The biggest challenge in transformation is human, not technical

Three key takeaways:

• Orange Business supports continuous learning and skills development and ‘talent management for all’ to ensure everyone reaches their potential, while building resilient, future-proof teams developed to fuel long-term success.
• We invest in our people because we understand that they are the ones turning technology into meaningful, trusted transformation, delivering sustained value to customers.
• Orange Business fosters a strong culture of collaboration and partnership; our teams work closely with customers to unlock possibilities of true innovation, co-creation and accountability. 

The ‘Lead the Future’ plan we launched in 2023 defined how our people, organizational agility, and process simplification would create value for our business and grow sustainably. The overarching goal is to capitalize on our unique strengths. 

While we are recognized for our global infrastructure and advanced digital capabilities, our people’s skills, creativity, and dedication help us stand out in a highly competitive marketplace. To support our ambition, our vision is simple:  to create a workplace where people thrive through purpose, growth and belonging. 

Our ambition is straightforward. We want to establish Orange Business as a digital partner customers can trust for innovation, resilience, and responsible growth. Our people are integral to our success, fostering this strong culture of collaboration and partnership. Our teams work closely with customers, guiding them through their complex transformation journeys and providing technical support, change management, consultancy, and strategic advice.

This human connection is essential in building trust and nurturing strong, long-term relationships. One of the key reasons many enterprises choose us as their digital transformation partner is that our people is not just a resource but a strategic business advantage. People are at the heart of Orange Business, and we succeed because of them.

Customer-centricity is our guiding principle, directing every aspect of our organization, from innovation and problem-solving to design and strategy. It also encourages collaboration, experimentation, and continuous learning, helping our teams move beyond a technology-first mindset, empowering our people to solve problems and create new opportunities.

Orange Business invests heavily in upskilling, reskilling, and certification for our strategic priorities: cloud, connectivity, security, and AI/GenAI. Six months well ahead of our target, we have overachieved our goal with 22,000 certifications and 6,200 people reskilled or upskilled in France and abroad. An ambitious result that was achieved quickly and at scale — just 18 months after the program’s launch.

Certification reinforces trust and credibility with our customers and is crucial for our employees’ skills development, highlighting their motivation and dedication to a chosen career path. At the same time, certification necessitates regular updates to ensure skills remain current with technological advancements. Certification shows that Orange Business and its employees are committed to continuous improvement.
Continuous learning is pivotal to our transformation strategy. We provide resources on hard and soft skills to allow our employees to embrace innovation and thrive in a dynamic digital landscape. In addition, our labs offer a hands-on environment where employees can expand their skillsets on Orange Business technologies, alongside our partners such as Ekinops, Fortinet, and VeloCloud.

We believe talent exists at all levels, and everyone should have the opportunity to grow
Every employee has access to the tools and resources to build their chosen career path within the company. This makes us not just a technology leader but a human-centric organization where everyone can grow and contribute to our long-term success. 

 We also encourage our teams to experiment, and foster multidisciplinary collaboration across business, IT, and operations. For instance, Orange Business developed Live Intelligence as a commercial GenAI platform, initially launched internally in September 2023 and further strengthened and developed by the trust and empowerment that are part of our internal culture.
We are building a place where everyone can be their true selves. Our diversity and our differences are celebrated and part of our performance. We were the first CAC 40 company to sign a global agreement on gender equality and anti-discrimination. 

We are helping women, for example, unlock their potential in the technology industry as part of The Women Up in Tech program, which Wassila Zitoune-Dumontet, CEO of Orange Business France, and I are executive sponsors of. Through workshops, webinars, and individual coaching, our  tech talent program empowers participants to take bold steps toward first-level management and high-level expertise positions. Numbers speak for themselves. Today, 43% of our leadership team are women.
We are also committed to disability inclusion, ensuring individuals with disabilities have the tools and opportunities to succeed. We must be doing something right, as 84% of our employees feel we foster an environment where people from diverse backgrounds thrive.

Innovation also thrives where diverse perspectives connect in a creative space. For example, an Orange Business employee initiated our partnership with the Curie Institute. We’re now helping optimize AI tools for cancer diagnosis - a powerful illustration of how people can trigger technology to benefit society. 

We enable our customers to anticipate, adapt to evolving market needs and build trusted relationships because our people take pride in being part of the Orange Business journey.

Strengthening our talent attraction strategy is core to our growth and transformation. Our recent employee satisfaction scores show that 87% of employees recommend Orange Business as a great place to work. We’re building on this foundation to attract problem solvers, curious explorers, and tech professionals who align with our values to support our move to become an AI-native, platform-driven company.