China, Technology, Environment, Burnout, Bootstrap and Graphic Novels...ESSEC in the Media

Business leaders, engaged citizens, experts, entrepreneurs and artists; ESSEC is making the headlines in all fields! Press review

Leader

Harold Parisot (BBA 00) featured on the cover of World Connected Business, which praises the success of his Chinese Business Club. Originally geared towards Chinese professionals, in ten years it has become ‘France’s leading business club and a unique venue for encounters and discussions between the decision-makers of today and tomorrow. Recent guests of the club’s events include Emmanuel Macron, Michel-Edouard Leclerc and Carla Bruni-Sarkozy. ‘This is our strong point, with a loyalty and company member renewal rate of 90%.’ 

Experts

In Le Monde, Julien Malaurent (M09 & PHD 12) and Guillaume Chevillon, academic co-directors of Metalab ESSEC, reassure us that ‘we’re not bound to be replaced by machines, however “intelligent” these may turn out’. They draw this conclusion from the growing number of studies showing that artificial intelligence only enables enhanced productivity when supervised by humans and applied to specific tasks. ‘Without human help, the tasks carried out fall in quality by 20%. The short-sighted company which believes it can do away with most of its staff will find itself incapable of understanding and managing the work of AI. Never forget that when the teams who had worked on the Apollo projects left, NASA lost its ability to send humans to the moon, and it took some twenty years to restore the necessary knowledge!’ Read an extract (in French). 

In Les Échos, Pierre-Emmanuel Saint-Esprit (E16), executive director of ESSEC’s Global Circular Economy Chair, pointed out that ‘without technology, there will be no major shift to circularity, which consists in generating turnover using fewer new resources.’ He emphasised the usefulness of artificial intelligence in ‘the fight against waste, which implies tracking flows and thus processing consumption and use data.’
Read an extract (in French).

On The Conversation website, Romaric Servajean-Hilst (E99), associate professor at Kedge Business School and research fellow at École Polytechnique, reveals the ‘dark side’ of company environmental indicators. ‘Sure, these systems help structure sustainable development strategies. We must be aware of their limits, however.’ Such limits include the compartmentalisation of issues and responsibilities to the detriment of the systemic aspect, a lack of common criteria and benchmarks, and operational rigidity with negative effects which outweigh the benefits. Read the article (in French). 

On the Business Immo website, Ella Etienne-Denoy (E12), Head of ESG Business Development & Innovation Continental Europe at CBRE, draws our attention to the blind spots of environmental transition in real estate. ‘Our sector’s major challenge is to reduce greenhouse gases generated by construction works and building operation. However, behind this obviously paramount goal lie other pitfalls which could shock the sector into a state of obsolescence.’ Read an extract (in French).

Engagement

On Brut, Virginie Mouseler (E88) shares her action to rescue laboratory-bred beagles used for medical experiments and then euthanized. ‘These dogs have never seen grass. They discover nature for the first time at my shelter.’ See the video (in French).

In Le Figaro, Jean-Denis Budin (E83) explained how he helps victims of burnout to bounce back with CREDIR, a multi-disciplinary coaching programme with a ‘high-performance athlete approach’ offering the keys to recovery. ‘A programme which can clearly save lives’. Read an extract (in French).

On BFM, ESSEC MSc in Sustainability Transformation student Léna Massaro (M24), challenged the managing director of a charging terminal operator for co-owned or company vehicles: is this a truly virtuous solution from an environmental perspective? See the programme (in French).

On NRJ, Victor Magaud (E25) spoke of his dual engagement for ecology: on an entrepreneurial level with his start-up Insectera, which recycles biowaste for arboriculture, and on a political level through his role as a European parliamentary assistant. Proof that holding several mandates can be virtuous.                                         Listen to the programme (in French).

Entrepreneurs

On Maddyness, Arnaud Delattre (E85), founder of the Starquest investment capital fund, predicts that bootstrapped start-ups will have a better chance of resisting the funding crisis. ‘We saw start-ups raise tens of millions when we knew full well they would never make money. I’m delighted we’re exiting the highly-toxic environment that created. A young, inexperienced entrepreneur who is fed capital from the start will not know how to manage budgets or balance accounts. The ones who went through a bootstrap phase are generally far more sensible.’ Read the article (in French). 

In La Tribune, Mathilde Le Roy (E99), President of La French Tech Bordeaux, warned: ‘The change in investors’ position is restoring order; a start-up should be aiming for turnover and profitability!’ She offered her advice, gleaned from the successful development and sale of her business, KAZoART. Read an extract (in French).

On BFM TV, Simon Bestel (EXEC PROG 04), co-founder of the inclusive property firm Fermes En ViE (FEVE), explained how he helps farmers to acquire agricultural holdings thanks to citizen investments. ‘We urgently need to help the coming generation set up operations if we hope to preserve our food sovereignty.’ See the programme (in French).

Les Échos praised the development of The Oasis House, co-founded by Guillaume Prigent (BBA 15), which is opening its tenth country house geared towards the hosting of company seminars and team stays. ‘And things aren’t stopping there...the start-up aims to reinvent work, in the midst of nature.’ Read an extract (in French).

In Le Parisien, Quentin Amaudry (E24), co-founder of Mendo alongside Alexandre Pinon-Jacques (E19), shared his solution to train employees more efficiently in the use of tools such as ChatGPT. ‘A Harvard study reveals that only 12% of training input is actually applied to work. That’s why we created an intelligent assistant with an integration process.’ Directly on the user’s screen, the extension offers advice or exercises in the form of short videos related to the software task they are trying to accomplish. A way to save up to 30% of worker’s time. Read an extract (in French).

On Le Figaro’s website, Gaël Loric (E12) boasts ‘a unique advice-action model’ with his company Socratiz, which helps supply chain players to boost their transformation projects and reach their CSR goals, thanks in particular to the benefits of circularity and artificial intelligence. See the video (in French). 

On the Entreprendre website, Adrien Oksman (E09), co-founder of Boks, asks if letter boxes have become obsolete in the age of digital communication, or, on the contrary, if they represent the ultimate strategic frontier of e-commerce. ‘In the real world, dematerialisation bewilders consumers who expect ergonomic solutions that make good sense.’ His start-up could well pave the way. ‘La Poste saw the wisdom in becoming our reference shareholder.’ Read the article (in French). 

On BFM TV, Haude Le Roux (E22) presented Artansfer, the private sale platform for contemporary artwork she co-founded with Constance Rémy (E22). ‘We offer an alternative between traditional auction houses, reserved to connoisseurs and subject to high commission rates, and the generalist market, where a work can get lost among the mass of items and avails of no guarantee.’ Listen to the programme (from 32:00, in French).

Culture & Entertainment 

Le Monde devoted a feature to graphic novelist Jean Harambat (E99) and his latest opus, La Pièce Manquante. Set in Shakespeare’s time, it tells the story, with erudition, of a young actress seeking a lead role in an age when such honour was reserved to men. ‘The arts come together in dialogue. The graphic novel is a hybrid, mongrel art. As we carry out research, we sometimes come across gaps of a kind, we shift from one place to another. This opens into other worlds, other treasure chests.’ Read an extract (in French).

On the programme 100 % Logique on France 2 television, Benoît Auzou (E99), better known under his stage name Benoît Loiseau, demonstrated his talents as a magician and mentalist to celebrity guests Dave and Chimène Badi. 100% fascinating! See an extract (in French).