#NexGenLeaders Challenge

Adrien was born in 1972 in Paris, France. After graduating in business economics, Adrien started his career in New York as Commercial Director at FICOFI, a luxury brand promoting Bordeaux ‘grands crus’ fine wines globally. Adrien then worked for UniFrance Film in Tokyo where he managed the Yokohama Film Festival.

In 1995, Adrien joined ECS Group as Commercial Manager of the company’s Aero Cargo business unit, where he subsequently became Managing Director. In 2009, Adrien accepted the challenge of leading the commercial development of the Group, before his appointment in 2011 as Chief Operating Officer.

In 2017 ECS Group nominates Adrien as Chief Executive Officer to fully align with the transformative needs of their partners and clients and support them to navigate the shift to compete in the digital economy. In 2019, one of his prime priority is the Digital transformation of the ECS Group.

Lucas Kuehner, Global Head of Air Freight, Swiss citizen. Born in 1971. Member of the Executive Board as of January 1, 2019. Responsible for Air Freight.

Lucas Kuehner started his career as a Management Consultant at Price Waterhouse Coopers before joining Panalpina in 2000. Since, he has held numerous executive level positions in the US including Regional Head of Operations, VP Business Process & Quality, Regional Chief Information Officer as well as Managing Director USA. In 2012 he was appointed to Global Head of Air Freight and relocated back to Basel (Switzerland).

Lucas Kuehner is a seasoned logistics professional with extensive knowledge in international supply chain management and has been appointed as Global Head of Air Freight and member of the Executive Board as of January 1, 2019. Lucas Kuehner earned his Master of Science in Logistics and Supply Chain Management (MSc) from Cranfield University (UK) and has a business degree from the University of Applied Science Northwestern Switzerland.

Valerie is responsible for WFS Group’s communication strategy, both to its global customers and the company’s 26,400 international employees, and all aspects of brand management. She was promoted to her current role in 2007 based at WFS’ global headquarters in Paris. 

As Head of Corporate Communication, Valerie leads a team than manages media relations, the Group’s online presence and social media channels, participation in worldwide industry events, and bespoke customer communications and events. Valerie joined WFS in 2002 as Administration Manager of its international division. Earlier in her career, after two years working in the travel industry in New York, she spent two years as Event Manager with the Marriott Group.

Audrey Serdjebi began her studies in a Communication and Events College, followed by a Political Science Master's degree from the Sorbonne (France) and another Master's in Genre Studies from the Paris 8 University.

Audrey worded in the field of Communication and Politics at several positions, (the more recent was Communication Director for a somewhat subversive NGO dealing in questions of women's rights), outside of the air cargo industry before joining ECS Group in 2011 as Head of Marketing & Communication. She strives to bring some more added value and original feature to all the Marketing and Communication projects she leads.

Having spent well over fifty years in the air transport industry, Norman Bamford has a wealth of experience in the global air cargo sector.

After studying airline management, air transport operations and aviation law he joined Transglobe Airways in 1965 before moving to Lloyd International Airways where he became Commercial Director.

Thereafter, as a director of Skyfreight Limited, air charter brokers at the Baltic Exchange in London, he was also general sales agent for a number of overseas airlines. This was followed by several years as an aviation consultant around the world before becoming involved with A- Z Group Limited (Azura International) - subsequently publishers of Air Cargo Week - from its inception in 1993.

Having recently retired as Managing Director he remains as director and part-owner of the company. He was elected a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport in January 1992.

Eric Wilson is the managing director- Global Cargo Sales for Delta Air Lines, leading a team of more than 150 sales professionals who connect with customers around the world to create, maintain and enhance partnership opportunities utilizing Delta’s vast network of freight capacity.

An industry veteran with more than twenty-five years of experience, Eric joined Delta in 2008 as general manager-Strategic Partner Programs and National Accounts. He brings a strong international background to the position, with previous assignments in Shanghai, Guangzhou, Bangkok and Tokyo.

Eric is a 2013 Chairman’s Club honoree, the most prestigious recognition a Delta employee can receive. Each year the Chairman’s Club recognizes the top 100 employees who consistently demonstrate the “Delta Difference”, caring for the customers, co-workers and communities Delta serves.

Eric graduated from the University of Wisconsin at Madison and holds degrees in East Asian Studies, Chinese History and Japanese. He lives in Atlanta with his wife and two children.

Sebastiaan Scholte was born in 1970 in Groningen, the Netherlands. After studying Economics and Business Administration at the Rotterdam College, he started his cargo aviation career in 1997, working in Mexico City for Aeromexpress, the cargo division of Aeromexico and Mexicana.

From 1998 he was based in Madrid as VP Europe. Based in Mexico City from 2000, he was promoted to VP Sales, Mexico and Central America. In 2002 Sebastiaan joined Cargolux Airlines in Sao Paulo as Regional Manager, Latin America. After successfully restructuring the department, he became Cargolux’ Regional Business Development Manager, Spain and Portugal in 2004.

He initiated Cargolux’ Portugal operations, while at the same time completing a Global Executive MBA at the IESE Business School in Barcelona, Spain.

Between 2006 and 2010 Sebastiaan was Head of Marketing & Special Projects, based at Cargolux’ headquarters in Luxembourg.

In April 2010 he was appointed CEO of Jan de Rijk Logistics, based in Roosendaal the Netherlands and in May 2012 was appointed Chairman of the Cool Chain Association. In 2013 he also joined the board of TIACA, where he was elected Chairman in 2017.

Steven Polmans spent most of his career in the world of aviation and held management positions, both operational and commercial, in the handling industry. On October 1, 2010, he joined Brussels Airport as Cargo Marketing Manager and on February 1st, 2012, Steven was appointed Head of Cargo and Logistics. In this position, he is responsible for developing and implementing the overall cargo strategy of the airport.

Since 2016, Steven was also one of the founding fathers of Air Cargo Belgium and the first chairman of this newly established air cargo organization at BRU cargo, grouping all stakeholders involved. In August of the same year, Steven also joined the board of TIACA, The International Air Cargo Association, of which he became Vice Chairman in October 2017.