Azita Shariati

Azita Shariaty Khalil Abad (born 14 January 1968) is a Swedish business executive. Since 2014, she has headed the Swedish branch of the French catering and support services multinational Sodexo where she oversees operations for the Nordic countries. In February 2015, the Swedish weekly business magazine Veckans Affärer named her the most powerful business woman in Sweden.

Biography Born in Iran, Shariati flew to Gothenburg, Sweden, in 1988 to visit her boyfriend, Farzin Mirsaidi, a political refugee. She decided to stay, married her boyfriend (a municipal administrator in Sigtuna), and learned to speak Swedish. She studied food economics at the University of Gothenburg and took courses in statistics, leadership and marketing at the university's business school.

When her husband received a new appointment in Nynäshamn, the couple moved with their son to the Stockholm area. In 1998, she came into contact with Sodexo where she was first employed as a roving restaurant manager, replacing absentee managers. She rose quickly up the company's hierarchical tree, becoming district manager, regional manager, sales director, business area manager, manager for Sweden and finally managing director of Sodexo in Sweden and administrative director in Denmark.

In June 2019 she accepted the position as Group CEO of AniCura, one of Europe's leading providers of veterinary care for companion animals. AniCura is a division of the US-based company Mars Petcare.