Interview of Raphaël Sanchez (SK 2002) by Valentin Vivier (SK 2007), ambassador of the Digital Club

Spotlight on Raphaël Sanchez (SK 2002), Director of Infrastructure Services at IBM, who welcomed the SKEMA Alumni Digital Club to the IBM headquarters on 23 May 2018 to talk to them about AI (Artificial Intelligence). Valentin Vivier (SK 2007), Data Projects Manager at France Télévisions Editions Numériques and ambassador of the Digital Club, took the opportunity to ask Raphaël a few questions:

Valentin: You’ve spent almost your entire career at IBM. In what ways have you seen the company evolve? What are the major changes you’ve witnessed?

Raphaël: I joined IBM in July 2002. Facebook, Twitter, Uber, AirBnb and many others didn’t exist yet… Ditto for the iPhone, the Cloud, the IoT and blockchain. The world has changed radically and so has its economic landscape. The WEF (World Economic Forum) talks about a fourth industrial revolution, a digital transformation that is fundamentally altering our behaviours: the way we communicate, work, travel, consume, or quite simply the way we live… Our challenge: to transform and be transformed. At IBM, over 50% of our portfolio of solutions, technologies and services has changed in just 3 years… we’re talking about a company that’s over 100 years old with more than 350,000 employees. I’m still fascinated by this ability to adapt to change; an ability that is essential in a society where everything is constantly evolving.

V: Raphaël, you’re Director of Infrastructure Services at IBM, which right now is one of the companies leading the way in the field of AI. Are you seeing an acceleration of the needs and practices linked to AI in the market? Is this new for your clients?

R: These technologies have been applicable and accessible for a few years now: this is enough maturity to bring in new large-scale and profitable products and services. The rise of automation continues and AI is speeding up this process exponentially with “learning” technologies. The market has understood the power of AI – IBM is aiming for Watson to reach the over 1 billion users mark in the coming months. In-company projects are multiplying, as we were able to see recently during the Vivatech event.

V: Innovation often happens in companies, in groups that can invest big money before it reaches people’s homes. In your opinion, what are the next major changes AI will bring to homes?

R: For over 20 years now, IBM has held more US patents than any other company the world, all fields combined. Our research and investments are focused on cutting-edge fields like AI, of course, and geared towards businesses since we are in the B2B market. This does, however, enable our clients to bring new services to the masses (B2B2C). Many companies and startups bring IBM technology to our homes indirectly – in France too. We are actually seeing a major convergence between the IoT and AI. Eventually, all objects will be intelligent. All of them. And generate a colossal mass of information that can be used (according to analysts, we are expecting no fewer than 50 billion connected objects in the world within the next 18 months). The management of this data is becoming a major challenge, from both an economic standpoint and an ethical one. Companies must take into account these new challenges. Data protection and the cybersecurity of our users are therefore top priorities for us and our investments and commitments in this area are huge.

V: France is looking to really prepare itself for the future in the areas of Big Data and AI, as demonstrated by the work presented in the “Villani Report”. Do you think that we have the skills, characteristic traits or strengths needed to have a real shot at going up against the US and China, the two giants in this field?

R: France is very well positioned in these two fields, as demonstrated by the major AI projects we are conducting with some major French banks. Actually, you may have recently noticed several publications following the Tech for Good summit. We announced the creation of 1,800 jobs in France over the next two years; all to do with AI, Blockchain, the IoT, the Cloud... etc. 400 jobs will be devoted to AI and some of our researchers will be moving to Paris-Saclay. Such an investment in France really demonstrates our country’s unquestionable ambition in this field. Our success will depend on the ability of companies, schools and universities to anticipate developments in these areas and put in place the right programmes and training. We’re taking major action in the field of education, with the creation of academies for companies and student support programmes to prepare the younger generations for the challenges of this digital transformation.

V: And finally, for those of our alumni who are wondering, is there a future in AI-related jobs if you’re an engineer, a mathematician or a data scientist?  

R: We are convinced that AI is going to transform every job, profession and industry. So this revolution will have an impact on every single one of us. There are so many applications left to imagine, build, market, promote, manage and improve. New business models will continue to emerge… In short, there is almost unlimited potential for creation in all professions :)

Raphaël Sanchez

• Are you keen to join the SKEMA Alumni Digital community? Update your personal and professional contact details HERE and join the Facebook and Linkedin groups.
• Would you like to play a part in your network’s development alongside Valentin? Contact Audrey Lefort on 01 41 16 70 36 or by email at audrey.lefort@skema.edu.

Big thanks to Raphaël and Valentin for organising this fantastic get-together! See photos of the event here.