CEOInterviews.AIOrange Business Services engagé pour une innovation à impact positif

M

Moderator0:00

In two years, the world we knew has changed. In a world that calls us to reinvent ourselves, one word takes on its full meaning: transform. Transform our ways of thinking, working, producing, and consuming. Companies' responsibility matches the challenges they must face, starting by transforming themselves — the employee experience, the operational experience, infrastructure, data, and the customer experience. Beyond all these transformations, we have another mission: generate sustainable value by giving meaning to our actions and sharing a single ambition — creating a positive impact for all.

Welcome! It's a bit less enthusiastic than this morning, but I hope you'll find your energy after lunch — we're counting on you! Welcome to everyone joining us, here at the Carrousel du Louvre or online. We're live for the fourth edition of OB'AS Sémite, the positive business impact event. We're here until 6 PM with a plenary in the auditorium, talks and demonstrations in the garden and the space behind you, with our 24 partners whom we warmly thank. The OB'AS experts are here until this evening — don't hesitate to see them, and you can book appointments via the web app. Let's continue our exploration of positive impact — specifically the role of innovation in creating sustainable value. I'm pleased to welcome Wassila Zitoune, CEO of Orange Business.

Bonjour Wassila, how are you? After lunch we have a tough mission — raising the energy level of the room, but it smells like it's going well! We'll talk about energy — not just the room's energy, but energy in general. Report after report, the IPCC reminds us the road is long to reach 1.5 degrees. Carbon neutrality by 2050 seems difficult given the current geopolitical context — tensions in energy and raw materials, inflation on top of pandemic supply difficulties. Wassila, how does this situation accelerate Orange Business's CSR policies, especially as companies are asked for more energy sobriety?

W

Wassila Zitoune4:27

When I listen to you describe these unprecedented constraints hitting us for several years, one could be tempted by resignation and immobilism. But at Orange Business, we consider we have our part to play in this collective responsibility. We view this unprecedented moment of constraint as a moment of urgency and therefore opportunity. That's the first key idea, and I deeply believe it's in our roots, our DNA, our values. My second message is about our ecosystem: our Green Act commitment is fundamentally inclusive and forward-looking.

M

Moderator6:26

I remember when we discussed preparing this event, you said something striking — it's not so much internet traffic that emits, but rather networks and information systems.

W

Wassila Zitoune6:41

That's very accurate. Michaël, our head of technology and innovation, makes this point well. We need to debunk this misconception. As both operator and integrator, at the top of the stack is the issue of networks. With accelerated digitalization and exponential growth in usage, what drives consumption is our networks, data, and infrastructure. The opening keynote showed great pragmatism: identify the issue — networks and data centers. Put in place sensors to measure electricity consumption. Act by subtly regulating temperature to reduce air conditioning — data centers are extremely energy-intensive. And recycling: LED lighting, air conditioner renovation, overall recycling. It all ends in a virtuous loop of measure-identify, measure-act, measure. Results are encouraging on three of our largest data centers, pointing toward our much more powerful commitment: halving the energy bill of our data centers. We're on the right track, but there's still much to do. Never be self-satisfied — that would be a grave error.

M

Moderator8:30

Beyond internal synergies within the Orange group, how can you put your innovation capacity at the service of your clients' transformation, as they also need to reduce their carbon footprint?

W

Wassila Zitoune8:48

It's the meeting of technology, need, and ecosystem. The star technologies for optimizing the energy equation are the IoT, intelligent objects, and data at the center. An example we worked on with Orange Vélodrome in Marseille and Cisco: turning off the Wi-Fi network when there's no usage — totally counterintuitive since networks are built to be always on. The technological subtlety lies in quickly recovering performance when turning it back on, as if you never turned it off. This apparent simplicity hides great complexity, but above all hyper-pragmatism. With Cisco and the Orange Vélodrome, it's stunning: a 40% reduction in energy consumption. You might say it's common sense, but it needed to be done, thought through, and achieved. That's why we need to work together to move in the right direction.

M

Moderator10:17

Having the right approaches, exactly.

W

Wassila Zitoune10:21

When I speak of ecosystem and partners, none of this would have been possible — that's the first key message. The second is about co-innovation, incubation, and collective intelligence. Incubation goes through several stages beginning very quickly after ideation: we have an intuition, sense a need, and technology opens possibilities. We bring people together and develop iteratively and agilely, validating the need in real conditions with a client on board to test. This changes the relationship with time — we need to make many mistakes, so making them quickly. This test-and-learn method on a platform of collective intelligence validates a solution. If it responds to a need and is natively designed for environmental benefits, we've gained time. Then comes the moment of truth: if successful, we scale up.

M

Moderator12:36

Taking stock of all these actions in concrete terms, what does it give today in numbers? Where are you precisely in achieving your environmental and societal objectives?

W

Wassila Zitoune12:55

At Orange Business, we define value creation through four lenses: for shareholders, employees, society, and clients. During our first-half financial results in July, we showed that environmental commitments are equally important — with transparency and clarity. Against our milestones — 2025 and 2040 (slightly ahead of the Orange group's schedule) — we have two key indicators. First, reducing energy consumption and carbon emissions: targeted at -30% by 2025, currently at -14% versus 2019. Second, the recycling rate of equipment and phones: targeted at 30%, currently around 21.5%. Real dynamic, total transparency, value as important as performance. No self-satisfaction — much still to do.

M

Moderator14:38

So if I understand correctly, innovation and the green dimension — sustainable growth — are indispensable. The more I listen today, the more I want to spend less time on the 'why' because it's so obvious.

W

Wassila Zitoune15:11

Our role as ecosystem federator is key. It's an equation of technology, need, and partner. Technologies move extremely fast and are only sustainable if open and shared by the greatest number. Our approach seems the most pragmatic, intelligent, and inclusive. Another example — Copernicus, in spatial and satellite data. With Airbus, Capgemini, and Orange Business, we developed a satellite image database. A startup called Digimov uses this common good to alert populations proactively in case of climate disasters. This shows how, with an ecosystem, on a meaningful subject, through open co-innovation, we can advance things.

M

Moderator17:08

Thank you, Wassila. You mentioned Michaël — he couldn't be here, but he shares his vision of innovation within Orange and the group's climate commitments. Let's listen.

M

Michael Fabien17:30

Hello everyone. The extreme events this summer remind us how important fighting climate change is for all actors, especially companies. Orange has committed to carbon neutrality by 2040 — ten years ahead of the Paris Agreement — by drastically reducing direct and indirect emissions with an ambitious Decarbon program. Our indirect emissions account for 80% of the total. I want to debunk the idea that we should reduce internet traffic to cut CO2 — the carbon footprint of telecoms is determined by access (network coverage and client equipment), not traffic. We're working with partners on circular economy and eco-design: increasing smartphone lifespan from three to five years, facilitating reuse and recycling. Digital technologies, despite modest footprints, can contribute to the broader environmental transition. Three examples: reducing professional travel through collaborative tools; optimizing industrial activities with IoT, AI, and edge computing through partnerships like IoT Continuum; and improving building energy consumption with our Smart Eco Energy offer. Orange pioneers open, transparent, auditable impact measurement. We've oriented our innovation toward positive impact — serving clients while addressing society's great challenges, through our 8,000 experts and researchers. Thank you and enjoy OB'AS Sémite.

M

Moderator21:43

You do this internally too — measuring like an open lab, testing and experimenting. We understand the importance of co-innovation with clients, employees, and partners. And that's what we'll discuss next, on a sensitive environmental topic: agriculture. What is the place of digital innovation in this sector? Wassila, if you agree, let's welcome Sébastien Picardat, CEO of Agdatahub.

S

Sébastien Picardat22:57

Hello Sébastien, how are you? Very well, delighted to be here. Welcome to OB'AS Sémite! I didn't know about Agdatahub until yesterday — I discovered it and it's wonderful. Can you share with our audience? Agdatahub is an agricultural adventure founded by farmers for farmers, with support from the State and partners like Orange Business Services. It's the first recognized data intermediary in France and Europe, enabling data flow between 380,000 French agricultural holdings and 85,000 upstream and downstream partners. Supported by BPI France, Caisse des Dépôts, and the European Commission, which named us coordinator of the future agricultural dataspace under GAIA-X.

M

Moderator23:52

And you're developing several agricultural data solutions, right?

S

Sébastien Picardat23:56

Exactly. API Agro for agricultural data exchange, including identity and consent management, plus support for SMEs around their data approach with Cap Data.

M

Moderator23:56

So explain this collaboration with OB'S a bit.

S

Sébastien Picardat24:12

It started four years ago with an innovation project with Orange Labs and all the Orange teams who accompanied us, in connection with the Imprimerie Nationale group, to develop the first wallet combining a farmer's digital identity as a natural person and their legal entity — the farm. The farmer can securely access business applications, give consent before any data exchange, and present attributes like professional certificates.

M

Moderator25:04

And we're talking about blockchain here — it's energy-intensive, isn't it?

W

Wassila Zitoune25:14

As was said this morning, technologies follow one another — like 3G to 5G. Yes, it was true initially when the technology wasn't mature. But enormous progress has been made in energy consumption. To give scale: a farmer emits a certificate two or three times a year, and data is stored as many times as requested — roughly a terabyte per year previously. Today with this digital identity passport, we're in kilobytes. It shows the enormous progress made. If you want to know everything about blockchain, visit our expert Antoine Maisonneuve at the immersive technologies stand — he's pedagogical, passionate, and I hear he has a fan club in the room.

M

Moderator26:44

Thank you, Wassila. So concretely, you mentioned AgriConsenS — what is it used for?

S

Sébastien Picardat26:51

We face climate, environmental, and economic crises with the need to ensure food and energy sovereignty. Agriculture contributes by sequestering carbon and better informing consumers about local practices. AgriConsenS secures farmers' data usage — the farmer remains master of how their data is used, demonstrating organic farming compliance, safe phytosanitary product use, and sharing information with precision agriculture partners or consumers. For environmental labeling under next year's climate law, this requires farmers to make data available so the supply chain can process, optimize, and trace it, materializing as an environmental score on everyday products.

M

Moderator28:33

So this allows measuring and calculating one's carbon credit?

S

Sébastien Picardat28:39

Indeed. We're developing environmental scoring in partnership with Footprint, and also calculating carbon credits to value agricultural practices — sequestering carbon, and why not sell it to Orange.

M

Moderator29:01

There's business to be made! And digital identity — why is it important for the farmer and their partners?

W

Wassila Zitoune29:11

Sébastien speaks brilliantly. Beyond the user-oriented aspect, there's a trust benefit in digital transactions — giving users visibility into what happens with their data. There's undeniably a security issue with identity theft and fraud. Efficiency too — the user experience in opening accounts and various processes are all benefits of simplicity. And on the innovation side: we're providing relevant, sovereign technology that's compliant with the European framework that's coming. It's very timely.

M

Moderator30:14

And Sébastien, perhaps an example or two to illustrate? The first for logging into a website securely?

S

Sébastien Picardat30:25

For the farmer, without a username or password, they just scan a QR code and access all decision-support tools through an identity federation coming soon. Second: the certificate. To securely purchase phytosanitary products, the farmer must prove prior training. The certificate on the wallet allows them, via QR code, to buy these products in complete security.

W

Wassila Zitoune31:15

Our raison d'être at Orange is singular: giving everyone the keys to a responsible digital world. This is a beautiful example carrying recipes for success. Our contribution: facilitating data sharing — as operator and integrator, we traverse the entire data value chain. Drastically reducing fraud, which prevents people from creating value. And securing intellectual property rights, which are multiplying in this absolutely exponential use of data across multiple sectors.

M

Moderator32:22

Thank you, Wassila. Sébastien, you came with a video summarizing what we discussed. Let's watch.

N

Narrator32:35

Digital technology is at the heart of farmers' daily lives. In two clicks, AgriConsenS offers farmers greater control over their data exchanges in complete security. Christophe, a cereal farmer in Île-de-France, receives Mathilde from the agricultural chamber presenting a new service requiring farm data access. To benefit, Christophe must give explicit consent — no more paperwork. The solution quickly guarantees his identity and consent. For phytosanitary products, Christophe opens his agricultural wallet and proves his certificate's validity — no more expired paper documents. Farmers have all certificates in their pocket, and distributors get guaranteed buyer identity. Christophe sends his bank details through the wallet — extremely secure, unfalsifiable. On the AgriConsenS portal, he manages his consents: viewing, renewing, or revoking them. The farmer sees which partners access which data and for how long. AgriConsenS consolidates the trust relationship between farmers and their partners.

M

Moderator35:03

It summarizes your points well in images. It's wonderful, it's concrete.

S

Sébastien Picardat35:09

It's concrete, absolutely.

M

Moderator35:12

And now, what are the next steps?

S

Sébastien Picardat35:15

We've established ourselves in France, in Île-de-France. Now we're moving to the European level. The whole challenge, thanks to GAIA-X and our designation as coordinator of the agricultural dataspace, is to scale from France's 380,000 holdings to 10 million across Europe, securing data exchanges within the EU. We'll work with a scalable blockchain architecture, shared across our sector, with nodes hosted on Orange Business Services' flexible offer.

W

Wassila Zitoune36:03

You could think of the banking sector — authorization and identity validation given the number of transactions and the importance of security. It could be a future application of this type of solution.

S

Sébastien Picardat36:22

Tourism as well. If agriculture did it, why not? Independent restaurateurs, hoteliers — showcasing their image, menu, expertise, and protecting intellectual property. That's what blockchain enables. Plus managing consent the way farmers do. Perhaps other sectors too — health, transport — ensuring traceability from farm to plate, available at all times for all supply chain actors.

W

Wassila Zitoune37:07

A final word on blockchain — one of its sponsors is in the front row, so we salute them. We believe in it because beautiful stories like this will repeat. We joined the Blockchain France Alliance last summer alongside 17 founding members. This consortium accelerates initiatives and builds a French blockchain infrastructure open to all administrations and businesses. Perhaps a concluding thought: we choose neither immobilism nor anxiety, even with complex constraints. Co-innovation for positive impact, through past, present, and future examples, fundamentally defines us. It's in the genetic code of the Orange group and OB'AS — practiced with inclusion, humility, and a conviction I learned as common sense: when things are complex and uncertain, there's a way out — it's collective intelligence. And we underestimate how much these subjects mobilize employees on the issue of meaning. Thank you.

M

Moderator39:24

Thank you, Wassila. Thank you, Sébastien — a pleasure discussing with you. We've reached the end of this plenary. OB'AS Sémite continues until 6 PM with networking and talks hosted by Jeanne Baron — don't miss them! A certification questionnaire will arrive by SMS — your feedback is precious. We warmly thank our 24 partners — please applaud, it's thanks to them. It was a pleasure accompanying you. Have a wonderful afternoon, it continues until 6 — take advantage! See you next time. Thank you!