This is the year-end market news in the cybersecurity sector. Revealed yesterday by L’Informé, it is confirmed today by an official press release: Orange has recruited Guillaume Poupard to the newly created role of Chief Trust Officer.
Reporting directly to Christel Heydemann, the group’s CEO, he will join the operator on February 1, 2026.
A prominent figure in the French cybersecurity scene, Guillaume Poupard led the National Agency for Information Security (ANSSI) for eight years, from 2014 to 2022, a period during which he worked to strengthen France’s cyber defense apparatus and, more generally, to raise awareness of the economic stakes associated with cyber risks.
Accelerating cybersecurity and the trusted cloud
Since 2022, he has served as Deputy CEO of Docaposte, the digital subsidiary of La Poste, where he oversaw the group’s strategic technology assets: cybersecurity, artificial intelligence and cloud.
What will Guillaume Poupard do within the operator? He will define and embody Orange’s strategy for sovereignty and digital trust. Specifically, he will accelerate development, in collaboration with the Orange Business and Orange Cyberdefense units, of innovative offerings in three key areas: cybersecurity (for consumers and businesses), the trusted cloud, and sovereign artificial intelligence.
These sectors are growing rapidly, but competition is fierce. In the 2024 Numeum ranking of ESNs, Orange Business ranked fifth with revenues of €1.8 billion (out of a total of €7.8 billion), while Orange Cyberdefense posted €1.2 billion in revenue for that period.
