Louis R. Hughes is one of the principal founders of InZero Systems and currently serves as its Chairman. He is focused on directing InZero Systems’ strategic development and bringing this exciting cybersecurity technology to the market. Hughes has a wealth of experience in strategic and innovative leadership. Hughes was previously President and Chief Operating Officer of Lockheed Martin, the world’s largest defense manufacturer. Prior to Lockheed Martin, he was Executive Vice President at General Motors Corporation, where he had held progressively more responsible positions for over 25 years, including President of General Motors International Operations, President of General Motors Europe, Chairman of Adam Opel AG, a subsidiary of General Motors and Chairman of Saab Automobile. Hughes presided over an unprecedented and very profitable GM expansion into the world’s emerging markets, including eastern Europe, China and India, during the 1990s. In 2004 and 2005, Hughes also served as a US diplomat in Kabul, Afghanistan as Chief of Staff of the Afghanistan Reconstruction Group and senior advisor to the Karzai cabinet.
Hughes has served on the board of directors of 12 corporations in 7 countries over the last 23 years. Three of these he chaired; the remaining 9 were publicly held and very large multinational corporations in a wide variety of industries. He is currently a member of the board of directors of ABB (Switzerland), where he chairs ABB’s Finance, Audit and Compliance Committee; Akzo Nobel (Netherlands); and Alcatel Lucent (France), where he chairs ALU’s Technology Committee. He has previously served on many other leading boards, including Deutsche Bank (Germany), Electrolux (Sweden), British Telecom (United Kingdom), Maxager Technology (USA), Sulzer (Switzerland) and MTU (Germany). He is Executive Advisor to Windpoint, a private equity firm in the US. In terms of pro bono activities, he serves on the boards of the American Institute for Contemporary German Studies (AICGS), the Ancient Egypt Research Associates (AERA) and the Middle East Institute.
Hughes received a Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering from Kettering University in 1971 and a Master of Business Administration from Harvard University in 1973. Among his many honors, Hughes is a recipient of the Outstanding Public Service Medal from the US Secretary of Defense, Austria’s Silver Cross of Merit with Star of the Republic and Germany’s Cross of Merit, First Class for his singular contribution to the German Unification.