Our Strategic Advisors

General (ret.) Philippe Lavigne is a Senior Advisor at Pilus Capital, advising on defense transformation, military innovation, and dual use technology adoption across European and NATO contexts. He brings more than 35 years of senior leadership experience spanning air and space power, joint and multidomain operations, alliance interoperability, and strategic capability development.

From 2021 to 2024, General Lavigne served as NATO’s Supreme Allied Commander Transformation, where he was responsible for alliance-wide strategic foresight, innovation, talent development, and the translation of operational strategy into future force capabilities. In this role, he led NATO’s transformation agenda across doctrine, technology, interoperability, and long-term capability planning for all member nations.

Previously, from 2018 to 2021, he served as Chief of Staff of the French Air and Space Force, overseeing force modernization, operational readiness, and international defense cooperation. Earlier in his career, he held a range of senior joint and strategic positions within the French Armed Forces and the French government, including roles in strategic planning, interagency coordination, and multinational operations. His operational commands included leadership roles in Afghanistan, where he served as the final French forces commander and as Director of Kabul International Airport.

A veteran fighter pilot, General Lavigne has logged more than 2,000 flight hours and flown over 50 combat missions, including operations in the former Yugoslavia and Iraq. His background combines deep operational credibility with strategic expertise across defense policy, space, European security cooperation, and military technology innovation.

In addition to his advisory role at Pilus Capital, General Lavigne serves as a senior advisor to Boston Consulting Group and Alta Ares. He brings a uniquely informed perspective on strategic technologies, operational requirements, and European capability gaps relevant to defense markets and dual use innovation.