Mr Ashish Arun Saraf is a Director of BEL-THALES Systems Limited since July 07 2021.Mr Ashish Arun Saraf joined Thales India as Vice-President and Country Director with effect from 01.06.2021. He succeeds Mr. Emmanuel de Roquefeuil.
He holds various degrees in Management and Engineering from University of London, Cornell University, Symbiosis Institute and NIT. He leads all of Thales’ business activities in India including defence, aerospace, transportation, digital identity and security, Thales’ partnerships including joint ventures, as well as engineering competency centres. He is responsible for the strategic growth of Thales in the country across all of its markets, further strengthening local teams, collaborations and innovation.
Prior to joining Thales, he was the President and Head of Region for Airbus Helicopters - India and South Asia. In this role, he led Airbus Helicopters’ Sales, Services, Training, Innovation, Industrial Partnerships and Government Relations functions across the Civil, Parapublic and Military markets in the region. At Airbus, he was also the Vice-President and Make in India Officer responsible for Industrial Partnerships and offsets across all of Airbus’ businesses (Helicopters, Commercial Airplanes and Defence & Space).
Prior to joining Airbus, he headed the Tata–Sikorsky JV in Hyderabad and also worked with Deloitte Consulting and Dassault Systems mainly in USA and Europe.
He also served as a Board of Director and Member of the Governing Council for Aviation and Aerospace Sector Skill Council (AASSC), a Governmental body dedicated to developing nationwide skills in the aerospace domain in India.