Behind the scenes of an afternoon of Data & AI workshops at Edenred

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is opening a world of possibilities - from time savings and focusing on value-added tasks to driving company growth and serving as an ideas laboratory. But there's a catch: employees need proper training and support from their employer. According to a PwC study (1), 45% of workers worldwide didn't use AI at all during 2025. The consulting firm argues these figures prove employers must do more to help their staff understand, adopt and integrate AI, which sometimes sparks anxiety or confusion.

The challenge is no longer just about rolling out AI, but ensuring employees feel "prepared, motivated, and aligned to embrace it" to embrace it, PwC maintains. Against this backdrop, Edenredchose to devote an entire afternoon to conferences and workshops on Data and AI, complementing the training programmes, e-learning modules and pilot projects already running within the company. The Group plans to multiply its Data and AI investments sixfold between 2024 and 2028 as part of its Amplify_25-28 strategic plan.

"Human judgement and expertise are key"

"The key to getting the most out of AI is to start from business needs, imagine potential uses together, and support change and practical implementation," says Laurence Chrétien, Group Chief Data & AI Officer, in her opening remarks for the half-day event. It kicks off with a talk by Pierre-Yves Calloc'h, formerly Global Chief Digital Officer at Pernod Ricard. He shares insights into how the French wine and spirits specialist has harnessed AI and Data, before stressing the importance of the human dimension in this type of transformation.

One of the afternoon's workshops highlights the very limitations and biases of artificial intelligence. Participants learn, for instance, that AI isn't all-knowing or entirely reliable, and should remain a decision-support tool. What's more, it isn't always used properly - witness the countless fake AI-generated images or videos designed to spread misinformation. "Human judgement and expertise are key," concludes Flore Cholley, Group Sustainability Officer, who urges employees to develop their expertise to challenge chatbots, spot their biases and catch their mistakes. Environmental concerns also arise, since each query draws on power-hungry data centres. Flore Cholley seizes the opportunity to highlight several good practices, such as choosing the leanest language model for your query - and knowing when to do without it altogether for basic searches.

A regular Genius Bar

The afternoon also marks the launch of the Genius Bar. The concept: opening a space for discussion about using the Group's in-house chatbot, EdenChat. "The aim isn't to give a top-down presentation but to answer your questions down to the finest detail," explains Clément Bouchet, Group Head of Agentic AI.

This space is meant to offer dedicated time for issues encountered with the internal conversational agent, complementing all the training and projects Edenred has rolled out. It can also help bring specific EdenChat needs to life: creating your own agent, writing a prompt or building a tool. "Come as you are, with your ideas!" Clément Bouchet sums up. "The last mile must be human contact," he adds.

"It's a powerful tool but you need to know how to use it"

The need is clearly there, judging by the questions that quickly fly: "Can I save a prompt?"; "How can I share my assistant with my team?"; "Can I connect EdenChat with my office applications?" The speakers demonstrate several features to make the best use of this tool.

"Even though I've had solid AI training, I discovered certain subtleties, like how to phrase certain commands in a chat," says Anne Burille, SIRH Functional Expert. "I'd be delighted to configure my own assistant one-to-one at the Genius Bar," the participant continues. She signed up for this series of workshops to gauge her colleagues' views and how they use generative AI. "It's a powerful tool but you need to know how to use it," the employee concludes.

(1) PwC's Global Workforce Hopes and Fears Survey 2025. Rewiring the future of work.