91 Billion, Ultra-connection, AI vs Environment, Art… ESSEC in the Media

Leaders, experts, entrepreneurs and artists; ESSEC is making the headlines in all fields! Press review

Leaders

In Le Figaro, Olivier Sichel (E89), Managing Director of the Banque des Territoires, revealed his €91 billion investment plan in renewable energy, housing and the fight against medical deserts. ‘The first focus is ecological transformation; the second social cohesion. You cannot have one without the other, as the yellow vest movement and various issues linked to the housing crisis have demonstrated.’ 
Read an extract (in French).

Les Échos paid tribute to the success of  Vincent Warnery (E91) who, 18 months after his appointment as head of Beiersdorf, has enabled the German cosmetic group to achieve a turnover exceeding that of L’Oréal. ‘We weren’t as successful as that in the past. We scattered our activity all too often with a lot of small local launches. The aim was to satisfy the country manager rather than the customer.’
Read an extract (in French).

On Brut, Bruno Patino (E90), CEO of the television channel Arte, summed up his latest essay, Submersion, in which he attempts to ‘take a step back from our Tinder-Tiktok life and our choices determined by algorithms and artificial intelligence’ and offers leads to prevent ourselves from being submerged by the flood of information and ultra-connection of contemporary societies.
See the video (in French).

On B Smart, Elise Ginioux (E06) shared her beliefs as the Generali executive board member in charge of communication, sustainability and public affairs, and President of The Human Safety Net in France: ‘Diversity, fairness and inclusion are factors as much for workplace performance and well-being as they are for society. Being able to express your differences at work, or finding a job and a role in a host country when you are a refugee are the fights we lead through our policies.’
See the video (in French). 

In Décideurs Magazine, Anthony Carvalho (M13) explained how he rose to the position of Financial and Administrative Director of Limagrain, France’s first and the world’s 4th largest seed supplier, and why the current shake-up in value chains led him to the role of Chief Performance Officer.
Read the article (in French).

Les Échos took stock of the Mission French Tech’s 10 years of existence with its director, Clara Chappaz (E12): ‘20,000 start-ups, including some twenty unicorns, for one million employees, and more than €14 billion raised in 2022 alone!’ Upcoming aims are to ‘open this ecosystem to new audiences who don’t see themselves as a real target...which they are’, such as women, beneficiaries of minimum social welfare, scholarship students, refugees or the inhabitants of priority city districts and rural revitalisation areas.
Read an extract (in French).

Experts

In La Tribune, Cédric Baecher (E00) pondered the question ‘Will artificial intelligence help or hinder environmental transition?’ His answer is based on 4 beliefs: ‘1/ AI is a necessity for transition. 2/ Technology alone will not be enough. 3/ AI comes with new ethical and CSR challenges. 4/ AI is only one of multiple forms of intelligence required for successful transition.’ 
Read the article (in French). 

On the Box Office Pro website, film director Nathalie Marchak¹ (E03) spoke of cultural diversity and the protection of its authors. ‘When people say that there are too many films being produced, they’re often talking about films that attract few cinemagoers. In fact, the films that achieve less than 10,000 admissions represent 1.2% of CNC activity. Like every other industry, a portion of film-making consists of research and development. This almost negligible proportion is essential to the discovery of new talents.’ 
Read the article (in French).

On LCP, the journalist Cécilia Gabizon (E92) paid tribute to Samuel Paty, the schoolteacher assassinated three years ago, by quoting his last lesson: ‘Freedom can conflict with other rights or the respect due to others, but what allows us to live together is the emotional empathy which makes us respect others not only because the law forces us to, but because we feel we belong to the same humanity.’
See the video (in French).

Entrepreneurs

In Challenges, Hélène Boulet-Supau (E88), famous for having re-launched the e-commerce fashion website Sarenza, explained her latest entrepreneurial project: an educational platform ‘which reconnects senior citizens and children’ by providing families, and more especially the oldest generations, with tools to help foster young children’s learning.
Read the article (in French). 

Le Parisien showcased young entrepreneurs engaged in defending a cause, including Mathys Tarbes (E24), founder of the non-gendered and eco-friendly fashion brand YassSelf, incubated at ESSEC Ventures. ‘I’m a man and that is how I see myself, but I refuse to be told which clothing is or is not for me.’ 

As part of European Sustainable Development Week, Les Échos showcased Antoine Bouchet (M17), the brains behind the home and office water dispenser Merci Walter, which has avoided the use of 2000 tonnes of plastic bottles since its launch in 2021.
Read an extract (in French).

In Les Échos, Maxime Baffert (E99) presented the aims of his start-up Bluedigo: ‘The first was to dust off the second-hand office furniture sector. And the second to make buying reconditioned items as easy as buying new.’ An urgent task given that every year, 100,000 tonnes of office furniture are thrown away.
Read an extract (in French).

On France 3, Bastien Moreau (E12), co-founder  alongside Antoine Chabassol (E12) of the balanced meal home delivery service Qilibi, announced he was recruiting a hundred employees in Normandy, which represents a fivefold increase in current staff numbers.
See the video (in French).

In Les Échos, Clément Bonhomme (E11), co-founder of Foodles, the connected refrigerated canteens, reviewed the controversies and regulatory changes which have been affecting FoodTech for several months. ‘The time has come to clean up the ecosystem, in financial, human and ecological terms, so that profitability can go hand-in-hand with sustainability.’ 
Read an extract  (in French).

On Europe 1, Simon Ferniot (EXEC MBA 97), who launched the Boco restaurant chain, presented his latest start-up, Olala, which produces and sells a plant-based alternative to seafood.
Listen to the programme (in French).

Les Échos went in search of flex-office market players, including Witco, the start-up created by Eliane Lugassy (E13), which offers a single portal bringing together all the dedicated services provided by a company to facilitate staff autonomy. ‘We designed our application like a Lego set, with different bricks to activate according to needs.’
Read the article (in French).

BFM TV chose Ordalie, ‘the ChatGPT for law’, co-founded by Léa Fleury (E19), for its La Pépite [The Nugget] section. ‘Our aim is to drastically reduce the time spent by legal professionals carrying out legal research or drafting documents.’ 
See the video (in French).

In Les Échos, Justin Bignon (E00), who took over Batibig, confirmed the acquisition of 5 competitors, bringing his portfolio to a total of 49 companies specialised building maintenance and renovation ‘In addition to pure external growth, this operation should enable us to strengthen our presence in public markets.’ 
Read an extract (in French).

Le Journal des Femmes featured Artransfer, an application for person-to-person art works sales, co-founded by Constance Rémy (E22) and Haude Le Roux (E22). ‘There is a Vinted for art, and it makes you want to become a collector.’
Read the article (in French).

On the Maddyness website, Arthur Bernard (E08) announced the launch of Athletico Ventures Collective#1, his first collective investment vehicle geared towards investment in start-ups, with more than 40 high-level European athletes, including Antoine Griezmann, Eric Dier and Pierre Gasly.
Read the article (in French).

The American programme NYSE Floor Talk devoted a report to Julien Bonneville (E06), who raised $110 million for TheGuarantors, a fintech providing smart financing and insurance solutions for property owners and tenants.
See the video 

During a TEDx conference, Emmanuel Bilbault (E10), creator of the diagnosis aid Posos, affirmed that 21st-century medicine can re-humanise its relationship with patients thanks to digital technology, by using artificial intelligence to devote less time to certain acts and more time to discussion and interpersonal relations with each patient.
See the video (in French).

Artists

The Culture Box programme invited singer Laure Slabiak (BBA 99), aka Blaubird, to present her latest album, Le ciel est partout and perform the song L'ombre de mon amant. ‘A journey through traditional, folk, classical and electro music, in several languages: French, Yiddish, Spanish or Arabic.’
See the video (in French).

Libération praised author Philippe Nicolas (E88) and his work Lire tue [Reading Kills]. ‘You think of Hannibal Lecter worming his way into Clarisse Starling’s brain, of Joseph L. Mankiewicz’s “Sleuth”, or of the “avenger” from “And Then There Were None”’

Le Figaro, L’Humanité and France Inter encouraged readers and listeners to see the play Le Journal d’un fou  [Diary of a Madman] directed and performed by Ronan Rivière (E09) at the Lucernaire (Paris) until 10 December. ‘Funny and moving at once’, ‘ingenious’, ‘lots of humour and tenderness’, ‘strikes the right note’...

¹ Pseudonym

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