Who I am

I am a French entrepreneur and researcher with a focus on large societal issues on global scale.

I was born in the Soviet Union, and spent most of my life in France and, to a lesser extent, in the United States. Having studied in Russia in the early 2000s in the Higher School of Economics (at that moment, the most liberal and free university of the country), I returned to France in 2007 as I became disillusioned with the perspectives of Russia, and as I always had considered France my homeland, I have since been managing all my activities globally from Paris, always keeping a focus on the interests on France and Europe to which I am, and will always be, aligned.

After having worked with the Swedish guru of marketing Thomas Gad, the author of “Connecting People” slogan for Nokia, on place branding, I have created a number of projects, including VOICES — a European film festival in the Russian town of Vologda that was, till the illegal annexation of Crimea in 2014 by Vladimir Putin, one of the country’s biggest, if not the biggest, European cultural event. I have worked on setting up a European cultural project called ‘Black and White House’ in the city of Detroit, MI, together with Liza Applebaum and an amazing artist and entrepreneur from Detroit named Eric Moss, between 2011 and 2013. My company Globale has worked, between 2011 and 2017, on a number of projects across the world, including digital startups, video games, territorial marketing, place branding, and investor relations for public administrations.

In 2018, I have launched a project called GreatGamers, an esport award that I am still developing in the Middle East and Northen Africa, and hopefully soon across the world.

In 2020, when the COVID crisis hit, I have focused my efforts on developing Gambit with my amazing business partners from France, Denmark, and the US. Our aim is to create the world’s most sophisticated and efficient government advisory boutique. We also work on building the biggest governance-related event, Government Tomorrow Forum, in partnership with a whole series of governments and public administrations.

Together, we will make it happen.

I am a fan of squash and tennis (though I play not really that well), and I a pretend to be a good League of Legends player (I main Xayah). I still can not forgive Blizzard for cancelling Heroes of the Storm, my favorite game of all times.

I am a holder of an MA degree from King’s College London, and have followed different educational programs across Europe, including in Sorbonne (under the academic leadership of Manlio Graziano with whom we have co-created the Spykman Center), Business School Lausanne (the great course on leadership with Yiftach Sagiv, one of the best coaches and mentors out there), and Yale (professor Bloom’s course ‘Morality of Everyday Life’).