Yoav Etiel Exits Bentley, Lands at Bricsnet

September 26, 2000

By Judy Schriener

Yoav Etiel, who for the past seven years has led the effort to make Bentley--as in Bentley Systems Inc.--the household word in the construction industry, has departed following a reorganization and now will shift his considerable marketing energies to Bricsnet. The former senior vice president of marketing at Bentley has been named executive vice president of worldwide marketing for Bricsnet.

Etiel, one of the more visible and aggressive marketers in the design and construction software and information technology arena, says he declined offers of "all kinds of attractive positions" at Bentley, including one to run Bentley's Internet properties. Presumably that would include Bentley's Viecon.com extranet service, launched in June. When Etiel declined, he initially agreed to take a sabbatical, but says, "I thought about it. I have too much energy to be paid to be in bed--I spent 17 years waiting for IT (information technology) to be core to the construction industry and I can't just look at this from the sidelines." Plus, he wants to play a part in the transformation of the industry into the Internet age.

A Bentley spokeswoman says she is unsure what positions were offered to Etiel, but that "Bentley wanted to be able to work with him in some capacity." The company seemed to have been taken by surprise by Etiel's announcement that he was joining Bricsnet, because Bentley officials were waiting to see what they could work out with Etiel.

Bricsnet scarfed him up and immediately touted his arrival in a lengthy press release. In the release, Bricsnet CEO Erik de Keyser says about Etiel, "His industry knowledge, experience, vision and commitment to the E/C/O market are second to none. Moreover, he is passionate about this market's e-transformation--just the right individual to head our worldwide marketing!"

Etiel says he will be as aggressive as ever in his marketing efforts, despite the fact that the Belgium-based firm is typically more low-key than its U.S. counterparts. "This is my nature; I do things with passion," he says.

During Etiel's tenure at Bentley, revenues increased nearly tenfold. Etiel has visions of helping Bricsnet do the same. "Bricsnet a year from now is not going to be the Bricsnet of today. I hope to be a part of it," he says.

Bricsnet began in 1986 as Brics. The firm's founders developed the core technology for Bentley's MicroStation TriForma CAD software. During the past year and a half Brics has changed its name to Bricsnet and has grown in size and scope. It acquired Evolv, its ProjectCenter collaborative project management service and the services of its founder William Tucker as well as the AEC Info information source for the construction industry. Bricsnet has the most global presence of any software company with a major stake in the U.S. "That was part of the appeal," says Etiel. "They're not just paying lip service to being global."