Autoliv is the world’s largest automotive safety supplier. From steering wheels to seatbelts, airbags and now safety solutions, its operations span 25 countries and 70,000 employees, supplying almost every auto brand you can mention. It’s a finely tuned global design and manufacturing platform that receives an average of one new order a minute, each of which is filled as quickly as two hours later, anywhere in the world where the company operates. 

To keep on top of such a fast-paced operation within a dynamically evolving industry, Autoliv has one eye on its present needs and another firmly fixed on the future. That’s where CEIBS alumnus Fabien Dumont (GEMBA 2022) comes in. With almost 20 years’ experience in China and over 26 years with Autoliv, Fabien assumed the role of Chief Technology Officer at Autoliv last month, signalling his move to the top echelon of strategic leadership within a truly global firm. 

In an interview discussing his professional journey within Autoliv, Fabien explains how China has become a global hub for auto innovation, and why it appeals to companies and individuals who want to be at the centre of the industry’s next developmental stage.

Fabien Dumont
Executive Vice-President & Chief Technology Officer
Autoliv (Shanghai) Management Co., Ltd.
Global EMBA 2022
 

Airbags to steering wheels to CTO – Learning by doing

Fabien came to China in 2005. Even at this juncture, Western automotive brands and leading OEMs could already see that China was going to play a major role in shaping the industry’s future. Fabien could see it too, and it spurred him to make a big change to his personal and professional life.

“Relocating to China was something I was mentally prepared and genuinely excited about,” Fabien recalls. “I had recently been offered a short-term role in the US, but I didn’t want to reorganise my whole life for a six-month period which would be interesting but was fairly predictable in scope. I was ready for something that would open up new possibilities.”

China didn’t fail to deliver. In quick succession, Fabien went from being Operations Manager for a single inflator manufacturing plant, to assuming the role of  Vice President of Operations in China in charge of ten plants; by 2018, he had become Vice President of Engineering. These significant and rapid increases in responsibility tested Fabien’s ability to not only lead effectively on the ground, but to keep pace with the changing needs of the industry.

“The pace was hectic, and the learning curve was steep – but that’s China! There was a ‘learn by doing’ culture, but that kind of expansion requires the ability to not just solve problems, but anticipate them as well.”

After nearly two decades of helping Autoliv expand its manufacturing capacity and engineering capabilities in China, Fabien took on the Group CTO role in September 2024. With his wealth of experience in understanding how emerging technologies impact both customer expectations and manufacturing methods, he is now ideally placed to incorporate new innovations into Autoliv’s facilities and wider mindset.

China leads on the latest auto megatrends 

Whether you’re racing cars or making them, speed is an essential factor. Faster analysis of emerging trends means faster adoption, which in turn enables faster development cycles and, finally, the all-important filling of orders with the increasing speed and precision that global customers now expect.

Time-sensitivity, always a factor in any manufacturing setup, is now one of the greatest challenges facing Fabien, Autoliv and the wider industry. This is a central consideration for the company’s newly minted CTO, as he considers his priorities for the short and long-term future.

“A company of this size has a lot of moving parts and mission-critical projects that cannot be ignored,” Fabien admits. “But we want to ensure that we’re looking beyond the pressures of today, so we can allocate enough people and resources to innovation. It’s a growth mindset, where the right people are in the right place to learn from each other.”

Adapting quickly and intelligently to the ever-changing realities of the auto industry is at the heart of the CTO role, especially in China. Fabien explains how there’s nowhere better to bring emerging solutions to the consumer market, as China is demonstrably leading the world in electrification, connectivity, autonomous driving. This July, for the first time ever, sales of new-energy vehicles (NEVs) outperformed internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles in China. Meanwhile, Chinese in-car connectivity and autonomous driving solutions continue to outpace those offered elsewhere.

“Whenever I go to Shenzhen, Wuhan or any other major Chinese city, I try a driverless taxi and the experience invariably works very well,” he says. “China has the innovation but also the right approach to infrastructure to bring these transformational systems together and present a viable commercial offering at a scale and speed that even the pioneers outside of China are still only talking about.”

Practical knowledge – Harnessing GEMBA's shareable side

Fabien finished his formal studies alongside his GEMBA 2022 classmates just in time to assume his new CTO role. When asked about the impact that this learning journey has made to his leadership style and general approach to business, Fabien focuses on two aspects: personal polish and shareable insights.

“Before joining GEMBA, I had already been within Autoliv’s senior leadership for more than 10 years. I was highly familiar with most aspects of the business and I had masses of hands-on experience, but I lacked executive presence and structure around my knowhow. GEMBA has given me that structure, so I can make better use of my experience to make more informed decisions and communicate them in a more strategic manner.”

The second major  impact of the programme on Fabien is how he has felt consistently able to actively share the lessons he has learned in the classroom, in group discussions and in real situational learning, and apply them within Autoliv.

“Every time I came back from a GEMBA module, I would spend 45 minutes with my team going through the main highlights of what I had learned. The lessons are designed to be shareable, to provide useful knowledge with practical applications in modern business settings. To me, this is the inherent strength of the programme – it adds to what you know, and lets you feed your new knowledge back into your current organisation.” 

After being asked to give some parting advice for executives considering the programme, Fabien took his own experience as a sign that “earlier is better” when weighing one’s options.

“The only mistake I made is that I should have done it five years earlier. I was 45 when I started GEMBA, and I think I might have enjoyed more options and greater opportunities if I knew what I know now, earlier. It gives you the ability to ask better ‘why’ questions, to better analyse any business situations. Before GEMBA, you may instinctively know if a number is good or not, but you don’t fully understand why. After GEMBA, you know the ‘why’ part, and that is often more important than the ‘how’.”

China's economy is maturing - where does that leave international talent?

When asked if China is still as viable a location for non-Chinese professionals to build their career – as he did 20 years ago – Fabien shared his view that it’s neither better nor worse today in this regard, only that the types of opportunities have changed.

“The days of big international firms bringing all their own people over to China, that’s finished. The talent pool here is deep enough now. However, I believe that the most successful companies, whether they’re Chinese or MNCs, will be those that are inclusive and actively seek to build diverse teams of top global talent. So, if you have something to offer, something to bring in from outside China, then you’ll always be in demand. In return, being in China will teach you more than you thought possible in a very short time. A significant quantity of Chinese companies are looking to ‘go global’, and that provides huge opportunities for foreigners to be successful in Chinese companies.”