Sylvain Coutu

Sylvain Coutu currently serves as the Head of Innovation & Sustainability at Africa Specialty Risks since February 2025 and holds the position of Chair of Public-Private Partnerships at NASA Harvest since January 2019, where the focus is on developing projects utilizing satellite imagery for agriculture. Previously, Coutu was the Head of Agriculture Insurance at AXA Climate and the Head of Innovation Special Lines at Swiss Re, overseeing teams in various underwriting sectors while fostering innovation partnerships. Coutu's extensive background includes roles as a Senior Agro Underwriter at Swiss Re Corporate Solutions, a post-doctoral research associate at Stanford University, and a research engineer in remote sensing at ESA-CESBIO. Coutu's academic qualifications include a Ph.D. in Civil and Environmental Engineering from EPFL and engineering degrees from MIT and other prominent institutions.