You never see as far as when standing on the shoulders of giants.
Rooted in an open-source mindset, our digital teams embody this idea every single day. But it took on a special resonance a couple of weeks ago during an offsite day of our French digital teams, where we had the privilege of a private visit to the Fondation de l'automobile Marius Berliet—thanks again, Olivier, for your warm welcome.
With a unique collection of iconic vehicles, it bears witness to the technological and entrepreneurial journey of Berliet, which pioneered numerous fields with innovations and standards that still endure, even 100 years later. Like Michelin—whose paths crossed with Berliet for a time—the company was driven by a unique vision, while navigating the significant events and challenges of its time.
Once the largest truck in the world, the Berliet T100 stands as the masterpiece of this collection. It was designed to tackle the most demanding terrains, carrying massive loads across the dunes of the Sahara—which it did thanks to an impressive set of one-ton-each Michelin tires standing seven feet tall.
Designed and built in record time using cutting-edge technologies, the Berliet T100 is a testament to the brilliance of its creators—a team of both engineers and craftsmen, blending technical mastery with an explorer mindset. It also serves as a powerful metaphor for the challenges we face in the digital landscape:
Like Berliet's T100 on the shifting sands of the Sahara, we must navigate a constantly evolving digital and AI landscape, carrying out large business programs while avoiding getting stuck. Just as its creators did, we must prototype and scale simultaneously, always working against the clock and learning from our failures. And like Berliet's engineers-craftsmen, we constantly assemble and reshape components, each of which is a link in a technological chain that was started before us and upon which others will continue to build.
Finally, as I step into this new role in Michelin's Digital Experience Direction, I am grateful to those who have shaped this vision since its inception and brought it to where it is today—thank you, Patrice and Yves, for your trust and guidance so far. I also feel honored to lead such a talented team of digital artisans who design and deploy platforms supporting Michelin businesses, operating them at scale upon the shifting sands of today's digital landscape.
