It all starts with strategy.
We identify the subjects that create the most value. Then we bring in AI as a lever to multiply our impact: in the plan we deploy, then in the bespoke tools we build. Faster, better, cheaper.
Let’s meet
The value creation plans we see through are measured in tens of millions of euros of EBITDA and hundreds of millions of valuation.
Forward Deployed Strategy
Four steps, held by a small team and powered by AI. The first two set the strategy. The next two go through our AI Studio, which builds the bespoke tools.
Analyse
Interviews with executives, teams and the market; company data; benchmarks. Our agents read the whole corpus, not a sample.
The four or five subjects that make the value.
Structure
The trajectory, quantified, written with the executive committee: initiatives, owners, milestones, indicators. One document fit for the board, the investors and the teams.
A trajectory everyone can read.
Build
The AI Studio builds the tools that move the plan forward, on your data and inside your processes: what took three days takes one. Alongside it, monthly review, decisions, subjects taken back in hand.
Tools in service, a plan that moves.
Sustain
The tools built during the mission stay in service, your teams run them, the governance works without us.
An autonomous team, tools in service.
Everything is decided in the execution. So we build the tools.
The CHOC AI Studio builds, during the mission and on your data, the tools that put the plan to work. Three examples, born from an advisory mission.
The Helm
Born with Argos Wityu
Steering a fund’s portfolio: the thesis becomes a plan of initiatives, linked to actual KPIs and to the exit scenario.
See The Helm →
Lawesome
Born with Aconic Avocats
Legal research and drafting for a law firm, on official sources and its own files — every answer cites its references.
ESG due diligence
Born with Siparex
Double materiality, a maturity score argued line by line, KPI priorities: the diligence of large deals, delivered in four days.
The people who write the plan have already run one.
Each of us comes from the top strategy firms and has held an executive role inside a company under LBO. Senior partners, and a network of ad hoc experts brought in case by case.
Louis-Jean de Gastines
Pierre-Arthur Chatard
Marion CombetteFrom a 4-day diagnostic to a one-year mandate.
Private equity funds
Outsourced Operating Partner
A senior operating partner, AI-equipped — and therefore within reach of a mid-cap or small-cap fund with no value creation team.
- Takes part in the investment process: due diligence, committee
- Runs the monthly operational review of each portfolio company
- Steps in personally at the key portfolio companies
Minimum 1 day / week · 12 months
Chief AI Officer
The Chief AI Officer of the fund and its portfolio, without the hire.
- An AI doctrine that stands up to an LP and to a CIO alike
- Assessment of the impact of AI, company by company
- The use cases for the investment team
- Training and bringing the teams up to speed
- Deployment of in-house AI tools
3 to 6 weeks for the doctrine and the roadmap, then minimum 1 day / week · 12 months
The fund’s own performance
The fund’s manual work, taken over and tooled with AI.
- Consolidation and reconciliation of spreadsheets
- Internal reporting and LP presentations
- Ad hoc tools
3 weeks and up
Due diligence
We run the interviews and the analysis; while our AI goes through the whole corpus.
- Strategic, commercial and operational — 2 to 3 weeks
- AI strategy — 7 days
- Impact and ESG — 4 days
Full time, on the deal calendar
Company CEOs
CEO sparring partner
A peer at your side, so you do not decide alone.
- Building the strategy and the roadmap
- Helping you settle the key trade-offs
- Cash, team, sales
- The introductions that unlock things: experts, peers, partners
3 days / month · 12 months
Value creation plan
The development and growth trajectory of the company, built with your executive committee.
- Top line: sales, marketing, pricing
- Bottom line: operational performance, supply chain, organisation
- Cash and financing
Structured into initiatives, each with an owner, quantified KPIs and deadlines to meet.
2 months half-time, then minimum 1 day / month
Buy-and-build: acquisition and integration
From target to day 180.
- The integration thesis before signing
- The first 15 days run day by day
- Orchestrating the delivery of synergies: target organisation, systems, people
4 weeks before closing, then 1 to 3 days / week over 1 year
Operational performance
One specific subject whose performance has to change: sales, marketing, a supply chain process, a function that costs too much.
- A quantified diagnostic, whole corpus read by AI
- The right experts brought in on it
- The improvement plan, then its rollout through to the result
2 weeks of diagnostic, 3 weeks of plan, then 1 day / week over 1 year
Restructuring
A company restructuring from A to Z, with AI as a lever.
- A concrete plan at one week, 3 months and one year
- Coordination of the advisers, lawyers and administrators
- Interim management when the mandate calls for it
Diagnostic in 2 weeks. 100-day plan in 2 weeks. Then minimum 1 day / week over 1 year.
The value created, mission by mission.
Structuring the fund’s operating team in the age of AI.
The impact. The Helm, born of this mission — steering a PE portfolio.
Structuring and running the post-acquisition transformation plan. Three months, renewed up to eleven.
The impact. Some ten initiatives — growth, margin, cash — run to the end, then the baton handed over internally.
ESG strategy in four months: interviews, double materiality, actionable priorities.
The impact. A strategy the group applies, not a report.
ESG due diligence of Rumeur Publique in four days, with an action plan.
The impact. A reusable method: materiality, maturity, benchmark, priorities, monitoring.
The impact of generative AI on a portfolio, function by function — ahead of everyone.
The impact. Briefs that were used to train the bank’s managers.
An executive committee offsite that ends with a plan and a horizon.
The impact. A shared plan, and a team that worked together.
Digital strategy and an app prototype to open up primary care.
The impact. A digital department created straight afterwards.
ESG due diligence of Capron in four days, with an action plan.
The impact. A reusable method: materiality, maturity, benchmark, priorities, monitoring.
Pre-deal insight on a higher education group.
The impact. An independent reading of the market, question by question.
Building the value creation plan after the buyout.
The impact. A structured plan — and a conviction: a plan lives through the internal owner who carries it.
The value creation plan built with the CEO and the executive committee, in 100 days.
The impact. A plan owned by the management team, and the trust for what comes next.
Competitive position and strategic options of a digital brand in a new market context.
The impact. A clear reading of the market for the fund’s decision.
Choosing the governance tool of a family office.
The impact. A software package chosen, and a lasting relationship.
Designing and launching the value creation plan of an EMEA region of a global leader.
The impact. A transformation set on the right track.
A circular economy strategy for a leading car service chain.
The impact. A circular roadmap for the network.
The strategic plan of a newly acquired subsidiary, and its synergies with the group.
The impact. A plan shared by the group strategy department and the subsidiary’s CEO.
Turning the alerts of a smart-metered water network into interventions that pay.
The impact. Written operating processes, and commercial losses recovered.
One salesperson’s best practices, turned into a script and an assistant.
The impact. The whole Demeco network now runs video surveys.
ESG due diligence of Laboratoire Polidis in four days, with an action plan.
The impact. A reusable method: materiality, maturity, benchmark, priorities, monitoring.
Simplifying the product and customer portfolio of a chemicals business.
The impact. A portfolio focused on what creates value.
Selecting and rolling out the right software — recruitment, then payroll.
The impact. Two tools in production; a client who came back.
A law firm equipped with AI: platform and training.
The impact. Hours given back to the partners, and the AI Studio’s showcase.
Innovation and its launch into new countries, for the parent company of Leroy Merlin.
The impact. Concepts ready to be carried into new markets.
Rebuilding the snacks plan for France and Spain.
The impact. A plan aligned across functions and countries.
A profitability path for the online business.
The impact. A profitability path and its costed plan.
They watched us deliver.
« Excellent support from Louis-Jean throughout the development of our transformation plan: speed, efficiency, ability to synthesise, relevance and… humour! I highly recommend him. »
Benoît DrillonCEO, Groupe Hexvia
« Speed, creativity, the ability to simplify complex situations, the ability to mobilise different stakeholders, high emotional intelligence and a hunger for concrete results. That is how to sum up six months spent with Louis-Jean, during which he supported the Group in designing and starting to deploy the VCP of an EMEA region. His presence was decisive in setting this transformation on the right track. Clearly an operational performance accelerator, with the guarantee of smooth integration thanks to his team spirit. »
Sébastien R.COO EMEA, JLL
« Louis-Jean truly stood out over our many collaborations, notably when he took on the role of interim director to drive the Value Creation Plan of a mid-sized company under LBO, on behalf of a demanding private equity investor. He has a particular talent for simplifying complex issues into concrete, workable solutions. His grasp of every aspect — from overall strategy to the subtleties of mergers and acquisitions — is impressive. He also brought a friendly atmosphere, making the collaboration smooth and enjoyable. »
Benjamin C.Partner, Operandi
« We worked with CHOC for a year. Louis-Jean’s strategic vision, rigorous methodology, organisational skills, interpersonal style and appetite for change were absolutely decisive in making a success of this initial phase, across every area of the business: sustainability model, integration of acquisitions, efficiency gains, and commercial development. »
Elisabeth C.Transformation Director & Chief of Staff, Ecotone
« CHOC supported us in building our ESG strategy. On a tight four-month schedule, we obtained quality deliverables and an actionable strategy. His expertise and his ability to listen were real assets in the success of this mission. Working with CHOC is very pleasant, straightforward and effective. »
Robin P.Transformation Director & Sustainability, CARSO
« I had the pleasure of working with CHOC on a sensitive mission for our BU. Throughout the project, I appreciated the way we worked, in particular our strong cooperation and sharing of ideas. Louis-Jean’s kindness and his ability to blend into our executive group were much appreciated by the team. He is a dedicated and talented partner. »
Alexandre M.VP Strategy & Transformation, IDEMIA
Let’s talk about you.
Thirty minutes to get to know each other and understand your challenges.
We work across Europe.