Educated at the illustrious École Centrale Paris, Catherine MacGregor began her career at international oilfield giant Schlumberger soon after graduation. MacGregor spent nearly a quarter of a century with Schlumberger, moving up through the ranks in a series of management roles. Among those roles were Group HR Director, President-Europe and Africa, and President of Drilling. These positions sent her to every continent where Schlumberger has a presence.
MacGregor joined the Executive Committee of the TechnipFMC Group in 2019, leading engineering and construction projects both onshore and offshore. In January of 2021, MacGregor became the CEO of ENGIE, a multinational utility company headquartered in France. Founded only 13 years ago, ENGIE employs over 158,000 people around the globe. A new company in name, it can trace its roots all the way back to the Universal Suez Canal Company, which started construction on the famous canal in 1858.
MacGregor’s goal for ENGIE is to use its influence to change the face of energy and make clean, renewable energy an accessible norm for communities across the globe. ENGIE pledged to invest $13.1 billion in its 2019-21 energy transition program, with the goal of adding 9 gigawatts of renewable energy capacity in that time period. MacGregor replaced Isabelle Kocher, whom the board voted to replace in 2020. Wanting to keep a female lead in the company, MacGregor, with her impressive resume of energy-related accomplishments, was an obvious choice for the role.
MacGregor stated that the Board of Directors’ decision instilled in her a deep sense of confidence and motivation. “It honors and commits me. On the strength of our shared industry culture and my operational experience, I will work with all of our teams to achieve our goal of enabling ENGIE to accelerate the energy transition.”
MacGregor is currently the only female CEO of a company listed in France’s CAC 40 stock index. Bruno Le Maire, France’s Minister of Finance, stated that it was "regrettable" that more women were not found in CEO positions in France. While ENGIE is a publicly traded company created by a merger between Suez and French gas monopoly GDF, 24% of the company is still owned by the French government.