Thales

Table of Contents

  1. Social Handles and URLs
  2. Overview
  3. Brief History 
  4. Executive Team
  5. Competitors
  6. References

Thales provides advanced digital identity and data security solutions that are crucial for the modern marketing technology stack, helping enterprises protect sensitive customer data and build trusted digital relationships. Its key differentiator is its deep-rooted expertise in enterprise-grade security and cryptography, which it applies to marketing challenges like identity verification, data privacy compliance, and securing customer data platforms (CDPs).

https://www.thales.com

Social Handles and URLs

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Overview

While Thales is a broad technology company, its solutions relevant to the marketing technology landscape are primarily within its Digital Identity and Security (DIS) portfolio.

  • Customer Data Platform (CDP): Offers a real-time CDP that unifies online and offline customer data to create a single customer view, enabling advanced segmentation, analytics, and personalized marketing campaigns.
  • Identity Verification (IDV): Provides solutions for secure customer onboarding and authentication, helping marketers verify user identities to prevent fraud and comply with Know Your Customer (KYC) regulations.
  • Data Encryption and Protection: Delivers robust encryption and tokenization solutions (like the CipherTrust Data Security Platform) to protect sensitive customer data—personally identifiable information (PII), payment details, etc.—both at rest and in transit.
  • Access Management: Offers comprehensive Identity and Access Management (IAM) solutions to ensure that only authorized users (including marketing teams and customers) can access sensitive data, applications, and marketing platforms.
  • Consent and Preference Management: Provides tools to help businesses manage customer consent and communication preferences in compliance with global privacy regulations like GDPR and CCPA.
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Brief History 

Thales has a long history originating from Thomson-CSF, which was founded in 1968, with roots tracing back to 1893. The company was rebranded as Thales Group in December 2000. For decades, it has been a global leader in aerospace, defense, transportation, and security markets.

Its major entry into the marketing-adjacent data and identity space came with the landmark acquisition of the digital security company Gemalto in April 2019 for €4.8 billion. Gemalto had previously acquired companies with marketing technology capabilities, including Infemba, a provider of customer data platform technology. This acquisition significantly expanded Thales’s portfolio, making it a world leader in digital identity and security and positioning it to address the growing need for data protection and trust in the digital marketing ecosystem.

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Executive Team

  • Patrice Caine: Chairman and Chief Executive Officer
  • Philippe Vallée: Executive Vice-President, Digital Identity & Security
  • Pascal Bouchiat: Senior Executive Vice President, Finance and Information Systems
  • Isabelle Simon: Senior Vice-President, General Counsel and Company Secretary
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Competitors

Due to Thales’s diverse offerings, its competitors vary by product category.

  • In the Customer Data Platform (CDP) space: Competitors include Segment (Twilio), Tealium, Treasure Data, and Adobe Real-Time CDP.
  • For Identity & Access Management (IAM) and Identity Verification (IDV): Competitors include Okta, Ping Identity, ForgeRock, and Onfido.
  • In the broader Data Security and Encryption market: Competitors include Entrust, Broadcom (Symantec), and Imperva.
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References

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