Eric Kirstetter

Eric Kirstetter was appointed Executive Vice President Strategy at Airbus, effective from 18 May. In this role, he is responsible for turning global geopolitical and technological changes into strategic opportunities, shaping and implementing the company's long-term roadmap, and securing a trajectory of sustained growth, bold innovation, and positive societal impact for Airbus.

Eric reports directly to the Airbus CEO, Guillaume Faury.

Eric has shared his career between the aerospace and defence sector and the automotive industry. He is actively engaged in industry advancements through his extensive experience in growth strategy and transformation. Passionate about technology and innovation, he has a profound interest in strategic digital disruption and accelerated technological development.

Prior to joining Airbus, Eric served as Senior Partner at global strategy consulting firm Roland Berger from 2017 to 2026. In this capacity, Eric supported top-tier clients in Europe, Asia, and the United States in making strategic decisions, running transformations, closing M&A deals, and scaling innovation. 

Eric spent a large share of his time helping Defence incumbents to address the drone market, leveraging automotive DNA to drive volume surge, drastically cutting costs and development lead times. 

In 2023 he pioneered one of the world's first centres of competence for AI for business efficiency at Roland Berger. This initiative assisted multinational automotive companies to deploy AI in their operations, and was later on deployed on numerous other verticals.

Prior to 2017, Eric served for 16 years at the international management consulting firm Arthur D. Little. There, his main focus was on the aerospace and defence sectors, where he notably explored the introduction of the DARPA model in Europe in the late 2000s. 

Eric holds a degree in Mechanical Engineering from ISAE-Supméca and a Master’s Degree in International Industrial Management from HEC Paris.

He is married with one child. He is particularly passionate about extreme sports, from mountain to sea, and is an avid sportsman, especially when it comes to kitesurfing and tennis.