Since 2015, Bernerd has overseen the transformation of AES’ operations to accelerate the delivery of greener, smarter energy solutions in a safe and reliable manner to our customers. Working in collaboration with AES people and contractors around the world, Bernerd enhances the organization’s culture of safety, efficiency, innovation, and operational excellence to provide competitive advantages to our customers and positively impact the communities we serve. His global optimization and standardization efforts resulted in the leveraging of our synergies and economies of scale, realizing $750M in value over his tenure.
Through his leadership, AES adopted new safety and environmental analysis systems and standards, and our AES people and operations and construction contractors have achieved global lost time incident rates that rank in the top 10% based on US benchmarks. Bernerd led the end-to-end transformation of the supply chain organization and accelerated a companywide digitization of all information technology processes and applications, focusing on achieving machine learning and artificial intelligence capabilities in our operations. He successfully launched four AES Smart Centers and scaled the use of robotics and drones to employ this data for predictive analytics for renewable and conventional generation, smart grid and customer experience to maximize efficiency, with innovative solutions and minimal necessary infrastructure.
Bernerd has proven global experience in international corporate finance and business transformation for generation, transmission and distribution companies in the United States, Latin America, Europe and Asia. He serves as a board member of AES Gener in Chile, Companhia Brasiliana de Energia and AES Tietê S.A. in Brazil and Indianapolis Power and Light in the U.S. He also serves on advisories boards to enable utilities to accelerate the future of energy.
Bernerd joined AES in 2000 through its acquisition of La Electricidad de Caracas and he has since held a number of leadership positions. Prior to serving as Executive Vice President and COIO, he served as CFO for AES’ Global Finance Operations and CFO for the Utilities group and for the Latin America and Africa group.
Bernerd is a Summa Cum Laude graduate of Universidad José Maria Vargas with bachelor’s degrees in business administration and public administration, business management and finance, and a master’s degree in business administration.
Bernerd now resides in Virginia with his wife Lina and two sons and enjoys cooking, playing golf, traveling, and making the impossible, possible.