Sirventia at UEM 2025

On Thursday 18 September 2025, the Espace Mayenne hosted the 5th edition of the Universités des Entrepreneurs Mayennais (UEM), co-organised by CCI Mayenne, MEDEF Mayenne and ESTACA. The event has become a major meeting point for business leaders, project founders, students and economic players, and brought together more than 1,200 people around the theme “Enchanting our future”.

I was invited to join a high-level panel on the theme “enchanting our models”. I shared my background (in particular my recent experience in the United Arab Emirates) and set out Sirventia's vision for AI and automation. It was an opportunity to discuss the global race for AI investment, and to show how automation is redefining business models, from scalability to operating costs.

On stage with me were speakers whose careers are a real source of inspiration. Here is an overview of their profiles and contributions.

The speakers and their contributions

Catherine Barba

Serial entrepreneur, digital expert and e-commerce pioneer, known for her appearances on Entreprendre C Grandir and Qui veut être mon associé (the French Dragons' Den). She stressed optimism as a driver of growth, the central role of the customer relationship and the need to adapt quickly in unstable markets. She also presented her book La bible des indépendants : se lancer et réussir à son compte, a practical guide for anyone who wants to start and grow their business with agility.

Erwan Coatanéa

Chairman of the V and B Fest’, one of the largest music festivals in France, and head of Sodistra, a specialist in custom air treatment solutions. On stage, he focused on the V and B Fest’ story, illustrated by a film of the 2025 edition, showing how a cultural project can become an economic driver that brings a whole region together.

Laurent Lairy

Chairman of the board of Stade Lavallois MFC and of Procogest Finances, he draws on this dual experience to develop a vision of business centred on responsibility and fulfilment. In his book Ma petite voix : Manifeste, he sets out his RSSEE approach (social, societal, environmental and economic responsibility). On stage, he shared his method for building personal and collective projects that first cultivate individual exemplarity, then lead a whole community towards sustainability and shared success.

Samantha t’Kint de Roodenbeke

Founder of Sca-Flex, a digital management solution, and an active member of French Tech. She explained how her tool streamlines internal governance, strengthens team autonomy and builds in continuous improvement loops, a concrete example of how digital tools, and tomorrow AI, can shape more agile and effective organisations.

Emmanuelle Degrauwe

Deputy CEO of Banque Populaire Grand Ouest. She brought the institutional and financial perspective, showing how regional banks can support the digital transition of local companies, in particular by financing innovation and accepting technological risk.

What I took away and what I shared

• The global AI context: the scale of investment in the United States (and elsewhere) means French companies must not fall behind technologically, but anticipate and structure their strategy.
• Automation & business model: automation is not just an optimisation tool. It is a lever to rethink the value proposition, the organisational structure, scalability and marginal cost.
• Leadership & mindset: in times of disruption, the leader's role is to keep watch, bring teams along with the change and move forward in iterations rather than abrupt breaks.
• Region & ecosystem: events like UEM show that local dynamism comes from bringing together entrepreneurs, institutions, investors and research labs. This creates strong opportunities for regional companies to work together.
• Personal takeaway: I used the event to present Sirventia's first results, our ambitions and our ROI-first approach for SMEs.