In the early days of the generative artificial intelligence boom, Sanofi’s chief digital officer, Emmanuel Frenehard, wasn’t particularly impressed with the AI tools that were being pitched.
The French pharmaceutical giant eschewed licensing an enterprise version of the AI chatbot ChatGPT for internal use. Frenehard also didn’t make Copilot, Microsoft’s AI assistant, widely available for employees after conducting a small pilot.
“We looked at it, and said, ‘This is lame,’” says Frenehard. “This is just going to be a massive cost, but the value will be limited, compared to what you can do with a public ChatGPT. What difference is it, apart from your data is secured?”
Instead, Frenehard said he took inspiration from the hospitality industry, where experts at the front desk know all the best restaurant recommendations and local travel tips. This led to the launch of an internally developed and hosted generative AI companion called Concierge, which debuted in October 2024 and is now used by 60,000 employees globally, about 80% of Sanofi’s total workforce. Frenehard said that most of the employees who don’t use Concierge work in manufacturing and spend very little time in front of a computer.
