Yves Kerstens

Chief Executive Officer

Member of the Bekaert Group Executive
Member of the Board of Directors

Yves Kerstens (°1966) joined Bekaert on 1 April 2021 as Divisional CEO Specialty Businesses and COO. He became CEO of Bekaert on 1 September 2023. 

Yves started his career in supply chain roles in the manufacturing industry before he moved to Ernst & Young (1996) and later Capgemini (2001) as an advisor to the trade & industry sector. In 2005, Yves joined Bridgestone Corporation where he took on executive functions of increasingly broader scope and responsibility in EMEA and Asia Pacific, as well as global corporate governance roles as Vice President & Senior Officer of Bridgestone Corporation and Chairman of the global digital solutions and supply chain committee.

After a career of 13 years with Bridgestone, Yves joined Axalta Coating Systems, where he most recently held the role of Vice President Axalta and President EMEA. 

Yves Kerstens, Belgian national, holds a Master’s degree in Mechanical Engineering and a Master’s degree in Industrial Management from the Catholic University of Louvain (Belgium).  Yves is also Certified Director in Corporate Governance  from the INSEAD Business School.