Arnault Chatel: "Everyone Needs Digital Training"

We spoke with Arnault Chatel, academic director of the specialized MBA in Digital Marketing & Business at EFAP. His areas of expertise? Digital transformation, social media and artificial intelligence — all underpinned by one constant: training. More than a buzzword, it's his guiding principle. Train for the digital age before it outpaces you, and seize the remarkable opportunities it offers.

You chose the word "training" — why does it resonate for you today when thinking about digital transformation?

Arnault Chatel: Today, everything moves fast. New products hit the market every day, including many technologies whose potential we barely understand. It seems essential to me not to fall behind — to know what's happening and, above all, to keep up. That's far from obvious, and many people are simply no longer "in the loop." So what do we do? Personally, I'm convinced that keeping pace requires training. Books, of course, but not only that. The training I have in mind is face-to-face interaction, so that there's a genuine transfer of skills between professionals and people who are ready to receive them.

Also read: Jonathan Chan: "Agility Is Tomorrow's Key Skill"

As a digital expert, you don't advocate for purely online, 100% digital training?

Arnault Chatel: In my view, the perfect combination is in-person and e-learning. MOOCs are highly effective and useful, but nothing replaces the human exchange between an instructor and a learner. Digital training shouldn't be entirely digital. I'd even go further: just because a service goes digital doesn't mean it should be 100% digital. We talk a lot now about "phygital." My definition of training today is a well-calibrated blend of online learning and face-to-face time, because what matters most, ultimately, is the user experience.

Who needs digital training?

Arnault Chatel: Absolutely everyone! Let's revisit Porter's value chain, which divides a company into its business units. As people working in marketing and communications, we were quickly impacted by digital on the commercial side, because that's the most visible. But the real issue is that today this transformation touches every corner of society: administration, R&D, legal, and so on. If one department is equipped and another isn't, the whole thing falls apart, because everything is connected. It therefore seems essential to train everyone in using tools — through formal training, but also through acculturation. By helping each person understand what's in it for them. Many employees see transformation as a threat that will take their jobs, because no one explains that the tools will help them work better. And unfortunately, companies sometimes don't take the time to explain why digital transformation is a genuine opportunity — they simply impose it as a fait accompli. It's perfectly natural to fear something you don't understand.

Can you tell us more about acculturation?

Arnault Chatel: Acculturation is an accompaniment that fosters awareness. It's about explaining how digital will affect work and benefit each individual. The latest figures are clear: 85% of the jobs that will exist in 2030 are unknown to us today. If we don't teach people to learn, we're going to have real problems.

I often tell my students that the goal of training is to learn how to unlearn in order to relearn. A master's degree today doesn't mark the end of your education — on the contrary, it's just the beginning.

Also read: Vincent Montet, EFAP: "Training Is One Response to Digital Darwinism"

Can you really train all employees?

Arnault Chatel: We can — and above all, we must. Not doing so means leaving people by the wayside. But of course, there are always those who resist. That's exactly where acculturation plays a crucial role. It's the essential first step before training, in fact. It's also vital to identify the right internal champions who can spread the message and build trust.

What experience do you have with digital transformation in companies?

Arnault Chatel: We still have a lot of work to do! Our students who are "bitten by the digital bug" see it firsthand. They spend a lot of time in companies and tell us about it: there's a real gap between school and the corporate reality, where they feel like they're speaking a different language.

For my part, I had the chance to work in a large public institution where there was an obvious need for transformation, but also a real challenge of acculturating staff. We had great difficulty getting people to embrace new tools, for historical and cultural reasons. They saw it as the enemy — the tool that would take their jobs. I carry a slightly bitter memory of that, because I was convinced we needed to move forward. But sometimes the problem comes from the top.

Without wanting to start a debate: isn't the problem partly political? Our country's leaders should be treating AI as a genuine societal issue — an urgent matter that needs to be seized. How do you spread the right message if our leaders don't believe in it? Imagine the world stage as a tennis court: on one side, the GAFAs; on the other, the BATXs; and in the stands, Europe watching the match. Because where does value come from today? Data. And who has the data? The Chinese and the Americans. Artificial intelligence should be a national priority. In the national education system, not a single person specializes in AI — and yet the first ones affected are our children. We need to find the equation: AI + human is greater than AI alone. How? By cultivating curiosity, understanding that we will need to keep learning, and believing wholeheartedly that we must learn how to learn.