Dassault appoints Gian Paolo Bassi CEO of SolidWorks

Dassault Systèmes has announced that Gian Paolo Bassi has been appointed chief executive officer of SolidWorks.

Bassi will spearhead the development of SOLIDWORKS’ future product and technology strategies designed for the desktop and the cloud and the continued collaboration with the brand’s user community.

Bassi replaces Bertrand Sicot, who is promoted as vice president, sales of Dassault Systèmes’ Value Solutions sales channel.

“Behind every great brand there is a great talent, and Bassi and Bertrand have been architects of change for SOLIDWORKS," said Bernard Charlès, president and CEO of Dassault Systèmes.

“SOLIDWORKS has developed into a comprehensive portfolio for intuitive, integrated 3D design, simulation, electrical design, product data management and technical communication and continues thrive thanks to engineering ingenuity and user collaboration. We look forward to continu success for SOLIDWORKS under Bassi’s leadership and to strong Value Solutions channel sales growth from Sicot's extensive sales experience.

Bassi has been instrumental in the growth of SOLIDWORKS since joining Dassault Systèmes in 2011 as SOLIDWORKS vice president for Research and Development. With a hands-on technical approach and working in close collaboration with SOLIDWORKS’ tight-knit user community of more than two million engineers and designers, Bassi led the development of the brand’s cloud applications, SOLIDWORKS mechanical conceptual and SOLIDWORKS Industrial conceptual, to provide users with an instinctive powerful 3D modeling environment with online data storage and social collaboration on Dassault Systèmes’ 3DEXPERIENCE platform.

Bassi, 55 years old, has more than 25 years of experience in 3D, CAD, and PLM application development. Prior to joining Dassault Systèmes’ SOLIDWORKS brand, he was founder and CTO of RIWEBB where he oversaw the development of new technologies for the mechanical and architectural design automation industry. He was also previously a vice president and CTO of ImpactXoft, where he co-invented three of his five patents in functional modeling.

Bertrand Sicot, former CEO of SOLIDWORKS, is now Dassault Systèmes’ vice president, sales of its Value Solutions sales channel, its indirect sales network of over 500 partners in 36 countries.

With more than 20 years of sales operations leadership in both domestic and international engineering businesses, Sicot joined SOLIDWORKS in 1997 as regional sales manager for Western Europe and Scandinavia and held a number of subsequent high-level sales positions for SOLIDWORKS, including executive vice president of sales.