Meet The Seynators | Tiéphen Leleu, Data Integration Manager

Tiéphen, you’ve been Data Integration Manager at Seyna for almost 2 years now. Could you please start by introducing yourself in 3 words?   

Curious, analytical and persevering.

Curious, mainly about anything to do with technology and the future. Topics can range from nuclear fusion to tomorrow's transportation, including of course the future of AI... I can spend hours on it.

Analytical, because I'm constantly questioning everything. It's good to find meaning in what I do, explore how things work, etc., but it gets tricky when I go shopping. Deciding which T-shirt to buy is a mission.

And persevering, because I'm wired not to stop until I'm proud of what I've done. I wouldn’t mind being a bit more easygoing, but I was born that way.

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What's your fondest professional memory? With Seyna or not...

Building Renault’s marketing spend business intelligence platform. The aim was to automate the consolidation of all marketing data across the group and make it available to decision-makers. It was a highly technical and cross-functional project. It took me a year and a half to complete.

My background was originally in finance. I'd never done any data work as such. So it wasn't all that relaxing every day, but it was fascinating! I particularly liked the automation and visualization part. That's what made me decide to pursue this path.
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What made you join Seyna?

I enjoyed my time in bigger corporations where I learned a lot and gained in structure. But the time had come for me to jump into the deep end. I wanted to join a small structure to gain more autonomy and get to grips with more projects.

I was also attracted by the team dynamic. Imagine Seyna as a group of experts, each one completely mastering their field. It's not a job description type of place. Everyone is expected to grow and structure their own part of the business. As a young professional, it's a great environment to be in, with very high standards. You have to improve twice as fast.
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So, what is it you do as a Data Integration Manager at Seyna?

Data is the raw material of insurance. Without it, there is no insurance. However, the size and complexity of the sector means that data management remains an issue, generally speaking. With the Tech team, we're looking to build the data infrastructure that will provide perfectly accurate data in real time for the entire sector. We're obviously not there yet, but that's the vision. 

We're still laying the foundations at this stage. We’re trying to build an intelligence capable of automatically managing any insurance data - regardless of the vertical, product or data format of the broker generating it. We've already laid some foundations, but it's only the beginning...
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What qualities do you look for in teammates? And which of Seyna's values are you most sensitive to?

Generally speaking, the people I work best with are those who communicate simply, directly and constructively. Our jobs require us to be constantly building, so you really have to be 100% solution-oriented. 

Beyond communication, I'd even say that you need some sense of pedagogy. You have to know how to explain what you do, so that others can build on your work.

Otherwise, as our professions are largely based on constant exploration, it's important to work with passionate people. It's a never-ending search, so you need people who are comfortable with the unknown and enjoy the journey.

So to answer your question, I'd say the values that speak to me most are "Grow together" and "Be insanely helpful". 
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A superpower? What people tell you you can do better and faster than others.

My friends would say "calm as a cucumber"... until my computer starts to crash. That’s when things go sour. But generally speaking, I think those who know me will understand.
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What do you do outside work that helps you the most professionally? (Routine, extra-curricular activities, charity work, etc.)

I'm a bit obsessed with optimization. That's part of the reason why I love technology. I'm a weird kind of lazy; one that can spend 10 hours developing an automation that will save me 5 minutes. I love getting rid of mental load.
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Finally, for someone considering joining our team, what advice would you give them? What do you think makes our company a great place to work?

Go ham! I'm thinking particularly of those at the start of their career, like myself. In an environment like Seyna's, there's a lot of room for improvement, but you have to go and get it.
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What was the last piece of content that inspired you to take action?

An episode by Micode on Cybersecurity. You hear about it everywhere in a somewhat conceptual way, but he shows you how easy it is to get hacked today. It's terrifying and fascinating. Between ransoms, deep fakes and the like, we're going to have to tip over into another level of alertness and caution as humans. To be continued!