Our People

Bill, originally from Canada, moved to France in the 70′s. He founded SAI in 1982 and became a French national in 1992.

He holds a mechanical engineering degree from McGill University, Canada and an MBA from INSEAD, France. He has taught for many years at ESSEC, a leading French business school. He has also lectured at a number of management training centers on internationalization and has published extensively on this topic. He also holds several engineering patents.

Before launching SAI, Bill held management positions at Space Research Corporation in Montreal, Flug- und Fahrzeugwerke in Altenrhein (Switzerland), Battelle Research Institute in Geneva. Bill was also a senior consultant and partner with SMG and SIAR in Paris and Tokyo (both companies are headquartered in Stockholm).

With his experience of more than 30 years in helping about 500 companies develop their business abroad, towards the end of 2013 he published a book designed for SMEs. The manual, “Small Company. Big World.”, consists of recommended practices, traps to avoid as well as practical suggestions and examples on how to do it. The objective was to motivate SMEs to become international and to provide them with the required tools to succeed in this adventure.

In addition to his native English, Bill speaks French, Swedish, German and (under hypnosis) is also conversant in Cantonese.

He holds a degree in civil engineering from McGill University, Canada and an MSc in engineering and operations research from Cornell University, USA. In addition he holds a diploma from the Quebec government in exporting industries diagnosis.

Prior to founding SAI’s office in Montreal he worked within the applied economics consulting division of The SNC Group, now SNC – Lavalin, Canada’s largest engineering and industrial development consultancy. At SAI unifying themes of his work have been strategies and plans for enhanced competitiveness, export market development, export-oriented investment attraction and capacity development, for both institutions and SMEs.  His work has covered a wide spectrum of industries in the services, manufacturing, agro-processing, resource, ICT and aerospace sectors.

Brian is fluent in both French and English.

Bill is originally from Canada, he now lives and works in Paris. He holds a mechanical engineering degree from McGill University, Canada and an MBA from INSEAD, France. He has taught for many years at ESSEC, a leading French business school. He has lectured at a number of management training centers on internationalization and has published extensively on this topic. He also holds several engineering patents.

His previous work experience includes management positions at Space Research Corporation in Montreal, Flug- und Fahrzeugwerke in Altenrhein (Switzerland), Battelle Research Institute in Geneva, SMG and SIAR in Paris and Tokyo (both the latter are Swedish-based consulting firms).

Language skills of Bill include fluent French, Swedish and German, as well as his native English.

He is a graduate of the Helsinki University of Technology as well as Insead AMP.

He established Finpro’s Shanghai office 1995 and after 6 years there, worked in Finland as VP East Asian business development. Prior to this, he has worked in Tokyo, Japan altogether 13 years for the Finnish government, Wärtsilä Group and Ahlström Group. He retired from Finpro in 2009 and joined SAI Finland Partners.

He speaks English and Swedish besides his native Finnish and also manages with German and Japanese.

Thomas opened up SAI Sweden in 2011 after collaborating with SAI since 1987. He lives in Sweden in Djursholm, in the suburb of Stockholm.

He holds a mechanical engineering degree from Lund University, Sweden as well as an MBA. He has undergone the Ph.D. programme in Industrial Organisation in the Lund University. He has lectured and is co-author of several books. His previous work experience includes positions at BejerInvest / Interproject, SIAR, The Ministry of Industry and Department of Industrial Organisation. His areas of expertise include strategy & structure, international business development, innovation & venture, organisational development, acquisition & disposal and project management. His specific areas of industry experience include steel, building material, construction, packaging, ICT, electronics, engineering manufacturing, food, beverage, consumer goods and services.

Language skills of Thomas include fluent English and German, as well as his native Swedish, and some skills in French, Spanish and Russian.