François RAFFIN

Summary

In short: Innovation has been my passion since childhood. My conviction is that innovation must be relevant both in terms of current business success AND the ability of future generations to live a fulfilling life. My most cherished goal is to leverage 15 years of experience as a catalyst for innovation and change and 15 years as a manager in multinationals to foster sustainable innovation. My key drivers for motivation: sustainable innovation, creation of new user-centred products and services, people motivation, business transformation and sustainable growth. Specializations: Management of international teams to innovate and change, create new products and services, advisory sales and key account management, Blue Ocean strategy, sustainable innovation, creativity for innovation, cognitive sciences, facilitation. Longer version: In April 2004, I created Auki, a consulting firm whose mission is to bring innovation to life in companies to make them sustainable. Since the inception of Auki, I have devoted my time and energy to fostering innovation and change in multinationals, medium-sized companies, SMEs and start-ups, including a one-year mission at BD to lead strategic innovation initiatives in new business territories and establish links with other industries. My focus has been on people at the heart of innovation and change to achieve better results. I made the link with eco-design in 2005, developing an eco-innovation method with Gingko21. We have been promoting sustainable innovation since 2006. It was too early. The time has come. As an "Innovation Fellow", words that better reflect my way of working than "consultant", I have accompanied various innovation initiatives, ranging from the Blue Ocean Strategy to eco-innovation initiatives to problem solving with cognitive science and TRIZ. I have worked with many different industries such as small electrical appliances with SEB, sportswear with Decathlon, medical devices with BD, building components with Saint-Gobain and Umicore, IT with HP, telecommunications with Orange, tires with Michelin, electrical equipment with Schneider Electric to name a few. Prior to this, I acquired 15 years of experience as a manager in the France Telecom group and at Hewlett-Packard. I led the development of various international activities (Telecom, Internet, Software), prepared the "Global One" JV, which became "Equant" then Orange Business Services and merged the teams during the HP-Compaq merger. I also held the position of Key Account Manager (Telecom and IT) for 4 years.