Ashwin Himat:
Sr Director of Growth & Innovation
About Ashwin Himat:
Ashwin Himat is a global business executive and board advisor with over 30 years of experience driving profitable growth, operational transformation, and value creation across industrial and advanced materials companies. He has a strong track record of partnering with management teams to scale businesses through M&A, commercial excellence, and innovation.
Mr. Himat most recently served as Vice President of Sales & Marketing at IDEX Corporation (NYSE: IEX), a $4 billion S&P 500 company, where he led commercial strategy for the Advanced Materials business.
Previously, he was Senior Director of Growth and Innovation at Louisiana-Pacific Corporation (NYSE: LPX), where he led enterprise growth initiatives, including incubation of scalable platforms representing over $800 million in potential value and execution of M&A transactions contributing approximately $60 million in EBITDA. He advanced corporate growth strategy, strengthened innovation processes, and aligned resources to drive long-term value creation.
Mr. Himat spent over two decades at Saint-Gobain (CAC: SGO), a $50 billion global materials company, in senior leadership roles across Building Materials and Abrasives. He led marketing and innovation for a $1 billion gypsum business, driving new product growth and market expansion, including technologies recognized with The Wall Street Journal Technology Innovation Award. He also held global P&L leadership roles, scaling operations across North America, Asia, Latin America, and Europe, and achieving market leadership in key segments.
He brings deep expertise in growth strategy, M&A execution and integration, pricing and margin expansion, and commercialization of new products and technologies. He is particularly effective in supporting CEOs and management teams in accelerating growth, evaluating strategic investments, and driving performance within complex industrial and mid-sized or private equity–backed environments.
Mr. Himat has over 15 years of governance experience, having served as Chair and Board Member of the Wood-Based Composites Center Industry Advisory Board and as a Board Member of the Gypsum Association, with committee experience across executive, external affairs, and technical areas. He has also presented to public company boards on strategy, technology, quality, and ESG topics.
In addition, he has extensive experience collaborating with universities, sponsoring and coaching graduate-level students on real-world corporate projects, and fostering innovation through industry–academia partnerships.
Mr. Himat holds an MBA in International Management from the Thunderbird School of Global Management, an MBA in Marketing from Symbiosis Institute of Business Management, and a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering from Manipal Institute of Technology. He is also an inventor on a U.S. patent related to advanced building materials technology.
To meet with Ashwin or any of our excellent mentors, please fill out this interest form.