Joaquín Gutiérrez Caballero: The Business Leader Tasked With Ecopetrol's Rebirth

On September 24, 2026, Ecopetrol’s Board of Directors unanimously appointed Joaquín Gutiérrez Caballero as the company’s new president and CEO. A business administrator from Santa Marta, he took office on Monday, September 28, with a mandate the company summed up in one word: rebirth.

Ecopetrol described the selection as “a structured and agile process” aimed at finding “a unifying leader, capable of turning challenges into concrete results.” The company’s own announcement acknowledged that it was emerging from a period of alleged corruption that “affected the reputation and efficient management of Ecopetrol.”

A Career Across Industries

Gutiérrez Caballero holds a degree in business administration and three specializations: telecommunications project management, telecommunications law, and health services management. Ecopetrol’s official directors’ page credits him with more than 30 years of professional experience.

His career spans the legal, health, construction, agriculture and livestock sectors. The common thread, according to Ecopetrol, is a disciplined method — plan, organize, direct and manage — backed by technically strong teams. The board chose a generalist manager rather than a petroleum engineer for a phase whose first task is to put the house in order and rebuild trust.

The Mandate: Bridges of Trust

The board tasked him with building “bridges of trust” between the company and the state, workers, regions, communities, investors and partners. His stated goals include strengthening value creation, “rigorous and transparent management,” and closer coordination with all stakeholders. The board also explicitly recognized Ecopetrol’s workers and technical teams as essential to the company’s recovery.

A Direct Message on Day One

At the “Ecopetrol Rebirth Ceremony” at the Quinta de San Pedro Alejandrino in Santa Marta, Gutiérrez set the tone. “I am taking the helm of the Republic’s most important company at a moment of crisis, a turning point with no room for half-measures or hesitation,” he said, as reported by El Colombiano.

He also flagged the issue that most concerns the sector: Colombia’s reserves, which he put at just 7.4 years for oil and 5.9 years for gas. His stated goal is to leave Ecopetrol with reserves for decades to come and to strengthen national energy security.

Announced Priorities

According to El Colombiano, his agenda includes:

• More exploration and reserve additions across conventional, unconventional and offshore projects.
• A forensic audit of complaints and decisions made by previous administrations.
• An alternate Ecopetrol headquarters in Barranquilla to strengthen the company’s presence in the Caribbean region.
• Recovery of operating and financial results.

The forensic audit sends a strong signal to investors and citizens alike: the new leadership wants a precise picture of the company before charting its course.

A Renewed Leadership Team

On September 30, the board approved three senior appointments: Mónica Jiménez González as Corporate Vice President of Legal Affairs and General Secretary; Mauricio Gutiérrez as Corporate Vice President of Strategy and New Business; and Camilo Rojas as Corporate Vice President of Administration and Services, responsible for procurement and supply chain “under the highest standards of rigor, transparency, ethical conduct and integrity.”

What Comes Next

Only weeks into the job, Gutiérrez Caballero’s results are still to be measured. What is on record is the starting point: unanimous board backing, a candid diagnosis of reserves, a public commitment to transparency and a renewed management team. For Colombia’s largest company — more than 19,000 employees and over 60% of the country’s hydrocarbon production — the rebirth has just begun.