L'OREAL SkinConnect digital product designed, industrialized & manufactured by TXCube

I now invite you to an exceptional moment, an exciting, moving, emotional moment. Why? Because one year ago, during this same top-level event, I was hosting a speed dating session between SME managers and large company managers. I received Jean-Paul Agon, CEO of L'Oréal, and Élisabeth Partouche, who runs TX Cube, which designs and develops connected products of complex mechanics. So Élisabeth Partouche was questioning Jean-Paul Agon on this crucial topic of collaboration between SMEs and large groups. She asked Jean-Paul Agon how to strengthen relationships between SMEs and large groups, how to reconcile the agility of SMEs with the perhaps heavier functioning of large groups, etc. And today, one year later, they are both here again on this set to tell us everything that happened in a year, and God knows what has happened. Jean-Paul Agon, hello. Élisabeth Partouche, hello. Well, I'll hand it over to you. I'll let you both tell us what happened in a year of collaboration that, it seems, has been fruitful. Go ahead, Élisabeth.

Listen, I think it's a fabulous story. A year ago, I said to Jean-Paul Agon, 'Listen, I don't know what we're going to talk about because you make cosmetics, beauty products, we make electronic products. What's the relationship?' He said, 'Don't be mistaken, come and see me.' And a year later, we come back with a product. So we develop, design, and industrialize electronic products, connected products. And Jean-Paul Agon put us in touch with the BeautyTech department at L'Oréal, whose existence we were unaware of. Thanks to that, we were called upon to respond to a tender to price the development, industrialization, and manufacturing of this product. This is a connected product that we will show you. Jean-Paul Agon brought it, and in less than a year, it exists, it is here. So I told you that large groups lack agility and complexity, but here it's the complete opposite that happened. We moved very quickly. The BeautyTech within L'Oréal is a department that is actually a startup within a large structure, and thus with phenomenal agility. We have product development experience, and in less than a year, we have a functional prototype that works. You can, Jean-Paul Agon?

Élisabeth Partouche, finally?

Ah well completely, there is artificial intelligence that has been developed in partnership with Newton Technology, which accompanied us on the project. And today we really have a complete product, a connected product, it's in the air of the times. It's part of the new technologies adapted to the cosmetics industry. And it's going to be used since this is the prototype, but in the coming months we will launch it, and we already have three thousand units planned that will be used by our brands, brands like Lancôme, like Giorgio Armani, who will be able to use it on the counters to do the diagnosis. So concretely, when you go to a department store or a counter, you will have your skin analyzed, and there will be specialized salespeople who will tell you what type of product you need. And it's us who will manufacture the product. So it's really an optimal partnership, very fast, very efficient, very good economics, and it will allow a very rapid global deployment. We start in France but we will deploy it absolutely globally because all our brands are global. Oh yes, we are handling the certifications of the product for the whole world. And since we are talking about innovation, let's be very clear: this is a world first, it doesn't exist at all. There are other large systems that allow you to analyze and diagnose the skin, but in a small portable device like this, it doesn't exist. And also with all the artificial intelligence behind it, since the device is the hardware, but what is most precious is the software, which is based on thousands, tens of thousands of skin studies, in order to be able to make comparisons and thus, with artificial intelligence, make the correct diagnosis. And this knowledge is truly unique, and this product will benefit from this knowledge in a completely novel way. It's a first.

Well, Élisabeth Partouche, Jean-Paul Agon, it was really very important this morning that we could show you that here, contacts are born that give rise to projects. But it was also important to show you to what extent these projects can succeed, for the greatest happiness of SMEs, large companies, and ultimately, because that's what matters, Jean-Paul Agon, of the customer, the consumer, of course. And I take this opportunity to make a call to all the entrepreneurs, startuppers like Élisabeth. If you have great ideas, beautiful ideas that can have a link with cosmetics, L'Oréal is a taker, and L'Oréal has demonstrated its ability to react very quickly and to put on the market highly innovative, high-tech products. Thank you very much to both of you. Thank you, Jean-Paul. Thank you both. It was absolutely fascinating.