Isabelle Kocher

It’s been an historic year for the French gas utility company GDF Suez. Last October, Chief Executive Gerard Mastrallet promoted then-CFO Isabelle Kocher to deputy CEO—a position that prepares her to take the reins when he retires in 2016. And in April, the two announced the company had a new name, “Engie.” GDF Suez’s name originated during the 2008 merger between Gaz de France and Suez, the company that built the Suez Canal. The new moniker signals Kocher’s desire to shed the company’s colonial past and to focus on sustainable energy. If she becomes CEO, Kocher will be the only female leader of a company in France’s CAC 40 index. —Claire Groden