CEO Agenda provides unique insights into how leaders think and lead and what keeps them busy in a world of constant change. We look into the lives, minds and agendas of CEOs at the world’s most iconic companies.
Management consulting is known as one of the toughest and high-pressure career paths out there. Take it from me—I started my career at Bain & Company in Brussels, where I worked up to 60 hours a week and often didn’t come home till 11 pm.
Christophe De Vusser, Global Managing Partner of Bain & Company, is an inspirational leader who thinks differently. He recently became the first European to lead the American consulting giant, off the back of his widely-praised performance in the company’s competitive private equity division.
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Bain & Co.'s rank on the 2024 Fortune 100 Best Companies to Work For
De Vusser strives for work-life balance. He doesn’t work on weekends, enjoys being in nature and expands his horizons by visiting museums and avidly consuming books.
He points towards AI as a revolutionary way for consultants to work smarter and crucially, find better balance. “[The tools] are boosting not just my own productivity, but also doing that for colleagues as well” he told me in our interview for Fortune.
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Bain & Co.'s rank on the 2024 100 Best Large Workplaces for Millennials
His enthusiastic endorsement of AI won’t lure me back to consulting, but perhaps this Fortune CEO Agenda profile will encourage you to take up the tools yourself.
This interview has been edited for brevity.
Down to business
Fortune: What is the single most important project you are working on with your company?
I’d single out all our work with AI. It’s going to have a profound impact on every industry and virtually every business—this is evolving into another industrial revolution. AI is going to have far-reaching implications across multiple aspects of business strategy and the foundational capabilities companies rely on to run—not just things like technology, cyber and data, but also important dimensions around areas such as customer and employee trust, organization and talent. So, the disruption and change it is bringing is a big deal—for Bain and every client we work with.
Which long-term trend are you most bullish about for society and the economy at large?
Unquestionably, it’s AI that has the greatest potential for transformation from individual businesses to society and economies. It’s also important to recognize that such a powerful technology comes with risks. That’s why we’ve put in place policies and principles to ensure we meet our commitment to responsible AI use—and we’re also part of Microsoft’s Responsible AI Partner Initiative. We have to steer cautiously and assure ourselves that, as we put AI to work, it’s in ways that are responsible, ethical and safe. Like other businesses, we welcome regulation and coordination of policy. We’re optimistic that AI will prove to be a widely empowering technology and a force for the common good, raising productivity and living standards.
"I’m making use every day of all the generative AI tools that we’ve been rolling out at Bain since the beginning of last year."
If you were an economic policymaker, what would be your top priority?
Europe, like most economies, has come through a period of extraordinary churn: the pandemic, supply chain disruptions, geopolitical conflicts, and the consequent energy disruption. A big challenge for Europe amid all the volatility is to deliver improved economic competitiveness and productivity that will ensure stronger growth over the longer term. It’s that economic muscle that will give Europe the capacity to meet the challenges of the future—achieving net zero, ensuring energy supply and security, and securing improved living standards.
Being productive
What time do you get up, and what part of your morning routine sets you up for the day?
I usually get up around 6 to 7 am. I like to kick off the day with a good breakfast and catch up on the news, understand what’s happening in business and affecting all the industries we work with, but also the wider news around the world before getting caught up on email and starting client and internal meetings.
What time do you work until? Do you continue sending emails during the night and/or weekends?
I’m happy to work later in the evening when I need to but it’s important to make time for family and to balance work and my private life. At Bain that’s something we strive to make possible for our people and has helped us to be recognized as one of the world’s best places to work. As much as I can, I don’t work on weekends or holidays—that’s the time to keep the body and the mind fit, and to be with friends and family.
I like to make time for running, ideally outdoors, where I can experience and soak up the sounds of nature. Cultural pursuits are important to me, too—I make time whenever I can to visit museums and galleries, enjoy the theater or watch contemporary dance at an arts center. I’ve just enjoyed visiting the Olympics with my family and while in Paris I was also able to see the latest exhibition at the Pinault Collection at the Bourse de Commerce. I can highly recommend it!
What apps or methods do you use to be more productive?
I’m making use every day of all the generative AI tools that we’ve been rolling out at Bain since the beginning of last year – Microsoft Co-pilot, ChatGPT-4, Zoom AI – and Sage, which is Bain’s state-of-the-art proprietary chat platform for our teams. All of these tools let me work smarter and faster—to do more in less time and to drive projects ahead with less need to call on input from others in our teams. So these tools are boosting not just my own productivity but also my colleagues as well.
"[I'd ask my idol] how they constantly reinvent themselves, evolve to stay at the top of their profession, and keep relevant to their audiences."
Who is on your “personal board”?
I’m fortunate to be able to draw on the advice of some trusted advisors, both in business and personal friends, and within and outside Bain, who have advised and supported me throughout my career and in recent times. I have lifelong mentors within Bain and I benefit greatly from the counsel of many of the firm’s senior leadership, past and present. There are also some clients I’ve worked with over multiple decades who have become personal advisers and I can call on advice from a number of other external leadership advisors as well.
Getting personal
What book have you read, either recently or in the past, that has inspired you?
I’ve recently read ‘The Wizard and the Prophet’ by Charles Mann. It looks at the big challenges the world faces – food, water, energy and climate change. Grappling with optimistic and pessimistic visions of AI right now, Mann’s book offers a brilliant insight into what we might call the duality of innovation. On holiday I like to go for a lighter read. Traveling to New York lately I enjoyed Colson Whitehead’s ‘Harlem Shuffle’. I also like to read authors from countries I visit – I read the excellent Haruki Murakami when I was in Japan not long ago.
If you could ask your idol one question, who would it be, and what would you ask?
I’m a big fan of the arts, creativity and music – and some of the amazing performers whose work I enjoy. What interests me about that world, and what I’d love to talk to people like the saxophonist and composer John Zorn, or Brad Mehldau, the jazz pianist, or even Beyonce, about, is how they constantly reinvent themselves, evolve to stay at the top of their profession, and keep relevant to their audiences. Sports are another source of inspiration - at the Olympics this week I saw Mondo Duplantis winning gold in the pole vault and set a new world record height of 6.25m – it’s amazing how he constantly improves.
As a consumer, what is your favorite company and why?
Everyone recognizes what Apple has accomplished as a business from strategy, to product design and innovation, to delivery for its customers. Personally, I’m also a big fan of Bower & Wilkins, the British maker of audio speakers and headphones – like Apple they have consistently delivered high-end quality products to consumers over multiple decades. I actually started out my Bain career 25 years ago in our Consumer Products practice. I still work closely with that part of the firm and I’m really passionate about our work with those clients who bring world-beating products to the market.
And to end on a lighter note: What was the last costume you wore?
I dressed up in Seventies disco style to celebrate with some friends not so long ago – a chance to let go of all the daily business life of meetings and events and just have some fun. We danced to music beyond the Seventies – some hip- hop and soul as well as the classic disco tracks.
CEO Agenda provides unique insights into how leaders think and lead, and what keeps them busy in a world of constant change. We look into the lives, minds and agendas of CEOs at the world’s most iconic companies. Dive into our other CEO Agenda profiles.
