Kering confirmed the appointment of Pierre Houles as Chief Digital, AI and IT Officer as of this month. He joins the group’s Executive Committee, reporting directly to Jean-Marc Duplaix, Group Chief Operating Officer. The appointment is a clear statement of intent, placing digital strategy and artificial intelligence at the same level of seniority as the group’s other core operational functions.
Pierre brings more than two decades of experience managing complex, cross-functional technology programmes across major European businesses. His mandate at Kering is to strengthen the group’s digital architecture, accelerate the integration of emerging technologies including artificial intelligence, and build a model in which innovation operates as a core function rather than a peripheral one. The aim, according to the group, is to enhance both the performance and desirability of its Houses.
Kering’s portfolio spans some of the most recognised names in global luxury, among them Gucci, Saint Laurent, Bottega Veneta, Balenciaga, McQueen, Brioni, Boucheron, Pomellato, Dodo, Qeelin, Ginori 1735, as well as Kering Eyewear and Kering Beaute. With 44,000 employees and revenue of 14.7 billion euros recorded in 2025, the group has both the scale and the appetite to lead the luxury industry’s relationship with technology. Houlès is the executive Kering has chosen to make that happen.
A career built on transformation
Pierre began his career leading major technology transformation projects at Capgemini, where he worked from 2004 to 2011. That period gave him grounding in managing complex, multi-stakeholder programmes at scale. He then moved to the CANAL+ Group, where he was appointed Chief Information Officer in 2012, overseeing the broadcaster’s technology function during a period of significant change in the media industry.
The most substantial chapter of his career to date came at Renault Group, which he joined in 2016 to lead its digital transformation. By 2019, he had been appointed Managing Director of Renault Digital and Deputy Chief Information Officer of the wider group. He also took on the role of Technical Director for the Mobilize and Dacia brands while retaining his senior group responsibilities. That combination of brand-level and group-level accountability mirrors, in a number of respects, the structure he now enters at Kering. Houles graduated from EPITA and Sorbonne Business School.
Technology in service of creativity
Luxury and technology have long proved a productive combination, and for a group the size of Kering, the opportunity to harness both has never been greater. Digital infrastructure now supports everything from supply chain management and retail operations to client engagement, e-commerce, and brand communications. Kering is well positioned to lead in each of those areas, and Houles arrives with the experience to accelerate progress across all of them.
Artificial intelligence, in particular, has become one of the most significant enablers of performance and personalisation across the luxury sector. For a group with the creative depth and brand diversity of Kering, AI offers real opportunities to sharpen operations, deepen client relationships, and support the creative ambitions of each House. Houlès’ appointment signals that the group is ready to pursue those opportunities at pace, with a dedicated leader who has done exactly this before at significant scale.
Twelve Houses, one vision
One of the most compelling aspects of Pierre’s background is his proven ability to manage technology strategy across multiple distinct brands simultaneously. At Renault Group, he held technical responsibility for organisations as different in character as Mobilize and Dacia, while also serving as Deputy Chief Information Officer of the wider group. That experience of working across brand identities with different audiences and requirements maps closely onto the diversity within Kering’s own portfolio.
Kering describes its broader vision through the phrase ‘Creativity is our Legacy’, and the group’s leadership has consistently argued that technology should serve creative ambition rather than supplant it. Pierre’s task, in effect, is to make that principle operational, building the systems and processes that allow 12 Houses to move faster, perform more efficiently, and engage their clients more precisely, without compromising the qualities that give each brand its standing.
Building for what comes next
The timing of this appointment reflects how decisively AI and digital capability have moved to the centre of competitive strategy across global business. Kering is well placed to take advantage of that shift, with a portfolio of Houses that carry extraordinary creative authority and a global customer base that expects the very best in every interaction. Bringing in a Chief Digital, AI and IT Officer of Houles’ calibre, and placing him at Executive Committee level, gives the group the leadership structure to move forward with confidence.
With revenues of 14.7 billion euros and a workforce of 44,000 people, Kering has the scale and the resources to invest in technology with real conviction. Pierre Houles brings the leadership and the track record to convert that investment into lasting capability. For a group whose creative legacy is built on the individual brilliance of its Houses, having the right technology foundations in place will only strengthen what each of them is able to achieve.