What is your background ?
I studied in Paris, including a preparatory course that allowed me to enter Polytech Nantes. I specialized in business intelligence and data. This school was very advanced, so I immediately found a job in a very large ESN. I started directly on Microsoft projects.
After 3 years, I wanted to change. I joined another very large company that collects data from pharmaciesand doctors, which allows it to provide data to laboratories. I was in charge of an in-house software using Microsoft databases, which was very well established in the laboratories. One of my missions was the creation of dashboards.
I was then put in contact with Ai3. I wanted to try a smaller structure on a human scale. Until then, I had worked in companies with more than 40,000 employees. And I didn't feel at home there anymore.
The first interviews went well. It was quite technical because there was a real desire to find the "right" profile. It was a good match and it was very motivating.
I joined Ai3.
I first spent a year in Paris and then I asked for my transfer. I've been in Nantes for 3 years now. I am lucky to be working on some very nice projects, especially since the rise of Azure and more generally the dematerialization of projects in the Cloud. Joining Talan has also given me a lot of opportunities.
What is your job title?
Over the last ten years, I have evolved from a junior data consultant position to a senior position. Today, with the help of my manager, I am moving towards a position of Offer Manager / Tech lead. This consists of being responsible for all data related to the Microsoft universe for the entire Western region. I oversee all the calls for tender that revolve around these subjects as well as the creation of new offers. I'm also the referent for training and expertise in everything that concerns these technologies.
What are your current missions?
At the moment, I am 100% involved with our clients, but I should soon be able to free up some time for writing and responding to calls for tender.
1/5th of my time, I work for a client based in Rennes, France, specialized in expertise, audit and laboratory analysis. I replace their BI manager who has just left. Basically, they called on us to help them increase their skills in everything related to data and Microsoft. My objective is to address the various issues they encounter while training them on the solutions.
The rest of my time, I work for ADEME, a program targeting energy transition. I set up dashboards for the advisors to help them better manage their activity. I start with the data they have entered; I process it and I return it via Power BI reports.
This initiative is consolidated at the national level and in the French overseas departments and territories, it provides a global vision.
It's very concrete, and it really gives you the feeling that you're contributing to the building of new energies.
What's interesting about data is that you work in a wide variety of fields: energy, HR, luxury goods, etc. There is Data everywhere.
Moreover, I recently participated in call for tenders. We won, so we were able to place a multidisciplinary team around data. I was part of this team.
I also participated in a "P.O.C. ("Proof of Concept") for one of Talan's historical clients. Our mission was to demonstrate that a Microsoft solution could replace their existing solution. We demonstrated this through a mock-up while answering to the client’s questions.
Finally, I regularly give various training sessions on data and Power BI software...
2 words to present Talan?
Conviviality :
Conviviality is something that existed at Ai3 and that you find at Talan. There is a real friendliness within the teams. Every time I meet new people, they all have the same mindset and you can quickly find common interests. Very rapidly you can bond with them. I don't know if it's unique to Talan (or Ai3), but there's something about it that makes it easier to connect.
In the West, we have new premises and that helps to reinforce this spirit of conviviality. We can find each other more easily, be together and this despite this Covid context.
Know-How :
All the Talans I've worked with technically are, in general, well educated. You explain the Microsoft method to them, for example, and they understand very quickly.
Maybe it's related to the fact that Talan is agnostic and multi-technology. It may also have to do with the fact that at the Nantes agency, there are a lot of experienced people and few junior ones.
At Talan, it's interesting to be able to work with people who all have real know-how.
What do you hope to bring to Talan from your experience at Ai3?
With Ai3, we joined Talan with our Microsoft expertise.
I, in particular, on the data side thanks to the experience I gained through the projects I followed all these years.
With Talan, I shared my know-how, especially on the user experience.
We also brought our way of working on a daily basis with Microsoft tools: Teams, OneDrive, SharePoint, etc.
At Talan, we have not been left out. We try to take advantage of all the profiles that are available to us today. It's really a great merger and not just a buyout.
What is your playing field?
My playing field has three dimensions.
The first is around data and Microsoft. All my missions revolve around this technology, Power Bi, data flows and the Azur Data Factory. This also leads me to work on responses to calls for tenders, to try to project what the client's BI would look like in the Microsoft universe.
The second dimension is the expertise, to be able to answer all the problems that are asked to me ! I like to dig deeper and expand my knowledge. I enjoy learning new things and constantly renewing myself. It’s something that stimulates me.
The third dimension is all about training. I like to pass on my knowledge. Whether it's to clients or to colleagues.
And I always appreciate to show them some advanced features. I find helping my students to go much faster and solve their problems, very fulfilling.
Do you have a strong memory at Talan?
The presentation of a first P.O.C. at a major energy company is a very good memory. The existing Talan team was challenged because the software support was coming to an end. The client wondered about the possibility of migrating to Microsoft. I was consulted and we worked with this team.
This 3-month mission allowed us to design a model that we presented to the client. There was, a major commercial challenge in making this presentation a success.
We had the opportunity to show this client a new way of visualizing his data. I appreciated this synergy between our technological expertise and our business expertise.
In the end, we convinced the client to adopt Microsoft solutions. It was very rewarding to be able to propose new solutions and new perspectives to the client.
On a more playful note, Talan has soccer fans like me. We created an MPG League. It's a game centered on soccer with a kind of mercato. Each collaborator can buy players and each time there is a real soccer day and a player scores, it's a goal for his team.
This allows us to build relationships in a different and friendly context. It's very valuable in these times of Covid-19.
Which person inspires you the most?
Erwan Lancien inspires me a lot. He is director of pre-sales architects at Talan Solutions. He originally recruited me and I made my first projects with him. He is someone who really positions himself as a leader and seeks to make his collaborators grow. He is far from the management by terror that you can sometimes find elsewhere. He takes the time to really work with you. He is patient and really tries to solve your problems when you're struggling with a situation. He doesn't push you down. He also challenges you all the time from a technological point of view, to be ready "at the top" on the new project that is coming up. Or on the new technology. He doesn't hesitate to experiment with new ways of thinking and he tries to continually upgrade his skills. I'm always on the lookout for feedback from his clients...
