Defeating Dracula: A Romanian Retail Giant’’s Quest for Freedom and Trust

Jean-Baptiste Dernoncourt is a retail executive who in a five-year term as CEO led Carrefour’s Romanian business to double in size. He has worked in retail--in finance and as a CEO--for ten years, in multicultural environments from France to China to Eastern Europe. He was appointed as CEO of Carrefour Romania in 2013 at the age of thirty-two. In 2017 he added the title of chief digital officer for Northeast Europe, leading the digital transformation of Belgium, Poland, and Romania, from IT and supply chain to marketing, e-commerce, and omnichannel strategy for Carrefour. Born in Paris, he grew up and did his undergraduate studies in Toulouse. He holds a master’s degree in Strategy from ESCP Europe and is conversant in six languages. Currently he heads Copap, a Canadian trading house whose purpose is to link mid to large companies from emerging countries to the best supply chains of the world. In his spare time, he enjoys reading, meditating, practicing aikido, and watching the NBA. He now lives in Montreal with his wife and son.