In Europe, Orange and T-Systems, a subsidiary of Deutsche Telekom, have created chief trust officer positions to strengthen the confidence of their customers in their ability to guarantee the sovereignty of their offers.
The more cyber threats, amplified by AI, weaken personal data and the security of organizations, the more digital players seek to reassure their customers. In recent years, certain large American tech companies, such as Salesforce, Airbnb or Zendesk, have created chief trust officer (CTrO) positions within them. The CTrO is responsible for ensuring customer trust in the company, particularly on data security, AI ethics and transparency of digital solutions.
It is now in Europe that this type of position is gradually emerging. However, on this side of the Atlantic, this new profession aims above all to reassure customers in the face of another threat: that of digital dependencies and the American kill switch, namely the hypothesis according to which the United States could cease the provision of its digital services in the event of a geopolitical crisis. “This is why, on the European continent, this position only seems relevant for companies to which data is entrusted in a cloud, or communications, and which must therefore guarantee a trusted third party regarding their security,” observes Arnaud Martin, director of operational risks at Caisse des Dépôts and member of the Club of Information Security Experts (Cesin).
A pioneer in France
In France, the only company to have created this position is Orange. It was awarded, in 2025, to Guillaume Poupard, former director general of the National Information Systems Security Agency (Anssi) and deputy general director of Docaposte. His job description includes, above all, the objective of reassuring customers about the sovereignty of the French behemoth’s solutions, while also encompassing responsibilities linked to the security of digital solutions. On the German side, the only company to have opened this position, also in 2025, is T-Systems, a subsidiary of Deutsche Telekom. It is the company’s former chief technology officer (CTO), Christine Knackfuß-Nikolic, who occupies it. However, his position is called chief sovereignty officer because his scope of action is more limited. It only aims to reassure customers about the sovereignty of T-Systems’ cloud offering. “In 20 years, if universal love triumphs between men, then there will no longer be a need for a chief trust officer. But, in our current world, full of conflicts, this position is strategic and I think it will multiply,” assures Guillaume Poupard.
“In 2024, I was still CTO. Then, following geopolitical developments, security issues emerged. With the unstable geopolitical situation between China, the United States and Europe, economic fears increased among customers. The interruption of digital services for judges of the International Court of Justice, the threat of the Cloud Act, the consequences of the AWS outage in Europe in October 2025 and other events, led many customers to have a increased sensitivity to digital sovereignty”, says Christine Knackfuß-Nikolic. A subsidiary of a former public company in which part of the shares still belong to the German state, T-Systems had to reassure its customers of its ability to provide digital services little impacted by these geopolitical upheavals. “Hence the creation of my position in September 2025. I have a role focused outwards, towards the market. This type of position now makes sense for all companies which have sovereign technologies in their portfolio”.
Orange therefore followed in the footsteps of Deutsche Telekom, in December 2025, by appointing Guillaume Poupard to the position of chief trust officer. The other large European telecommunications group, which also has its origins in public funds, also had to reassure its customers in its ability to guarantee the sovereignty of its offer: “In a world where geopolitical tensions are strong and in which the law of the strongest reigns, trust is something to be taken very seriously and which must be carried collectively. It is this context which gave rise to this position at Orange and which allows the company to rise to the challenges”, observes Guillaume Poupard. For this, “Orange’s strategy is to strengthen, where necessary, our most mastered offers. We must be very clear with our customers on the level of mastery of the solutions that we offer them. And I, as chief trust officer, am there to ensure that we provide these offers, that they are in our catalog”.
A business opportunity
In addition to reassuring customers, this position also aims to capture a growing demand for digital sovereignty. “Today, with the change in the geopolitical situation, we are seeing a change in behavior in the market. In the past, there was a lot of discussion about digital sovereignty, but decision-makers did not act accordingly. This has changed and we saw that it was now a major market opportunity. This is also what explains the creation of my position. The digital sovereignty market is really growing. The value of the sovereign cloud market will be multiplied by six!”, rejoices Christine Knackfuß-Nikolic. “Strengthening our offerings of fully controlled and autonomous solutions responds to a growing demand linked to the environment in which we live. And in this environment, more and more customers will turn to players like Orange who take trust seriously,” estimates Guillaume Poupard.
And for good reason, the former general director of Anssi notes that clients are adopting an increasingly critical approach towards the digital solutions offered. “Customers should not be underestimated. They are increasingly asking questions about the security and independence of the solutions. They are wondering what will happen if the United States decides to no longer provide their digital services. They have understood that we can no longer ignore this hypothesis. More and more boards of directors are challenging management teams on these questions. And therefore all digital solutions partners must formalize a credible response to these expectations otherwise they risk encountering serious problems. difficulties” in terms of business, he warns. Will this argument be enough to increase the number of chief trust officer positions on the continent?
