior Vice President Corporate Development

Yves Pitton joined the Kudelski Group in 2006 as Group Vice President in charge of Special Projects Strategy where he has played an important role in the Group’s strategy development, new business research, and internal improvement initiatives. In 2008, he became Senior Vice President, leading Corporate Development and joined the Kudelski Group’s Executive Board. His current responsibilities include Business Development, Strategic Planning, and CTO Office.

Prior to joining the Kudelski Group, Yves Pitton spent five years working for McKinsey & Co in Europe and the United States. His major focus was on strategic, operational, and corporate finance projects for TV, new media, high-tech / technology, and industrial businesses in international environments.

Yves Pitton holds a MSc in Physics; a PhD in Material Science & Engineering from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, Switzerland; and an MBA “Cum Laude” from SDA Bocconi School of Management, Milan, Italy.

Jean-Luc Jezouin
Senior Vice President Product Line Management

Jean-Luc Jezouin joined the Kudelski Group in 2007 as Senior Vice President Mobile Business and was responsible for developing the company’s Mobile TV business. In 2009, Jean-Luc Jezouin was appointed as Kudelski Group’s Senior Vice President Product Line Management for Nagravision and is responsible for the Digital TV portfolios for conditional access systems and end-to-end solutions.

Prior to joining Kudelski Group, Jean-Luc Jezouin spent twelve years in executive-level sales, marketing and operations roles in the Telecom industry. From 2004 to 2007, he was Vice President UMTS/LTE Product Line Management, first with Nortel Networks, then with Alcatel-Lucent after its acquisition of Nortel’s UMTS business. In this role, he led the company’s UMTS and GSM portfolios. Prior to this role, he held executive positions in Europe and Asia in Sales & Marketing and Operations.

Jean-Luc holds a PhD degree in Computer Science from the University of Paris, France; a M.S. degree in Computer Science from the University of Southern California (USC) in Los Angeles, USA; and an Engineer Diploma in Electrical Engineering from the “Ecole Supérieure d'Electricité (Supélec)” in Paris, France.

Christophe Nicolas
Senior Vice President and Chief Technology Officer

Christophe Nicolas is Senior Vice President, Chief Technology Officer and Chief Security Officer at Nagravision. He heads the CTO Office. Together with his team, he inspires and creates the vision for Nagravision’s technological future. He is also responsible for positioning Nagravision as the leader in digital content security through technology initiatives.

Christophe Nicolas joined the Kudelski group in 1996. He has held various management positions at Nagracard and Nagravision. He has been in charge of smart cards and security R&D. He was part of the team which created new business opportunities for smart card solutions in areas such as high security level physical access systems, university cards, loyalty cards and electronic purses.

Christophe Nicolas holds a Master's Degree in Computer Science from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (EPFL) and a MBA with Honors from IMD, Lausanne, Switzerland.

Philippe Stransky
Chief Architect

Philippe Stransky is Chief Architect for Nagravision. In this role, he shares his wide-ranging experience in digital television and contributes to new solutions. In 1996, after running his own software development company for ten years,Philippe Stranksy joined Nagravision as product manager for digital systems. He has been a major contributor to the launch of a number of large-scale digital Pay TV operations, including Dish Network, in the United States. He was promoted to Senior Vice President in 2000 and held the post of Chief Technology Officer between 2002 and 2007.

Philippe Stransky is a graduate in Numerical Computing from the University of Geneva and is co-author of a number of publications on games theory. He was previously an Assistant Professor at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (EPFL).

Maurice van Riek
Senior Vice President R&D Conditional Access Systems

Maurice van Riek is responsible for Kudelski Group’s Conditional Access Systems unit. In this role, he reports directly to André Kudelski, the CEO of Kudelski Group. Prior to this role, Maurice van Riek was global head of R&D at Nagravision, a position he held since joining Nagravision in 2006. Maurice van Riek is also Managing Director of TESC TV, a wholly owned subsidiary of Nagravision in Munich, Germany.

Before joining Kudelski Group, Maurice van Riek was Senior Vice President at Siemens Mobile Phones, responsible for the business unit’s smart phones. Prior to that role, he held the position of business unit manager RF Ics and business unit manager Data Networking Ics at Infineon. He has held various positions on supervisory boards, including one at Symbian.

Maurice van Riek holds a M.S. degree in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science from the Delft University of Technology, and is an alumnus of INSEAD’s executive education program.

Ivan Verbesselt
Senior Vice President Marketing

Ivan Verbesselt is Senior Vice President Marketing with Nagravision. He is also active as a guest Professor of Marketing at the International University in Geneva. Before joining Nagravision, he was the Principal of Quadratio Consulting Ltd focused on Broadband TV.

Prior to this position, Ivan Verbesselt was Vice President in charge of Alcatel’s Information, Communication and Entertainment (TV) business. Before that he led Alcatel's DSL business’ Product Marketing and CTO activities.

Ivan Verbesselt began his career in telecommunications within Alcatel's Corporate Research Group where he contributed to the design of several category-defining products in the broadband access space. He has also held various positions in product management for broadband access products and services, both within Alcatel and Belgacom, the Belgian incumbent operator.

Ivan Verbesselt holds a M.S. degree in Applied Physics and Electronic Engineering from Brussels University and an Executive Degree in Business Administration from Solvay Business School (CEPAC).

Martin Wittwer
Senior Vice President Fulfillment and Services

Martin Wittwer joined Nagravision in 2007 as global head of Fulfillment and Services for Digital Television activities. In the period 2003-2007, he worked with Nagravision’s Digital Television unit as an external consultant responsible, amongst other assignments, for the post merger management of Canal+ Technologies and the program management of a next generation Smart Card platform.

Prior to joining Nagravision, Martin Wittwer was the Chief Operating Officer of C-Sam, a company active in the field of secure transactions for handheld devices. His previous experience includes a number of years at American Express as General Manager of Smart Card Development (responsible for chip-based credit cards) and at McKinsey & Co as a Senior Engagement Manager.

Martin Wittwer holds a Licentiate from the University of St.Gallen, Switzerland, and a MBA from the University of Chicago.