Vincent Champain
SEVP, Chief Digital & IT Officer
Framatome
After graduating with a degree in Computer Science & Statistics, I began my career as an economist and data scientist. After a few years in this field, I made the transition to transformation and performance roles. I am currently an Executive Committee member of Framatome in charge of digital businesses, performance and IT/cyber security. Prior to this, I worked for several US multinationals including McKinsey and General Electric.
Learn more about leaders in the France CIO community here.
Give us a brief overview of the path that led to your current role.
I started off as a developer, selling my very first computer game at age fourteen. However, despite graduating with a degree in Computer Science and statistics, I did not particularly like the jobs proposed during this time – it was just before the start of the web. This pushed me away from technology professionally, at least for a while.
What brought me back to technology was the opportunity to be the CEO of General Electric Digital Service Europe – a fantastic experience around technology development, business growth and digital industrial transformation.
What is one of your guiding leadership principles?
You will be more likely to be deceived by an excess of mistrust than by an excess of trust.
With disruption being a key theme of the past year, where do you see your role as a CIO going in the next 1-2 years?
I really think that Gartner’s prediction of the CIO becoming COO will be proven to be accurate. The COO will no longer be solely in charge of information systems, but in charge of ensuring broader operations performance.
What advice would you give to someone just starting out in the role as a CIO?
You have been trained to be an expert in technology, but to really grow, you will need to shape your company’s digital strategy and ensure performance. Therefore, you should train and practice in lean performance methods, using any occasion to escape a support role and become a contributor to your organisation’s strategy
Tell us 3 fun facts about yourself.
- I have written three books on Economics.
- In one of these books, I predicted a global pandemic crisis in 2008.
- I still code from time to time.
What is the value of joining an Evanta community?
Sharing experience, problems and solutions – and good times!
Evanta Governing Body members share their insights and leadership perspectives to shape the agendas and topics that address the top priorities impacting business leaders today.
by CIOs, for CIOs
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