Luxembourg, 16 July 2026. Cyril Fournier-Montgieux has joined Axion Lab as Senior Advisor and Board Member. Axion Lab is an AI-native sustainability services company producing expert-signed analyses and reports for private equity funds and their portfolio companies, at the price and speed of software.
Cyril Fournier-Montgieux led Babcock Wanson Group, a European leader in industrial process heating, as CEO for two decades until 2025. He took the group through three leveraged buyouts with three private equity owners: the 2016 carve-out from the CNIM group with FCDE, the 2021 deal that made Kartesia the majority shareholder, and the 2024 investment by Ambienta, one of Europe's largest investors focused on environmental sustainability. Over the same period the group grew to more than 1,150 employees across 11 European countries and moved its core offer from fossil-fired boilers to electrified, low-carbon industrial heat.
At Axion Lab, Cyril joins the board, represents the firm in the private equity industry, participates in commercial activities, and brings his operating experience into the firm's operations and AI-native processes.
"The energy transition was never a side topic for me. It became the core of Babcock Wanson's business and the reason our last shareholder invested," said Cyril Fournier-Montgieux. "Through three LBOs I learned what funds need from their companies on sustainability: numbers a board, lender or investor can trust. Axion Lab delivers that with a new business model where most of the historical consulting work gets productised by AI, and experts participate exactly when they are most needed. Putting myself in the shoes of a portfolio company CEO, I would be looking into this today: expectations of advisors and professional services have grown even further, and so has the level of expertise required. I am joining to help build it."
"Our work sits where private equity, sustainability, and running a portfolio company meet, and people who know all three from the inside are the scarcest resource in this market," said Sergei Maslennikov, co-founder of Axion Lab. "Cyril ran an industrial group through three LBOs and made it more sustainable and more profitable at the same time. He saw from the CEO seat exactly what we build for."
"We are building a services firm the way you build software: the AI writes the first draft, and senior experts own the judgement and sign what goes out," said Roman Evstigneev, co-founder of Axion Lab. "That second part is the hard part. Cyril spent twenty years making the calls our AI has to learn: what a board asks, what a buyer checks, what a number has to be kept. His job here is to build that judgement into the system."
About Axion Lab
Axion Lab is an AI-native sustainability services company producing expert-signed analyses and reports for private equity funds and their portfolio companies, at the price and speed of software. Founded by Roman Evstigneev and Sergei Maslennikov, the company is based in Luxembourg and works across the EU and UK. It ties sustainability to business decisions and commercial terms, from due diligence through the ownership period to exit preparation. AI writes the first draft; senior sustainability experts own the judgement and sign every report. Website: www.axionlab.ai
About Cyril Fournier-Montgieux
Cyril Fournier-Montgieux led Babcock Wanson Group as CEO for two decades, until handing over in 2025. Under him the group, a European leader in industrial process heating with more than 1,150 employees in 11 European countries, went through three LBOs with FCDE, Kartesia and Ambienta, and moved its core technology from fossil-fired boilers to electrified, low-carbon heat. He trained as an engineer. He joined Axion Lab's board as Senior Advisor and Board Member in 2026.