Conrad Keijzer

Conrad Keijzer is Chief Executive Officer (CEO) at Clariant, a Swiss listed global specialty chemicals company. He joined as CEO in January 2021, after more than 25 years in global leadership roles, ten of which at the board level of multinationals such as Paris-listed Imerys and Amsterdam-listed AkzoNobel.

At Clariant, Conrad and his team developed a purpose-led growth strategy, focusing on growth through sustainability solutions. Record revenues and profit in 2021 and 2022 underline the success of this strategic direction. Under his helm, Clariant reduced hierarchical layers and complexity to speed up decision-making and enhance customer proximity, while strengthening diversity.

Prior to that, Conrad was CEO at French listed specialty materials company Imerys, where he set the strategic direction for organic growth and profitability improvement, divested non-core businesses and effectively handled legacy litigation issues.

From 2013 to 2018, Conrad was an Executive Committee Member at AkzoNobel and CEO of Performance Coatings, its largest division. During his tenure, he significantly increased profitability through organic and inorganic growth, divestments, restructuring, complexity reduction and operational excellence programs. Previously at Akzo Nobel, he had held leadership roles in the Netherlands, Germany, Spain, the U.S. and Mexico.

At the European Chemical Industry Council (Cefic), he is a member of the Board and the Executive Committee and Chairman of the Nomination Committee. He also serves on the Board of Directors at the American Chemistry Council (ACC).

Conrad was born in the Netherlands, he graduated from Twente University of Technology with Masters of Science in Industrial Engineering and completed the Advanced Management Program at Harvard Business School, USA.