ENGIE EVP of HR: ‘AI is not only an IT topic’

Working at ENGIE is about “taking part in the most important adventure of the century: the energy transition”.

As the €82.6 billion-turnover European energy giant’s EVP of HR Jean-Sebastien Blanc tells UNLEASH in an exclusive interview, ENGIE’s purpose centers arounds building “the zero-carbon world of tomorrow”.

When it comes to its 96,000 global employees the key is ensuring that financial performance comes from having a positive impact on both people and the planet.

This explains why career development (or what Blanc calls “a professional adventure’) is top of mind for the energy giant. “Your journey in ENGIE could be made by a lot of different opportunities enabling real professional fulfillment”.

While the organization has seen real success in this field – 84% of its employees recommend ENGIE as a great place to work – there is a need to continue the progress, as well as further develop the HR function.

This is where the HR topic of the moment – AI – comes into play.

At UNLEASH World 2024, Blanc is going to be sharing a case study of ENGIE’s AI journey.

Ahead of the show, UNLEASH got a sneak peek into ENGIE’s secrets to success, as well as why Blanc is excited to attend (and speak) at his first UNLEASH show.

‘AI will key in our HR function’ at ENGIE

For Blanc, “AI has a massive transformative potential in the energy sector” – for instance, optimizing real-time energy production and distribution, which is particularly relevant in the renewables sector, and in helping predict maintenance concerns.

Rather than just buying into the hype of AI, therefore, ENGIE is keen to see where AI is adding value.

However, to reap the rewards of AI at the energy giant, there is a need to support employees in the use of AI in their working lives.

This is where the HR function comes in; how can it help employees get ready “for the needs of tomorrow’s energy world” and help the organization be better prepared to “face the challenges ahead”.

Blanc is clear that ENGIE doesn’t take the view that AI will replace humans, instead the key is creating a world where “humans are enhanced by technology”.

AI is not only an IT topic. At ENGIE, we want to spread an AI mindset now, because this mindset will be the first step to reaping the rewards.” shares Blanc.

It is about avoiding that FOGI, or “Fear Of Getting In” – this is why all ENGIE employees have basic training and are encouraged to use AI in their daily work.

AI may also being used at ENGIE to enable the company to create “personalized experiences from onboarding to career development and internal mobility. The future of talent development will be supported by AI.”

Employee experience is also a top priority in ENGIE’s gen AI ‘HR Helper’ chatbot – this allows employees to “ask questions in natural language the answers to which will be generated from our internal documentation”.

“Finding the group’s HR processes will become child’s play,” Blanc tells UNLEASH.

As well experimenting with its own technology, ENGIE is also working with HR tech vendors like SAP SuccessFactors and Visier in the AI space.

SAP SuccessFactors has generative AI functionality embedded and it can help “employees in creating their development and performance objectives”, and recruiters in making job offers.

Blanc and his team are also keeping an eye on the HR tech giant’s roadmap for the Joule co-pilot and the Talent Intelligence Hub solution to see where that might fit into ENGIE’s HR AI approach.

With Visier, ENGIE is looking closely at its data and analytics capabilities, and embedding gen AI to “facilitate access to adapt and the creation of on-demand analytics” that can support with decision making.

I’m convinced that data and AI will revolutionize our business and our activities,” concludes Blanc.

Jean-Sebastien Blanc at UNLEASH World 2024

Want to find out more about how ENGIE is empowering its HR function and employees with AI?

You’re in luck. Blanc is going to speaking at UNLEASH World, 16 – 17 October.

He can’t wait to be involved in this “massive event for the HR community” and sees it as an opportunity to learn more about “technological evolution and what it can do for HR and business”.

It’s not too late to join us for the UNLEASH World show in Paris – you can grab a pass here.