Rafael Santana is President and CEO of Wabtec Corporation, a global leader in the transportation industry, with a strong focus in rail, transit and mining. 

Wabtec delivers a comprehensive range of technologies, including equipment, integrated systems, digital solutions, and value-added services. Under his leadership, Wabtec has become the world’s most valuable rail technology company. 

Santana has nearly three decades of global executive leadership experience, with a strong focus on the transportation, energy, oil & gas and mining sectors. 

Since assuming leadership of Wabtec in 2019, Rafael has successfully integrated the operations of Wabtec, GE Transportation, and Faiveley Transport into a unified Wabtec. Under his leadership and vision, the company has added over $25 billion in value, consistently delivering innovative solutions enabling rail customers to operate more efficiently, safely, and sustainably. 

Prior to Wabtec, Rafael was President and Chief Executive Officer of GE Transportation, where he expanded the company’s global presence while establishing strong overhaul and modernization capabilities through strategic, multi-year customer programs. Preceding that, as President and CEO of GE in Latin America, Rafael led the region into becoming one of GE’s largest and most dynamic markets. 

A transformative global executive, Rafael also served as President & CEO of GE’s Turbomachinery Solutions Business within the Oil and Gas sector, achieving notable margin growth in a challenging market. He began his career with roles at ExxonMobil and British American Tobacco prior to joining GE in 2000. 

Today, Rafael leads Wabtec’s global workforce of over 28,000 employees in over 50 countries and is an active member of the company’s board. In addition, he also serves on the boards of The Travelers Companies Inc. and The Allegheny Conference on Community Development. 

A native of Brazil, Rafael holds an engineering degree from the Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais.