In just a few years, he has put Paris on the international tech map. We meet Maxime Baffert (E99), MD of Vivatech, who takes us behind the scenes of the leading event for entrepreneurship and innovation, a few days after the 2019 event.

ESSEC Alumni: How did Vivatech come about?

Maxime Baffert: Vivatech came into being as the combination of a project by Maurice Lévy for Publicis Groupe and another by Francis Morel for the Les Échos group. Both wanted to create a major event focused on innovation, technology and startups, and so they decided to join forces to create a single event on a grand scale, putting Paris on the international tech map.

EA: How did your career lead you to become a managing director at Vivatech?

M. Baffert: I had already been working at Publicis Groupe for seven years, and I had helped Maurice Lévy with his project. When it became a reality, I naturally joined the organising team – and I became managing director in the second year, alongside Julie Ranty, who came from Les Échos.

EA: How did Vivatech become the leading event it is today?

M. Baffert: Vivatech was the right value proposition at the right time. The French digital ecosystem was really starting to grow in scale, with a certain level of buzz around startups, the development of venture capital, major groups’ involvement in digital transformation, etc. The desire naturally emerged for a flagship, iconic event that could attract innovation leaders from all over the world to meet, discuss and demonstrate the strength of the digital sector in France.

EA: What was on the agenda at the 2019 event?

M. Baffert: It’s hard to cover it all! With over 100,000 visitors and more than 2,000 exhibitors over 53,000 m², Vivatech truly is an event on a massive scale. In short, once again, we provided our mix of top speakers, inspiring conferences, exclusive innovations and exceptional partners. Everything you wanted to know about the biggest trends in technology and digital transformation was at Vivatech.

EA: Was there anything new compared to previous years?

M. Baffert: Firstly, we’re growing. We had a second hall this year, which made things more comfortable for our visitors and gave us the opportunity to offer new themed areas on topics such as transport, artificial intelligence and greentech. A number of new sectors were also represented, with Renault and Citroën from the automotive industry and Huawei and Samsung from the consumer electronics sector.

EA: Vivatech isn’t just a place for startups to introduce themselves, but also a place for discussions about tech. What do you think are the main challenges for tech today?

M. Baffert: I’ll mention two. The first is the question of Europe’s place in the world of technology. Today, both the United States and China dominate the sector. Europe urgently needs to structure itself to help its own startups to develop and to influence technological developments.
The second challenge is ‘Tech for good’ – what needs to be done to make sure that technology is used to benefit the common good. We can no longer simply give carte blanche to technology – we need to think about the purposes it is used for in order to give those purposes a positive impact.

EA: How is the Vivatech trade show positioned on today’s international stage?

M. Baffert: By breaking the 100,000-visitor threshold last year, we joined the big league. Of course, we’re a long way from the big specialist shows, such as CES in Las Vegas or the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, but clearly, when it comes to startups, innovations and digital transformation, we’re now the biggest event in Europe.

EA: What’s your best memory as the organiser of Vivatech?

M. Baffert: I have two. The first is the awards ceremony to mark Publicis’s 90^th anniversary in 2016. I was on stage with 90 startups that the group had chosen following a global competition. I was gripped with stage fright and at the same time, I was delighted to have successfully put together such a fantastic project.
The second is a meetup this year in Abidjan, where African startups spoke about the positive impact that coming to Vivatech had on their business. I felt so proud.

EA: Is ESSEC well-represented at Vivatech?

M. Baffert: I don’t have specific numbers, but I meet a lot of former classmates every year.