Spring and calm atmosphere at the Pavillon Gabriel, this Thursday afternoon, in the eponymous avenue which joins the Concorde at the avenue Matignon. After two years of virtual meetings behind closed doors, Capgemini’s General Meeting is being held for the second time in this central location, better served than the Armenonville pavilion was in the past, in the heart of the Bois de Boulogne. The assembly is nevertheless quite sparse and begins at 2 p.m., as planned.
Chairman of the Board, Paul Hermelin takes the floor to introduce the assembly and its participants. He is surrounded by Olivier Lepic, appointed secretary of the meeting, the general manager Aiman Ezzat, the financial director Carole Ferrand, Frédéric Oudéa, member of the Ethics and Governance Committee, and Laurence Dors, president of the remuneration committee, for the last time at the podium, having not asked for his renewal as administrator.
Quorum reached
The quorum, of 72.67%, is therefore largely achieved, both for the ordinary GA (minimum required of 20%) and for the extraordinary GA (25%). We have been entrusted by our readers with 176 mandates representing a total of 14,154 titles.
Raising forecasts twice in 2021, record annual operating performance and an even brighter start to 2022, Paul Hermelin considers the transition of power that he entrusted to Eimain Ezzat two years ago to be conclusive. Faithful to the tradition launched by Serge Kampf several decades ago, the latter has also been able to develop the group, with for example a priority on sustainability and the fight for the climate.
Track record and talents
It is therefore up to the general manager to take over. “With 16% organic growth in the first quarter, it is one of the most beautiful in the group’s history”, which validates the portfolio of offers, “from the management of key processes to smart industry and the relationship of companies with their customers”, says Aiman Ezzat. “The priority given to innovation has paid off. We have proven our resilience during the Covid. We have doubled our activity since 2014. Last year, 65% of our activities were driven by our innovative offers such as digital and the cloud”he adds.
The group continues to evolve in a tense sector for its human resources and it knows it. ” There is clearly a talent competition and we have won it », Estimates Aiman Ezzat. Reduction of CO2 emissions in 2021, acceleration of vaccination in the world, surge of solidarity with the reception of Ukrainians by its employees in Poland, hiring of 160 Ukrainians since the start of the war, the group is committed to responding to its ethical and environmental requirements.
innovations
Pascal Brier, head of innovation for the group, explains that 75% of business leaders now consider innovation a priority in their company. The group therefore multiplies the signatures of academic partnerships (HEC, Polytechnique, Oxford, MIT, Stanford), designs specialized laboratories (metaverse, quantum, 5G, etc.). Computer science, communication and quantum sensors are for example being studied, thanks to a partnership with IBM, which has very high computing power.
But genius alone is not enough. “As Thomas Edison said, the value of an innovation depends on its use cases”, says Pascal Brier. Reaping the benefits of findings is therefore essential. “It is common for an innovation not to be deployed on a large scale”, explains the specialist. ” For many of today’s challenges, such as the environment, innovation will provide essential solutions “, he concludes.
Questions and resolutions
Room for questions. Asked about the consequences of the war in Ukraine, Aiman Ezzat indicates that activity in the country represents only 0.5% of turnover and was able to continue after the 90% confiscation. The presence in Russia, very insignificant, will be reduced. A shareholder asks whether, like what Veolia did with Suez, Capgemini would not have an interest in getting closer to Atos to impose itself in the sector against foreign competitors. Aiman Ezzat believes that the creation of value in relation to the effort made would not be sufficient.
Resolutions 19 and 23 to 27, for which Invest advised to vote against, were adopted by more than 80%.