The Housing Crisis, AI, Glass Ceiling, and a World Record...ESSEC in the News

Major group leaders, committed citizens, experts, entrepreneurs, authors and a world skydiving champion. ESSEC is making the headlines in all fields! Press review

Leaders

In La Tribune, Véronique Bédague (E87), CEO of Nexity, warned: ‘The housing crisis is a powerful vector in the country’s slowdown.’ She spoke of ‘studies hindered, workers refusing job offers due to a lack of accommodation, and thousands of homeless children...we must invest in housing to get France moving again. To do that, we need more than ever to massively support production by bringing back individual investors and real estate institutions. The choice of levers is up to the public authorities.’
Read an extract (in French)

In Revue Banque, Béatrice Kosowski (E87), CEO of IBM France, reminded readers of the historical links between her group and the banking and insurance sector ‘In a spirit of co-innovation, we work hand in hand with around 90 of the world’s largest banks in the fields of artificial intelligence, the cloud, operation and application security, operational resilience and compliance with constantly changing regulations.’ 
Read the article (in French)
Also read our interview (in French)

On BFM TV, Samuel Loiseau (E98), General Director of UGC cinema operations in France and Belgium, reiterated his group’s mission: to spark audiences’ curiosity by offering a broad diversity of films. ‘We are fully committed to supporting the French cinema model, with 40% of national productions distributed by our network.’ A strategy thus based on content offer, but also on prices, with ‘a wide range of subscription options to compete with the highly offensive and agile offers from platforms’  
See the video (in French)

On Maddyness, Clara Chappaz (E12), Director of La French Tech, officially opened the call for applications for the upcoming Next40/French Tech 120, and shared her take on the artificial intelligence boom in France. ‘What’s happening in this field is a clear indicator of the State’s long-term strategic ability to possess substantial computing capacity and attract the world’s most renowned laboratories.’
Read the article (in French)

Experts

In Le Point, Julien Gobin (E13), philosopher and author of  L’Individu, fin de parcours ? [Is This the End of the Individual?], warned: ‘Individual rights in our society are more extensive than ever before, and yet the responsibility of each person has never been so at risk. Why? Because artificial intelligence is undermining the very foundation of our legal system, i.e. free will!’ By way of illustration, he asked ‘are you guilty when you commit a crime because you were manipulated by a deepfake?’  
Read an extract (in French).
Also read our interview (in French)

In Décideurs Magazine, Adrien Basdevant (E12), co-founder of the legal firm Entropy, which specialises in tech affairs, offered his advice for companies in the implementation of the new European AI Act. ‘First and foremost, identify and classify your AI systems according to the risk level defined by the law. Then, assess the interaction between the latter and laws already in effect, including the GDPR, cybersecurity regulations and provisions relative to digital services.’  
Read the article (in French)

In La Revue Politique, Jean-Baptiste Barfety (E11), Executive Director of the CP-ESSEC Companies and the Common Good Chair, suggested speaking of a ‘great shift’ in the working world, rather than the ‘great resignation’ or the ‘laziness epidemic’. ‘We’re seeing a change in French people’s aspirations, embodied by a demand for balance between private and professional life, as well as a quest for meaning with workers increasingly attentive to their company’s impact and the coherence of its action.’  
Read the article (in French)

On BFM TV, columnist Clara Moley (E13) responded to viewers’ questions on ‘real life at work’: how to talk to your boss, to apply for a position when you doubt your legitimacy, or how to get promoted while staying true to yourself, and much more.
Watch the video (in French)

At TEDx, Jean-Noël Felli (E89), CEO of the consultancy Balthazar and author of L’Entreprise vraiment responsable [The Truly Responsible Company], invited us to change our view of companies: ‘We must draw inspiration from nature, and shift the focus from the firm’s performance to the resilience and robustness of the living organism. This implies rethinking the very purpose of our business activities; if making profit remains a goal, it must not be a purpose in itself, but a way to be useful, to address social and environmental challenges.’  
Watch the video (in French)

On the L’Opinion website, Laurent Julienne (E93), Partner M&A - Private Equity at Lerins and author of Management Package, explains that major groups have three ways to innovate, through ‘R&D, company takeover or intrapreneurship.’
Read the article (in French)

On BFM TV, Valentin Vandekerchove (E23) challenged Hugues Foulon, Managing Director of Orange Cyberdéfense, on the risks and opportunities of technological breakthroughs in the field on quantum computing, as well as lack of resources available to public authorities and health establishments to address the rise in cyber threats in this context. 
See the video (in French)

In Les Échos, Aurélien Colson (E98), Professor of Political Science at ESSEC, presented the educational aim of the dual programme recently set up between ESSEC and Saint-Cyr. ‘This 6-month military training course offers a way to truly understand the notion of team work and experience the embodiment of tenacity and perseverance.’  
Read the article (in French)

Commitment

At TEDx, Cécile Moroni (E08) explored the double glass ceiling faced by foreign women in Norwegian companies. ‘Diversity and inclusion can be hard, even in a front-runner country as regards gender equality. Dare to change! It's not about not having bias. It's about being conscious about them. It's a great responsibility, but if you flip it around, it's a unique opportunity to acquire talent.’  
Watch the video

On BSmart, Julia Néel Biz (E12), co-founder alongside Nicolas Merlaud (E12) of the mental health support platform Teale, shared a nuanced view of the growing willingness to speak out against gender-based and sexual violence in the workplace: ‘We have gained decades of maturity in three or four years, but the figures are still edifying.’  
Watch the video (in French)

Le Parisien showcased L’Accélérateur, a support scheme for young people distanced from the labour market, led by Jean-Baptiste Achard (E17) via his independent employment platform StaffMe. ‘The team helps them to create their micro-entrepreneur status and provides access to a range of highly diverse periodical missions. Semiou became a building caretaker, Guilvan a works coordinator for a construction company... ‘ 
Read an extract (in French)

On BFM TV and as part of Solidarity Night 2024, Baudouin de Pontcharra (E08), President of Solidarités Nouvelles pour le Logement [New Solidarity for Accommodation], highlighted his group’s actions. ‘We’ve been fighting for 35 years to provide accommodation for people who are excluded from the system, and to offer them local support from volunteers and professionals.’ His belief is that ‘emergency accommodation is vital to get people off the streets, but must not become a long-term solution.’
Watch the video (in French).
Also read our interview (in French)

On BFM TV, Julien Morville (EXEC M13), co-founder of the co-living operator Sharies, offered his view of the housing crisis. ‘On the one hand, France has a critical need for 500,000 new housing units each year. On the other, individuals alone cannot keep the rental market afloat - they simply do not have the means. In 1980, institutional backers managed around 15% of the private rental stock, a figure which has fallen to just 3% at present. It is therefore imperative we re-professionalise the sector.’  
See the video (in French)

Entrepreneurship

On BSmart, Fleur Pellerin (E94), founder of Korelya Capital and former Minister for Innovation & the Digital Economy, assesses the progress of European capital investment in the last 10 years. ‘At the time, the market was seen as the “Death Valley” of funding. There was seed capital, but as of Series B, French businesses were forced to look to the Americans. Today, and thanks in particular to BPI’s action, we’re catching up to a certain degree.’  
See the video (in French)

On the Maddyness website, Adeline Lemaire (E03) presents the funding activity she manages for Bpifrance, and which consists in investing in…investment funds. ‘We’re an omnicyclical player. We support the market in high and low moments: when management firms have difficulty raising capital, we readily increase our control rates to enable teams to conclude first closings and thus remain active.’ The entrepreneurs’ bank commits more than €1 billion annually via this vehicle, a figure which is rising steadily.  
Read the article (in French)

The Maddyness website showcases Olympe Capital, a club consisting of 20 women business angels including Jessica Vignoles (M13), Lydia Seyler (E16), Sophie Mina (E15) and Chloé Roubach (E14), and which supports female business owners and investors. ‘There is a dual aim to fund projects by women who have difficulty raising capital and to boost women’s confidence in their ability to invest.’  
Read the article (in French).
Also read our interview (in French)

On the Tech Times website, David Meyer (E15), co-founder of Lynceus, explains how he aims to revolutionise the production of semi-conductors thanks to artificial intelligence. The impact is both technical - ‘we reduce processing steps by 30%’ - and geopolitical - ‘the USA is trying to prevent China from getting these technologies.’ 
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Le Monde du Droit ran a feature on Ordalie, a generative AI solution applied to law, co-founded by Léa Fleury (E19). ‘Right now, we’re developing the tool with legal firms of all sizes. Our ultimate aim is to facilitate access to legal information by helping users to sort and organise hundreds of thousands of various sources, to deliver a structured, drafted response and even contribute to contract drafting and management, by suggesting clauses for example, or by anticipating potential issues linked to the terms used.’
Read the article (in French)

On Maddyness, Jonathan Livescault (E09) describes how his start-up Braineet pivoted from a social network model to a BtoB platform steering innovation in major groups, up to its recent acquisition by a German counterpart. ‘We’ve changed completely on this point. At the beginning, we were absolutely determined to impose our vision...before totally reversing our approach to co-develop products with our users. We thus evolved with our customers and their needs.’
Read the article (in French)

On Sud Radio, Richard de Cabrol (E14), president of ESSEC Alumni’s Motor Club, announced the finalists of the Grand Prix ACF AutoTech 2024, the annual award for the most promising start-ups in the motoring sector. ‘We selected 6 projects, based on battery recycling, hydrogen, renewable nickel, anti-white zone satellite connection, automated accident prevention, and a zero-emission solution. We received a record-breaking total of 94 entries!’ The first results will be announced on 24 April. 
Watch the video (from 4:00) (in French)

Culture & Entertainment 

Le Figaro’s literary review praised Simulacre, the second novel by François-Régis de Guenyveau (E13), which tells the story of a business school student who becomes a figurehead artist in an emerging movement based on new technologies. ‘The author avoids the journalistic ruts of short ideas and the Manicheism of pitting the disheartening world of business against the desirable one of art. He rehabilitates everything that escapes the programming, computing and demiurges of artificial intelligence. For how much longer?’  Read an extract (in French).
Read our article (in French)

The Tatler Asia website pays tribute to Kyra Poh (BBA 22), skydiving champion and holder of four world records.  

Read the article (in French)

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