Mr M'Saad was appointed as a member of the Management Board and Chief Technology Officer as of May 16, 2022. As CTO, Hichem oversees ASM's technical product portfolio, platform group, and future technologies and innovation. On February 12, 2024, ASM announced that the Supervisory Board has decided to appoint Hichem as ASM’s new CEO and Chairman of the Management Board as per the AGM on May 13, 2024.

Hichem joined ASM in 2015 as the senior vice president and general manager of the Thermal Products business unit. From 2019, he held the role of executive vice president and general manager of Global Products, including responsibility for developing ASM’s ALD, Epi, VF, and PECVD products. In addition, he has been instrumental in several of ASM’s successful new innovative products, including the Intrepid ES, Synergis, Previum, and A400 DUO.

Before joining ASM, he had a 15-year tenure with Applied Materials. He started his career as a process development engineer working on various dielectric CVD applications. He rose to the level of corporate VP and general manager of the Dielectric Systems and Modules (DSM) and the Chemical Mechanical Polishing (CMP) divisions. He also served as CEO of a start-up in the solar photovoltaic industry for six years.

Hichem received a bachelor’s degree in metallurgical engineering from the Colorado School of Mines, a master’s degree in materials science & engineering from Cornell University, and a PhD in electronic materials science from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He has written 57 technical articles and holds nearly 200 granted patents. He is a US and Tunisian national.