A member of the executive committee and now President of Women in STEM Europe.
“Audacity means doing things without asking permission, without waiting.”
Angélique Gérard has been at the heart of the digital transformation.
A defining figure in the Free / Iliad story, which she helped build from its earliest days alongside Xavier Niel, she reflects on an extraordinary journey. Initially self-taught and later an INSEAD graduate, she has spent her entire career in tech, championed a pioneering vision of customer experience and confronted sexism and gender-based violence head-on. Refusing to see herself as a victim, she chooses action, convinced that a more inclusive world is both possible and necessary in the age of the digital revolution.
A board member, President of the STEM Academy and co-founder of Women in STEM Europe, she takes concrete action to help women take their rightful place in technology careers.
A woman who embraces a challenge, she celebrated her 50th birthday by covering 120 km through the Peruvian desert in three days.
A story that inspires us to be bold.
In this episode, Angélique reflects on:
- Her childhood and “shy little Angélique” before she found her voice.
- Her early days at Iliad and the adventure of building Free from scratch.
- What it means to be a woman leader in a heavily male-dominated world.
- The courage to return to her studies, fund her own MBA and invest in herself.
- Her book “Pour la fin du sexisme” and the different strands of feminism.
- Gender bias around science from an early age and women’s place in tech.
- Women in STEM Europe and the STEM Academy: their missions and initiatives.
- Her belief that AI will bring a human touch back to customer relationships.
- The 120 km desert race as a lesson in life and pushing beyond her limits.
- How she balances the different parts of her life.
- Her dictionary of audacity: stepping outside her comfort zone, playing the game and accepting that sometimes you have to lose to win in the end.